The Final Day

We couldn't just end our trip in Central Connecticut. Since we started on the Pacific Coast we had to make the ride to the Atlantic. Today we got back on our bicycles after three days off.

Danielle rode unloaded and I just had my rear panniers to carry what we needed. We mapquested a route and headed off at 8 AM for the last 62 miles. The first half of the ride was a gentle down hill and pretty relaxing. Then at about 40 miles into our ride we hit some steep hills. Who new that there were hills of this size in Southern CT?? Well we made it through and showed up in Old Lyme at the planned time of 3PM. Dad and Dale met us there and we dragged our bikes across the beach to get our hero shot at the Atlantic. (okay it was Long Island Sound but that's part of the Atlantic so close enough) After 74 days of biking covering 4686.22 miles we didn't want to ride back to Plymouth so we put our bikes in the van and Dad drove home.

We stopped at Lenny and Joe's to celebrate with some beer and healthy fried seafood.

We would like to say Thank You again to all the people who helped make this trip a memorable experience. Thanks to all our families and friends who understand our vagabond lifestyle.

An extra thanks to everyone who drove us to start and finish the trip. We are grateful to all the people that we met who went out of their way to help us out. We are especially appreciative for all the beds that we had to sleep in and meals we were fed by people that we were complete strangers to. We have made many new friends along the way. Hopefully we can repay everyone by helping others who are on similar adventures.

geOff

Almost Done!!

Our plans change for the tenth time!!! After Niagara Falls the plan was to follow the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route to Ticonderoga, NY. From there we would plan our own route south through VT, MA and CT. When we left Canada and were riding through New York we noticed that we were on NY bicycle route 5. We found a map of the NY bicycle routes and realized that we could follow this route which parallels the Erie canal. Taking cycle route 5 would have us enter MA near Great Barrington and from there we knew it would only be a day's ride to my Dad's house in Plymouth Connecticut. So to sum it up we became really motivated to get done with the trip after two and a half months of bicycle riding, camping, hotels and staying at some wonderful homes. It only took us 5 days at an average of about 80 miles a day to get across New York. On the fifth night we stayed in Great Barrington and called our families to let them know we would be home the next day. We showed up in Plymouth at about 3 PM. My Dad and Dale were here to meet us along with Danielle's aunt Deb and her two crazy Nephews Nate and Ethan. A little later Danielle's Brother Jim and Mom showed up too. It was great to be with family again and of course to have some tap beer from New England Brewing.

We then planned to take a couple days off to relax and spend time with family and friends.

On Monday August 11th we would ride to the Atlantic Coast to officially finish our trip.



geOff

Crossing the Erie Canal

Connecticut!

Arriving in Plymouth

Playing with the nephews

Rich in Rotterdam

While in Rotterdam we stayed with fellow Adventure Cycler Rich. He has previously toured in the Adirondacks, is heading out soon to bike around Vermont and will do the TransAm next year. We chatted lots about cycling, gear and the tours we've done. Rich treated us to lots of food..... cheese and crackers, dinner and dessert.... yum!

The next morning while we were heading toward Albany, Geoff's back tire decided to call it quits. Rich even came to our rescue with a new tire for Geoff.

Thanks Rich... Happy Cycling!

When in Rome

New York that is! We stayed with Larry & Patty. Talked bicycling with Larry who is an avid bicycle commuter...... and talked about nursing with Patty as I am trying to figure out what ever I am going to do with myself when we leave the Antarctic Program. They made us feel right at home, fed us a wonderful dinner, took us out for ice cream, let us do laundry and filled our tummies before we headed out in the morning. Larry even biked with us for a bit showing us the way out of Rome as he headed to work.


Thanks Larry & Patty!

Holley, NY

While biking through Holley, NY we found Gloria and her family on Warm Showers. Gloria and her son Nathaniel are going to be biking from New York to California next year along Adventure Cycling's routes. We were treated to dinner, warm showers, breakfast, Nathaniel biked with us for around forty miles the next day and Gloria treated us to lunch. Thanks so much! We wish you much luck and nice weather for your tour next year.

Canada & Niagara Falls

While biking through New York we headed north through Buffalo and into Canada. Crossing the bridge and going through customs in a bike is a fun time. Especially in a tourist traffic jam. We biked a bit through Canada and around Lake Erie to Niagara Falls. We took a short day playing tourist and doing some sight seeing. We watch an IMAX movie about the history of the falls and took a trip where you walk under the falls. Notice our sweet yellow ponchos and our mandatory "high tech" water sandals.... luckily they recycle the ponchos and donate the sandals. As the end of the bike trip was in sight we also decided that we should start tapering our eating more (tomorrow) .... so we ended the night with one last indulgence of nachos and I of course ordered some dessert.

Ohio ~ Pennsylvania ~ New York

From Ohio we headed east through Pennsylvania and into New York in one day. Crazy how that can happen. We even got a chance to paly some Mini Golf. This was also one of our biggest rain days in a while. Geoff even put his rain jacket on.... and that hadn't happened since Wyoming. By the time we reached our campsite along Lake Erie the skies had cleared up and we were ready for a shower and sleepy time.