Day 27: Niagara Falls, ON to Fairport, NY

The stay in Canada was fun, but short lived. Will and Wes headed out a little later that usual around 7:30 and crossed the bridge into New York State. Meanwhile, I ran down to the falls to get in some casual sightseeing. I even took a picture by Niagara to prove that I'm still alive.

After gathering my belongings, I hit the road, crossing the rainbow bridge into Niagara Falls, NY. The night before I was watching border patrol on TruTv with Wes and Will. When I pulled up the border control, I started thinking of ridiculous situations where I would be pulled over and searched. Compared to the Canadian side, which was bustling with people the New York-Niagara was very quiet. Most of the tourists were on the riverfront and not out and about the town. Overall, it was quite dilapidated.

Leaving the borderlands, I began to pass endless vineyards. The bikers soon hopped on the Erie Canal trail, which followed the canal for 356 miles across New York state. It was a flat, simple crushed gravel trail that was fairly shaded. It was easy riding, but required more work because of the loose surface. I met them along the trail in Brockport for my run and lunch.

After lunch, it was more Erie Canal for the bikers. I scouted out a place for a night, but got caught in Rochester traffic in the process. It was the worst traffic of the trip. I think it had to do with the ever popular Jazz festival that was in town. Anyways, I found a small motel in Egypt, NY. I scooted back to the small town of Fairport to pick them up. The downtown was quite cool and they proudly displayed that they were voted the best small town to live in back in 2005 and 2006.

Will and Wes pulled up. Will was particularly exhausted, perhaps mentally as well as he believed the 102 miles he rode to be harder than usual. Most likely, the softer surface was the result of that.

27 days strong, 27 centuries and counting.

Day 26: Erie, PA to Niagara Falls, ON

Getting up this morning wasn’t easy. After 130 miles of riding, Will and Wes were tired, so tired that Wes wasn’t sure if Will was going to make it the whole century today. Just in case it became too much, I waited at the hotel in Erie, where I took advantage of the workout facility.

It wasn’t until 9pm that I hit the road. I got a text from Wes on my way to Dunkirk that spirits were not high. Will was tired, and they were stopping for lunch to refuel. Wary, I hung back and found a spot to run. Evangola State park was nearby, so I decided to check it out. The entrance fee of $10 was a tad pricey for an hour to run around. Instead I parked on a road adjacent to the park in the town beside it and found a footpath entrance. There was a solid stretch of beachfront that felt good on bare feet.

After my run, I zipped on up to Buffalo. Not hearing anything from Will and Wes, I assumed they were planning to call it at day there, which was right around a century. I parked outside of town and waited for further communication. Finally word came through that they were crossing the border. A hotel had been reserved on the Canadian side in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

I have never been to Canada before. It was really different because everybody spoke Canadian and not American, so all the signs looked funny and such.      Just kidding, the only difference was all the numbers were higher, because of kilometers and Canadian dollars and such.

The hotel that was booked had a view of the mist of Niagara falls. Wes and Will came up to the room around 7:30. Their total mileage was 127.

After the riding, Will insisted that we get some go-karting in before dinner. I found a local place. Not only was it outdoors but it was a 1 kilometer long track. Will was stoked to get behind the wheel. Plus I found some coupons online, so we got some extra laps in as well. At the end of the day we probably paid for 4 laps and ended up doing 15. It was quite the time.

Finally, we got dinner. I was reminded quite quickly that the drinking age was 19 when I took a look at the drink menu. That's all I will say about that.

After dinner, Will and Wes went for a swim and went to bed later than usual, expecting to wake up closer to 8am tomorrow.

Day 25: Cleveland to Erie

The drop off point at the pier was pretty cool. At 7:30 a.m, not many people were out and about on the pier.

On the way back to pack the bags at the hotel, I passed by the world headquarters of the duct tape factory in Avon, Ohio. It sounded like a pretty big deal, so I had to put up a picture of it.

After I packed the bags, I headed up to Geneva-on-the-Lake to meet up with Wes and Will for lunch. This small lakeside town will filled with gift shops, food stands and a small adventure park. Will insisted that we went go-karting, so we did. He's pretty good, I couldn't keep up with him.

After a long lunch break, the bikers packed it up and headed north along the lakefront. I split for an hour to run, then returned to the route to check in again. After coming back from my run on some trails about a half mile inland, I noted the temperature along the lake was substantially cooler than even just a quarter mile inland. As long as the route stayed along the lake, Wes said they wouldn't have any trouble getting to Erie in Pennsylvania.


Erie is located on the small sliver if Pennsylvania that touches Lake Erie. I don't know if there's an official nickname for that part of the state, but I know it was created so it could have shipping access to the ports on the great lakes. Anyways, the hotel we stayed at was right on the water and we got a great lakefront view. Just as I unpacked the luggage, I heard rolling thunder in the air. I hustled downstairs, got in the car and doubled back to check on the bikers. Fortunately, they were a quarter mile from the hotel by the time by I pulled out of the lot. They got back to the hotel before I did.

25 Days 25 centuries

Day 24: Grand Rapids to Cleveland

Getting up this morning was rough. Fortunately we all mustered the strength to be on the road just after 7. The temperature this morning was a cool and in the 60s, quite pleasant.

I took off expecting to head to the checkpoint and read a book until they arrived, but on my way I spotted a gem of a trail along the river. There was a really cool old bridge that spanned the river with old fashioned archways. I ran into some other runners that were training for a marathon. The group was about 6 large and they looked confused as I entered the parking lot. I don't know if it was my marathon shirt, but one of them cracked a joke that they were scared the race was today.

After my run I drove down to Bowling Green State University to do some core work and exercises. Why Bowling Green State, you ask? A great middle distance runner by the name of Dave Wottle ran there in his college days. Dave won the gold medal in the 800 meters at Munich in 1972. Here's a link to the race. It's got quite the finish. Anyways, I had to stop by the track and pay tribute to his old stomping ground. After all, it was along the route.

I drove along to meet the bikers in Clyde for a post lunch refuel. Their plans had changed slightly as they now wanted to get all the way to the east side of Cleveland. I headed up another dozen miles up the road to a nice beachfront in Lorain. A blues festival was taking place at the park and I couldn't resist taking a listen before jumping into Lake Erie.

I found a nice spot on the lakefront pier. It was bustling with activity. I was taking some pictures when I overheard a conversation with a dad and his son. The dad was elderly and using a walker. The son had visited him and walked him out of his apartment to the bench directly behind where I was standing, talking about the beauty of the lake and how nice the fresh air was.

I got a call from Wes, saying they were getting tired. Because of the construction on the highway, there was no easy way for me to pick them up. So Wes and Will pushed on. About 30 minutes later, they arrived, exhausted and ready to call it a day.

On the ride back Wes totaled the mileage for the day: 134. The total mileage left was just about 1000 miles, something that could be achieved in just under 10 days.

Day 23: Huntington to Grand Rapids

At this point in the trip, it would be more surprising if Will and Wes didn't ride a century. There would be a good paragraph or two detailing why it didn't happen. I'm sure the duo would be pretty sad if the streak ended.

After I wrote my blog yesterday, I gave Will the new Higher Gear Jersey. He was thrilled and insisted he put it on for the ride today. While he now had a new jersey, he lacked a functioning bike computer. So, I busted up to Fort Wayne to locate a bike shop, got the computer and busted back to the route for lunch.

Will and Wes rolled up to the vehicle parked in front of the government building in Paulding. The cyclists seemed only a tad tired and only a tad hungry. They had eaten lunch in a town prior to Paulding and were looking for a light snack. As usual, Will had his double stuff Oreos and cosmic brownies to keep him going. The air was quite humid as Wes filled up his water bottles again.

Most of the state parks in Ohio are along a river of some sort. The large rainstorms of the previous week have caused large flooding of rivers and consequently the closure of many state parks. However, at Independence Dam State park, the flood waters had receded enough to go for a quick run. I was excited to breakout my new shoes. The water over the dam was really high and still covered some part of the park. The mud and parts where the water receded had the stench of rotting plant and animal matter. By the end of the run I had gotten used to the smell, but my shoes had a brown coat of mud on them.

Leaving the state park, I followed the river north. I passed the Campbell's soup plant on the way. Finally, I located the team in Grand Rapids. From there, we picked up and drove back to the hotel a few miles down the road.

Day 22: Rensselaer, IN to Huntington

Park closed due to floods

It was refreshing this morning to wake up in my own bed, even if it happened to be 5:15am. Wes picked me up a quarter till 6 and we hit the interstate hoping to miss the morning rush. The drop point today was Rensselaer, Indiana. It was decided that having the extra bike was not worth it as it was only used a few times on the western portion. Once we arrived in Rennselaer, Wes found the spot where they had finished the midwest portion of their ride almost a month ago. At 8pm the bikes hit the road hoping to knock out century #22.

Few days prior, a series of large rainstorms had ravaged much of he midwest, resulting in a number of massive floods. In many of the small towns I passed through, large puddles formed on the roadway, parks were underwater and highway bridges closed. There was just so much water!!!

Now, because of the large amount of rain in the past few days, one might think that there would not be more rain for a while, right? Well, it was silly of me to think such a think. At the first checkpoint in Buffalo, the rain was coming down, Will and Wes got their heavier rain gear from the truck before pushing onward.

The roads the bikers were taking in Indiana were narrow, and numbered that varied by county. Some may consider them highways, others paved roads for farm access. Either way, they are quite narrow and surrounded seemingly exclusively by farmland. Indiana route 16 was a major state highway that was built much like the county roads, narrow and mostly through farmland. The highway had short steep hills that gave you the feeling like you were on a roller coaster when you got to the top and started to descend.

Road closure on Route 5

I stopped in Denver, Indiana expecting to meet Wes and Will for lunch. With about an hour or so to kill, I decided to get my run out of the way. I found a rails-to-trails pathway that was paved, but had cinders on the side. It also happened to be the route the bikers would be taking. I changed in the car and took off towards the trail, into the rain. At the halfway point, I turned around expecting to see them, but I could see no fluorescent vest for miles. Upon my return, I found them relaxing at the car. Apparently, I had run past the road they turned on and missed them completely.


It was still raining as the duo took off. I grabbed lunch at the only restaurant in town, while taking some time to read the local papers and a book. I looked at my watch to check the time. Our meeting time was around 6pm just south of Huntington.  My watch read 4:25, but I remembered that we had passed into the Eastern Time Zone. Frantically, I put away my book and zipped up to Huntington.

I arrived at the town center around 5:50. A large fairgrounds had closed down main street. By the time I found my way around, it was 6pm. I got a call from Wes with an update on his position. Seeing that I was a tad late, he decided to move the pickup point down the road at the Indiana Route 5 intersection. 5 minutes later, I ran into a roadblock at route 5, the bridge was closed due to floods. Again I called Wes and we found a final spot another mile down the road that had to work.
At 6:15, I arrived at the corner of 200S and 200E, next to a local power station. I could see two fluorescent jackets down the road peddling slowly towards me.

Day 21: Red Wing to La Crescent

I don't know if I expected to feel good waking up at 4:15, but it definitely didn't feel all that great. Surprisingly, Will got up easier than most mornings. Wes, as usual, was up and at em, putting his and Will's extra clothes into their luggage. By 4:25, we hit the road. At 5am precisely, the duo rolled out for their final day West of the Mississippi.

So why 5am? Why this absurdly early time? Will had cousins visiting him from San Diego. After the ride to La Crescent, we were set to drive back to Chicagoland to meet them. This had been the plan since day 1. But in addition now, Will had an orthodontist appointment scheduled for 5pm. Not wanting to ruin the 20 day century streak, 5am was a must do to keep the streak alive.

Back to the hotel I returned to load up. I laid down for a few minutes to catch up on some sleep, but that turned into a full blown rest stop. I awoke at 8am, car still not packed, and the bikers even further away. Quickly, I loaded everything in the car, and drove to meet them in Winona.

I figured now was going to be the only time to go for a run. I found a nice loop around the city lake. A solid 3.5 mile loop. I ran past a few fishing derbies, a leather back turtle as well as plenty of ducks and geese, which seemed unfazed by the closeness to the human activity.

I returned to the car to a text from Wes that they didn't see me in Winona. The old mill town of Pickwick was the final stop at this point to refuel. I zipped up and located them at the top of a small climb, but besides a water refill and a granola bar, the stop was quick. Wes urged me to get to the end location, load up the fuel tank and clear out the back of the car for the ride back to Chicago.

The duo arrived in La Crescent at 12:24pm. The century had taken them 7 hours 24 minutes with rest stops and all. Not wanting to miss the doctors appointment, we hopped in the car and sped towards Chicago.

Three weeks to the day it's been since the biking madness has begun. The bikers have covered 2774 miles. Earlier the summer, Will and Wes completed a portion of the ride from La Crescent, MN to Rensselaer, IN. Tonight, I'd get to return to Wilmette to spend the evening with my family and relax. 

I had one errand to run before I departed for Rensselaer, and that was to pickup break cables. I zipped on over to Higher Gear, where they were having the pre party for their annual fundraiser, the Grand Fondo Hundo. I said hi to the crew and talked about the trip so far. Brandon gave me the new Higher Gear jersey for Will to wear on the ride. After a few final handshakes, I took headed out the door, back home and to a nice home cooked meal before heading to bed.