Oh Canada

Thursday, July 26th: 87 miles from Birch Run to Port Huron, MI. We took off on a foggy, cool morning, with a red, glowing sun coming up over the eastern horizon. Not even the roosters were up yet. We hooked up with "Uncle" Bob until the first sag. Bob kept a blistering pace, so we requested a blood test by the tour organizers. It was denied. We let Bob go, and despite the less-than-blistering we were maintaining, we arrived at the second sag too early for the plate of bologna that was later offered as a snack. Apparently, the following day was the annual Bologna Festival in the town of Yale, MI. We even saw a woman in her driveway, putting the finishing touches on her "Bologna Royalty" float for the festival parade. Instead of waiting around for bologna, we had a snack from a bakery/cafe in town, and then completed the remaining 30 miles of the ride. You know how whenever you wash your car it always rains? Well, Joel cleaned his bike the previous evening, and as a result, we were confronted with a mile of dusty construction on our way into Port Huron. After a quick trip to a bike shop, we lunched with some friends at a great little restaurant with fabulous salad. Joel's came out with bacon on it, as a surprise, but he was too scared to complain, lest the cook's spit on his food the second time around. Eventually, Allison said something, he got a bacon-free salad, and was all smiles. Low on cash, we went to a bowling alley to an ATM, but since it was out of order, we left for Canada with less than $5 in our pockets. Today we have $1.

Friday, July 27th: 79 miles to London, Ontario. At 7:50am sharp, the peleton of 75 riders formed between our two sag vans, and we set off en masse across the bridge to Ontario, which was closed to traffic for our benefit. We hung with the Millers through customs, and one of them (who will not be named) was carrying pepper spray, which we found out was a contraband item. Allison was asked if she had pepper spray or mace, which she could honestly deny. The person who his all not be named, next in line, did not get the same question, and sneaked through with his contraband, smirking. Early on, we had fun drafting behind a truck with 3500 pounds of hay...great draft, not such great smells. And although we were treated to lots of farm smells throughout the United States, it seems that all of Ontario smells like a cow pie. We were hard pressed to find a decent lunch, but did find a good ice cream stop 5 miles later. Nothing else happened of importance.

Saturday, July 28th: 64 miles to Brantford, Ontario. Today we rode with the Miller train/Uncle Bob/Uncle Gary. The train is the only way to fly. They always serve up good company and conversations, and of course, Bernice has ultra-sensitive radar for ice cream and other good things to eat. At the end of the day, we ended up at Scoopy's where they informed us that they took neither American cash nor credit card. Luckily, Uncle Bob bailed us out, and treated us to a couple of milkshakes. Yay Uncle Bob! You da man! As of today, we have completed 3,001 miles, give or take, and the weather has cooperated beautifully. So far, nothing but a few drops of rain, although we've had thunderstorms in the forecast lately. Tomorrow, its back into the U.S. via Niagara Falls, if they let us back in. Monday is our final rest day, and Allison will be leaving the trip. She will also be taking the computer, so this may be our last blog.

Its been fun.
Love,
Allison and Joel