Made it here...

As the song goes, if I can bike it here, I can bike to anywhere, so heres to you, New, York...New York... Anywho, I cycled for one week from Burlington, Vermont to Niagara Falls, NY and crossed into Canada on my one week anniversary. It was about 480 miles, and I biked 6 out of the 7 days. I have been spoiled thus far with the amazing hospitality of everyone, from couchsurfing, warmshowers, friends of family, to strangers. People are constantly amazed at what I at least claim I am doing, cycling around the country. Some say they wished they could too, others simply say good luck. Either way, I feel like everyone is one my side which can't be bad.

Speaking of bad, the weather this past week has been topsy turvey. Rain the first two days, three days of wind, and then warm and sun the rest. I even managed to get sunburned. The rolling landscape has been a good start to get my legs in shape, and I can already feel them being better at pulling the loaded bike uphills then when I started.

My route followed both the Erie Canal and New York State Bicycle Route #5. Most parts of the Erie Canal path are unpaved, so I stayed on the road nearly the whole time. Which was fine, usually. The roads had shoulders and traffic wasn't too bad past Utica. Of course, the shoulders are also where the dirt and debris is so I have already accumulated a drive side nomad flat and two rear tired flats. And I'm riding ultra gatorskins! That's how bad these roads are sometimes.

Chocolate covered frozen banana

Getting to Niagara, and seeing one of the wonders of the world, reminded me of a lot of the reason why I am biking. Its to see the wonders of the world, located in North America at least. And this was no exception. I even did the Maid of the Mist tour, knowing that it was now or never. And it was worth it. The power of the falls is intense, and it was nice to get wet too. You only get to really feel the falls from the boat.

As I have biked this week I wane and wax with nostalgia for Burlington, my friends and family, familiarity too. But then I remember I can call anyone anytime, which is really nice. I can email sometimes, and write letters though those take a long time for me. Biking in North America has its perks, its great to have a long hard day biking but at the end get to hear a friendly voice.

Niagara falls

By the time I post this, I should be in the middle of biking along the northern shores of Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada head towards Michigan. My map gets me as far as Wolf Lake, MI and from there I will head to my first National Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes. I continually upload pictures to my picasa web albums, so here are the New York photos. Feel free to share or whatever :Ross Bike Pics

Well, for now, that’s it. I have repacked a few times and am slowly getting a better system down, but I have too many places to put stuff so many things are always scattered.

Keep Pedaling!