The first segment today (20 miles) took us to Marine City. We passed a barn with Mickey and Minnie Mouse holding cheese painted on it. As we got closer to the ferry crossing we traveled along a river on one side with nice homes on the other. It was a very nice setting. The grass near the river was all mowed. The ferry ride was about 10 minutes across a wide river. Entry to Canada was simple. They did not even look at some of the ID’s. In this portion of Canada, the farms do not have non-farms between them. There are villages or farms and the two do not mix.

Tomorrow we travel most of the day along the shore of lake Erie for 94 miles. We are told the road goes up and down (steep) and that the road is in poor condition. Rain is forecast for the day.

The last two days we have been riding in a pace line. We break the pace line when we get to new things to see. Today we passed a group of antique trains. The farms we rode past had potatoes, corn, wheat and tobacco. There was no edge to the fields. The crops grew right up to the road.

The last several of the schools we have stayed in have painted pictures on the walls. All the artwork is done by students. Last night had the most extension paintings so far. Some were not great, but some were outstanding. Many had sayings with them. I think all the hall walls were covered last night. The paintings dated back to 1996. They were signed by the student artists.

The drivers have been nice in Canada. The young lady with the broken collarbone is now riding full days. The riders who are going coast to coast are showing very white strips where the helmet strap goes.

It had rained ahead of us today and sprinkled a little while we were riding. The fog was still with us. That made the ride pleasant.

We have been going over lots of drawbridges. We went on a ferry today that was a small boat with outboard motors. It could carry 4 bikes and riders. The bridge that was there had been taken out by a boat and the locals have elected to pay for ferry service rather than replace the bridge. The ride is free and takes about 3 minutes.

We have moved from crop farms to small dairy farms. Many milk trucks were collecting milk from the farms. At many points we had to slow to allow them to make there turn into a drive. The farmhouses are great. There was one brick two-story house tucked into the trees with a fire in the fireplace. They almost had 60 riders visit because it looked so inviting. After 6 hard riding days, it would have been really nice to curl up with a book in front of the fire.

Some of the two story houses have outside doors on the second story that open into space. I think this might tell a little story! The small towns here are close together and the people just love to talk to the riders.

Special care has been taken by the Cycle America staff to make sure the route is well marked and shows the areas to their advantage. They inform local merchants about the riders. This gets us better service.

All the roads are evaluated to make sure the surface is good enough to ride on. Every day a router goes out to the next day’s ride and makes any required changes. Construction or a bad winter can cause us to ride a few extra miles to get around the problem. The routing has taken us past 4 of the 5 great lakes. We got extensive time to visit each of the lakes.

We had two people who needed to go to a wedding near where the ride was. The staff worked on routings so they did not miss the ride and could attend the wedding. They had to ride one day starting at 3 am to make a pickup. Three of the very strongest and fastest riders created a pace line for them and towed them all 108 miles. They made the wedding and are back with us and have ridden all the route.

The repair of the bikes is a constant job for the mechanics. The grit and the pounding take their toll on the fine machines. On a straw pole of the coast-to-coast riders, there has been an average of 4 flats. The couple from England riding the tandem had to have tires air shipped to them as theirs were wearing out.

The grouping of riders changes some every day. Fast riders get tired and drop into the more touring groups. Some of the groups stop at all the coffee shops. It goes without saying that they get to camp late, tired and wired.

Tomorrow is our layover day. The next two weeks are not as hard in terms of miles. We are going back into the mountains for these two weeks.

I was stunned to see a photo of the quaint A & M Cafe (the only one in
town) (your photo is labeled Meal Time), as I had eaten there only two days
before. The cook is a disabled vet, if you saw the kitchen all the
appliances are wheel chair height.
Badlands National Park has an active dinosaur dig not far from Interior --
too bad you did not swing by.

You have my envy for what you and your team is accomplishing. I look
forward to your daily postings -- good luck on all your future endeavors.