Trekkers woke up to a nice free breakfast at the hostel we were staying at in Niagara! Tonight would be our first night camping of the trip. About halfway through our days’ miles we stopped of at the Welland Canal Museum and watched a large tanker go by through the canal system and short video about the history of the canal. After lunch and some games at the park next door, we biked to Balls Falls Conservation Area to camp. We were welcomed by the bellows of large bull frogs from the pond near the entrance. Later we learned from one of the park employees that there lives a frog the size of a cat in that pond, that the other employees had named Charles. We hungrily scarfed down some breakfast burritos for dinner, made Smores for dessert, and sat around the fire taking turns sharing funny and scary stories. The picture above was shot at sunset just before indulging on marshmallowy goodness. Happy Sunday!
We got up early for a ferry ride to Boston that rocked us all to sleep. In Boston, we walked to historic Quincy Market to watch a street performance, glad to be back in civilization but missing the quiet of the woods already. We went out for Chinese food and walked to Boston Commons for a performance of Romeo and Juliet. We got some late night snacks, watched a cartoon many of us had been referencing the whole trip, and went to sleep as a group for the final time:'(
Today the Across America Trekkers traveled from Cedar Rapids, IA, all the way to Clinton, IA (82 miles!). With some extra cash they received from a fellow camper, they went out for dinner near their campsite and got right to bed, as they are hoping to do another 80 mile day tomorrow.
The day started off beautifully at Southwick Beach State Park. The sun was out and shining upon our tents, which was really unusual since most of the time there was no sun or warmth when we woke up. After a very productive morning, we set off on our longest day of 54 miles. The road started off relatively flat and was very nice. It was calm enough for people to bike side to side and talk. It was peaceful. We took a long rest after 15 miles on the top of a tall hill to stop, regroup and eat. It had just been one and half hours and we felt that we were cranking out those miles, since we were already halfway to Oswego. Little did we know, we were completely wrong.
The next hill was brutal, but we were very grateful as there was a man on the side of the road who told us that it was the last one for a long time. That man was crazy because it was just the beginning of a series of horrible, horrific, horrendous hills. Finally, we saw the sign for the city of Oswego, and we immediately got excited. We were about three miles away from food. We biked through the suburbs of Oswego till we hit the main city. That’s when our points took us to our secret lunch place, PIZZA. We ordered five pies and by the end of it some of us were still hungry while others were put into a food coma. It was amazing. After the delicious pizza, we branched off. Cooking crew went to Best Yet to buy dinner and breakfast while everyone else went over to the Harborfest to explore the fair. I had to go over to the bike store, Murdock’s to get a pedal fixed since it had previously been bent from a fall the day before.
Afterwards we all regrouped at the bike store and continued biking through SUNY Oswego and beyond. The first few miles out of the city were pleasant and enjoyable. The flatness allowed for talking and a few new tricks. But then the worst thing happened, we saw the hill to end all hills, the largest hill in history, the hill of death, the steepest hill known to man. It was right before this hill that the points turned off to the left, blessing us all. In fact that same thing happened once again a few moments later, giving us an additional rush. We were so naive. Those hills were nothing in comparison to the millions we were about to face. There were endless hills, we thought it would never end. It was truly terrible. I personally thought about leaving the trip multiple times. Aside from a few stops to pee in bushes and refuel, we just kept trucking. Gears were falling off, seats were wobbling and tears were flowing.
After the last hill we saw a laundry mat and thought the messiah had come down to bless us and our smelly clothes, only problem was that we had no time. It was already 6:30pm and we had not started food. Our only option was to bike in dirty clothes again and hold out till the next day. Thankfully after that we veered onto the campsite road and into the campsite. While waiting for Tyler to check us in, we all collapsed on a grassy hill where we laughed uncontrollably from the exhaustion and reminisced about the hard day we had just experienced. Then we biked to our campsites, set up camp and attempted to scrub the dirt and sweat we had collected from the day. For dinner, cooking crew had made delicious ramen with vegetables and chicken and we did rose/bud/thorn and immediately fell asleep because we were all drained from what I would call the hardest day of the all. Written by Keya
This morning we were grateful for toasters and not having to pack up camp, giving us a much needed relaxin start to the day. Fueled by bagels, we headed off on a wonderful dune hike. We climbed, slid, jumped and rolled to the sea, eventually emerging with sand in every orifice. We ate sandwiches in town on a rocky overhang, before taking some more time to explore the main street. We packed up dinner and headed out on the ProvincetownBike Path, which we all agreed was the nicest path we’d ever ridden. We stopped at the end of the point, so as to set ourselves up for optimal sunset watching. After happily admiring the sun dropping into the ocean, we headed back on to the trail. We ended an awesome day with a nice long debrief, and shared a collective nostalgia about the trip soon coming to an end.
Yesterday the Toronto Niagara Trekkers had a busy day exploring Niagara Falls. In the morning, we enjoyed a continental breakfast provided by the hostel, then we biked South to the Rainbow Bridge, and crossed back into the USA. Then, we boarded the Maid of the Mist for some breath taking views of the American falls and the horseshoe falls in Canada! After our voyage, we biked north up the Niagara River and ate our lunch at Whirlpool State Park. For an afternoon activity, we hiked down into the gorge to Devil’s Hole and watched motor boats struggle to go upstream against the river’s heavy current. Finally, we returned to our hostel in Canada where we made pita pizzas and Oreo truffles. Before bed, we finished our day with a round of rose bud thorns.
Provincetown at last!! We are officially finished with tour biking!! We all whooped and cheered as we passed the “now entering Provincetown” sign, pausing to congratulate one another. We had some ice cream and wandered around the town, looking into shops and galleries while our clothes were getting cleaned. Back at the campsite we were all grateful to take a hot shower and change into some fresh clothes before hitting the town! We saw a musical impersonation show by a town favorite, giving us all a taste of the colorful nightlife here in Ptown. Looking forward to seeing more of the areas natural beauty tomorrow.
Today the Trekkers biked from Waterloo, IA to Cedar Rapids, IA. They got to enjoy a beautiful smooth bike path for almost the entire day! Due to some bike mechanics, they were not able to get in quite as many miles as they had hoped, but they plan to make up for it on the road to Chicago tomorrow.
At 7 a.m. sharp, the Teen Treks team awoke to a wild Tyler walking around their rooms as he informed them that breakfast would be available in the kitchen downstairs. Immediately afterward, Tyler scurried to the kitchen to ignite the stove and begin preparing creamy scrambled eggs for the gang. However, about 10 minutes after that, a terrible calamity occurred as one of the trekkers let loose a disastrous orange juice tsunami across the kitchen floor when he accidentally knocked over the pitcher while yanking a loaf of bread from the basket to make crisp toast.
Unfortunately, many of the groggy trekkers sleepily walked into the remains of this catastrophe and had an alarming start to their day. But the unwavering spirits of the Teen Trek titans could not be shaken. They excitedly ingested their scrumptious meal, which included fruit, toast, OJ (not the spilt OJ), and of course Chef Tyler’s super spectacular fantabulous scrambled eggs.
The cantankerous crew packed their supplies, loaded up their bikes, took a pulchritudinous picture in front of the lighthouse hostel, and was on its way to its next destination. They faced a brutal headwind at the start of their journey, but the strong-willed heroes were not to be deterred. They powered through the first fifteen miles of their ride as if the mountainous hills and trying headwind didn’t exist and arrived at their first stop, IGA supermarket (otherwise known as heaven). This gorgeous dream of a store contained more flavors of soda, sweets, and Gatorade than one could count, so of course the troop stocked up on treats and acquired all of the necessities for a hearty lunch. It was a quite uneventful lunch besides the fact that Alexa revealed her mysterious, creepy, yet awe-inspiring cat whispering abilities and beckoned a stray cat toward her and her posse from over two hundred feet away.
The group gobbled up their sandwiches and watermelon and continued to push onward toward their next pit stop. The points pedaled full-throttle along Route 3 until they came across an intriguing park accompanied by a Cold Stone Creamery. Unfortunately, in order to have access to the park owned by the adjacent campground, the points and their entourage would have to purchase ice cream from Cold Stone, and according to the leaders, that was not an option. And so the squadron continued journeying onward.
A few miles later, the platoon came across a rather shady looking shop after conquering a monstrous hill on their bikes and proceeded to purchase two tubs of ice cream from Firehouse Beverages. They gathered on top of a mound of gravel and ravenously devoured the ice cream as if it was their last meal on Earth.
During this period of nourishment, two young children escorted the staff on a valiant excursion in search of blackberries in the clandestine blackberry patch. Strangely, and unfortunately, during this mission one of the escorts accidentally walloped the other escort in his rear end with a fly swatter. And so that concluded the group’s experience at Firehouse Beverages. They took a quick pic with the owner and traversed the last seven miles of their trek before triumphantly cruising into Southwick Beach State Park, their final destination.
After a brief campsite confusion, the group staked out, ate numerous grilled cheese sandwiches, and sipped warm tomato soup before sharing their roses, buds, and thorns of the day and drifting off into their slumbers. The Teen Trek titans readily await their longest journey yet. Until tomorrow… Written by Ryan
Today, the Niagara Toronto Trekkers assembled in Buffalo NY and crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada! After biking about 25 miles up the Niagara River, we checked into our hostel in Niagara falls. Hungry from the trip we made a delicious (but unintentionally spicy!) Ramen stir fry. Later, we cycled back to the falls where we played man hunt, ate two tubs of ice cream teen treks style, and watched the fireworks which are launched from inside the Niagara gorge. All in all, a great first day!
