Today the Teen Trekkers started their day with a breakfast in a park in Charles City, the day’s first stop along the RAGBRAI route. They rode with RAGBRAI for about 20 miles, meeting kind and colorful characters along the way, before heading South to their campsite in Waterloo, Iowa.
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We got up early, jumped in the pond, and set off speeding south to Chatham on a 16 mile wooded bike path, grateful to have our gear stored at the campground. We kayaked into a blustery wind on the edge of the ocean and got a seafood feast for kings. A warm rain kicked in so we headed back on the path, stopping for veggies at a farmer’s market. Another swim and dinner and we crawled back in our tents under a canopy of stars, tired and ready for bed, but sadly aware of how few remaining nights we’ll get to do that.
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Teens and parents met at beautiful Front Park overlooking the mouth of the Niagara River to begin the 150+ mile bike ride to Toronto, Ontario. The trip includes 2 days in Niagara Falls where the Trekkers will see the mighty Niagara roar from multiple viewpoints and venues, including the Maid of the Mist and a hike at the Niagara Whirlpool. As they head north they will bike alongside the huge lake freighters on the Welland Canal and overnight at picturesque Balls Falls and Bronte Provincial Park. The Trekkers will spend 3 days in Toronto to visit Chinatown, great art museums, the beautiful waterfront and the Toronto Beaches. Finally a bus will bring them to Buffalo, NY for their last day of cycling around the Queen City.
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We woke up at camp, packed up, and got out quite early because we had a huge day ahead of us. We biked through Kingston, took the ferry to Wolf Island, and crossed the Canada US border via boat. We stayed at the lighthouse hostel in Cape Vincent, NY and watched a beautiful sunset, ate delicious chicken Parmesan – by far best meal of the trip – and made a campfire with s’mores in front of the lighthouse.
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We rose soon after the sun today, allowing for maximal time in the beautiful weather. We’d finished most of our 33 mile day by noon, when we pulled up to a public beach for lunch. There we were blessed by the cashier giving Spike (Zubin) three extra ice cream sandwiches. From the beach we stopped by a thrift shop, which seem to be abundant here on the cape. Later at our campsite we swam in a warm pond for awhile and threw a frisbee around. For dinner we enjoyed quesadillas, and fire made pumpkin pie. Around the fire we had a long, fascinating conversation about religion, intermittently interrupted by a curious skunk. The stars are out again, we’re looking forward to spending another night here.
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The Across America Trekkers had a wet start this morning, biking through very rainy conditions, but luckily the rain didn’t last thought the whole day, as forecasted. They stopped for lunch in St Ansgar, where Alex’s mom treated them to a pizza buffet (thanks, Catherine!) To end the day the Trekkers biked to Charles City, Iowa, where they caught up with RAGBRAI and saw some live music. Today the group also bid adieu to Alex, but he will be in our heads and our hearts as we move further east!
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We began our day on the Sandbanks campsite, and after a hearty breakfast of granola and yogurt, we set out for the day. The biking was flat and easy as we headed to the supermarket with ten miles already under our belts. The cooking crew decided on Mexican food while everyone else chilled out in the parking lot. We had five miles to go before making it to our lunch spot, and on the way we ran into a road completely made up of pot holes. Luckily, we made it out without any damages to our bikes. At the early hour of 11:30 we arrived at the Lake on the Mountain Resort and relaxed for our lunch. We then departed for the campsite and took a ferry across the river. Soon after the ferry we made it to the campsite right along Lake Ontario. Our neighbor at the campsite let us borrow his two kayaks to explore the nearby coast.
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Where could we possibly start? At the beginning we woke up, ate bagels and yogurt for breakfast. We biked to the farmers stand where we ate blueberries, raspberries, and plums (and a few muffins). We finally convinced Ted to try blueberries (he had exactly seven) and he LIKED them even though he doesn’t like fruit!
We biked through Brighton to the supermarket and then down rural country roads to a small convenience store slash grocery slash dollar store …really a jack of all trades store called “The Looney Bin” where we ate lunch outside on the neon pink picnic tables. We played mao, and then biked more. We biked through tons of vineyards and farmland to Bloomfield where we went to the Bloomfield Bike Shop, met some interesting people, got cool stickers that say “tv sucks . Ride your bike” and ate yummy homemade ice cream. They had a lot of unusual flavors and provided QUITE the unusual palate of flavors, e.g. white chocolate raspberry, jazz berry, orange chocolate, rhubarb ginger, etc. the wind finally died down for the end of the day along quiet back roads and we reached Sandbanks Provincial Park.
We’re camped here and getting eaten alive by mosquitos so everyone’s hiding in their tents. SOME people intentionally tried to lure mosquitos into some tents, which caused a bit of a ridiculous commotion. All in all, solid day.
– Dan and Will
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Today we woke up at Forge Pond Campground, and biked 40 miles onto Cape Cod! Along the way we each wrote a rap verse about our biker/boy scout selves (the joke has persisted long since the boy scout campground). Once we reached our campsite at Shawm Crowell, we split into teams of two to eat entire rotisserie chickens. Around the campfire, we listened to Alison and Charlotte’s new found ukulele skills and sang some songs. This was followed by us each performing our raps, which all turned out to be absurdly funny. The stars are out tonight so we’re all sleeping sans fly, and looking forward to the beach tomorrow.
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Today’s cool air and flat roads treated the Across America Trekkers well! Traveling a strong 76 miles, they cycled from Fairmont, MN to Austin, MN, but not before catching a few afternoon z’s and making an ice cream stop in Albert Lea.
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