Life On A B-I7

You don’t want the people back home to forget what you look like…

This is a fully restored Route 66 Gas Station. A tourist thought it would be fun to take my picture “gassing up” my bicycle.

I’m not far from Chicago but my route bypassed the Windy City. Route 66 is another classic bicycle tour. From Los Angles to Chicago. I haven’t tackled that one yet, but I was glad to grab a piece of it on the way East.

I’ve been on the road for two months and I’m beginning to look around for a shorter route to the finish… There isn’t one.

There are no straight lines to Bar Harbor, Maine from here.

The further East I go the more murals I see on brick buildings.

I’m fascinated by these. It seems the small towns are proud of these embellishments.

Traveling, uncredited sign painters known as “Walldogs” dangled from ropes high above the street to paint the many murals seen in the Central and Eastern U.S. The artists used durable, lead-based oil paints mixed with natural pigments and linseed oil. This allowed the paint to soak directly into the porous brick and mortar, giving the paint a strong grip and vibrant look.

This mural really speaks to my trip!

I meet my second Mayor. This one put me up on a cot in his office for the night. Iroquois is a cool town. The food at the local bar was top notch too.

I can’t resist a good mural. The good town of Monroeville allowed me to camp in their city park.

They also told me I had to stay for a concert that night, which I was happy to do.

I was told the best fiddler in 3 counties would be playing in the band. All of the musicians have recorded as stand-ins in Nashville.

The concert was wonderful.

After the concert I went up and talked with the fiddle player. When he found out I was riding across the country he told me to go get me bike so he could see it.

We talked bicycles and had a great time. He told me he builds bicycles for fun (art pieces mostly). He has over 200 bicycles hanging in his barn.

I would have given my front brakes to see that them.

It is not unusual to see signs like this one throughout the mid-West.

The number of cross-country cyclists has really dropped off in the last decade or so. I saw fewer cyclists on the road on this trip than in either of my two previous trans-continental tours.

I think a lot of people have moved on to mountain bikes and gravel bikes. Travel by bicycle is no longer called “bicycle touring,” it is now called “bike packing” and the emphasis is now on what are referred to as “Backroad Discovery Routes” (BDRs).

I can’t stop admiring the man murals I encounter.

This field of Sunflowers took my breath away. This is a crop that is commercially cultivated.

Get in early, build a fire, relax. It doesn’t get a whole lot better. It also gives me time to write about my day.

Sunset on the Maumee River in Mary Jane Thurston State Park.

I met a fellow cyclist today. He proudly showed me his TransAm tattoo. It’s a thing among cyclists…

I thought this mural was cool so I put my bike up next to it, because, bike and rider are just like that locomotive. (Sort of.)

Since I’m interested in watercolor painting, I decided to play around with a photo special effects app.

I like the way it turned out.

Isn’t that just about the most beautiful corn field you have every seen?

“Command Duck” is determining the cause of my first flat tire. I made it 4,145 miles with only one flat tire. I have to think that is close to a record for someone traveling this for and running tubes.

After careful examination, Commander Duck determined an electrical staple was the culprit.

I was bragging to a fellow in a bar about my good fortune when it came to avoiding flats, he said that was because I knew how to “miss stuff.” That might be the reason, or it could be just luck.

I made it to New York.

I’ve been anticipating this for a couple of weeks. I’m not going to follow the ACA Route along the shoreline of Lake Ontario to Ticonderoga New York. I’ve decided to take the Erie Canalway Trail through Albany and then take the Champlain Valley Canalway Trail to Ticonderoga. That is a flatter route with a lot of cool history of New York along the way.

A Barista gave me a special message. “Enjoy the Ride.” So far I have done just that. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say I’m have the time of my life.

I am 16 Miles North of Buffalo in Lockport. This is the beginning of my journey on the Erie Canal Trail.

The Erie Canal Trail is 280 miles of crushed limestone bikeway that follows the historic Erie Canal.

New York is called the “Empire State” because the Erie Canal was the waterway that, to a large extent prior to the railroads, built the United States West of New York.

This is the only lock on the Erie Canal where original and newer locks operate side-by-side. The photo above is the original lock with a restored canal boat tied up.

After more than 3,000 miles of dealing with cars and trucks, I’m now able to enjoy an experience where four wheeled vehicles are, at least for awhile, the furthest thing from my mind.

The historic sights along the Erie Canal are a real treat for a history buff.

With the Erie Canal Trail and the Champlain Valley Trail behind me, it’s time to enter Vermont.

I took a cable ferry from Ticonderoga at the Southern end of Lake Champlain into Vermont. I’m about 50 miles from the Canadian border.

As I’m waiting for the ferry, I’m wondering why it’s not crossing the lake to get me. I can see it on the opposite shore. I wait for about 20 minutes until a car finally joins me at the dock. The driver looks at me and says, “are you going to raise the flag to let the ferry know there is someone over here?”

That was the beginning of a nice conversation that occupied the entire crossing. (The gentleman followed my Blog and sent me a congratulations message when I finished!)

While we were crossing, I asked the captain what would happen of the cable the ferry was running on broke. He thought about it for a minute and said, “we would end up in New York Harbor.” He added, “of course we would have to navigate several locks along the Hudson River and it would probably take about two weeks…

The Ferry landed in the hamlet of Shoreham Vermont. Vermont is the home of the Green Mountain Boys. Led by Ethan Allen and others, in the 1660’s and 1670’s, they were instrumental in establishing Vermont as an independent U.S. Territory.

In May of 1775, the Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British, a key strategic victory in the early days of the American Revolution.

Vermont is green AND hilly.

There are 64 covered bridges like this one in Vermont. Yes, I think it would be fun to do a tour of all of them.

The reason they built covered bridges was to protect the bridge deck from from rot and decay caused by the severe New England weather.

Another State Line. I’m getting really close now. I can taste the finish line!

I’m crossing the Connecticut River into New Hampshire.

My body is starting to complain to me and I can hear it asking me when will I arrive in Bar Harbor?

The interesting thing about Vermont, New Hampshire and Main is that there is more climbing in those states combined than there is in either Washington or Montana.

This struck me by surprise.

It’s a different sort of climbing. The climbs are shorter, but steeper. The roads are also a lot more winding. I assume that is because when these roads were built, heavy earth moving equipment had not yet become available.

It’s no piece of cake making your way through the New England States.

It would be a lot of fun if you had a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300…