If you follow the “Where are We” page or Nick’s Instagram, you know that we already finished the trip! But we still wanted to post more photos for the last few weeks of our journey.
MUSIC
And the Winner Is by DeVotchka (Little Miss Sunshine)
The Last Rose of Summer/Be Thou My Vision by Fiddle Chick and Picky
After such a great time in the Midwest, we turned our bikes Northeast for the last leg of our journey and arrived at our tenth state of Pennsylvania. While this is quite a wide state, we would only be traversing the narrowest part along Lake Erie. Our first day out of the Midwest also brought on a cold front with forecasted evening rains and storms. So we woke up early to knock out as many miles as possible, hoping to make it to the east side of Erie, PA.
Our plans got delayed after Spencer heard an odd creaking coming from the back of his bike. Upon inspection he found that a number of spokes were pulling through the rim.
We consulted our good friend Marty, who formly owned a bikeshop; he said we should be able to ride on it to make it to a bike shop, just don’t bomb any hills. We arrived in Erie and stopped at John Adam’s Bike shop who instantly put up Spencer’s bike on a stand, put on a new rear rim, all just one hour before they closed. What great service! We headed out to our hotel for that evening, but not before getting caught in a DOWNPOUR. Thankfully we were just 10 minutes from the hotel.
The next day we decided to stay in another hotel as thunderstorms were predicted for the late afternoon and evening. We made our way along the lake and Concord grape vineyards towards our destination of Dunkirk, NY, bringing us to our eleventh state. We had made really good time that day and were 20 minutes from our destination as clouds began to build behind us. Just as it seemed that we would race out the rain, Nick looked down to see he had a flat rear tire. The tire wouldn’t hold air for more than 5 seconds, so a change was required…as it began to POUR BUCKETS of rain. Thankfully Dennis, a Good Samaritan who lived across the street from where we stopped, saw us and let us change the flat in his driveway. After taking shelter in his shed, we got back on our bikes after a break in the storm and made it to the hotel. Now, you may think we had gone soft and were only staying in hotels at this point; however, neither one of us enjoy camping in tents during thunderstorms. Our choice was confirmed as a wise one as Lake Erie had waterspouts that night.
We headed next to Niagara Falls, an official stop on the Northern Tier. We were both excited to see the falls as Nick had been as a young kid and Spencer had never seen them. We biked along the lake and hit Buffalo. It was inspiring to see a city that was seeking to reinvent itself after having so many factories and foundries close over the years. Our route took us through the city before crossing over into Canada, the preferred side to observe the falls (sorry American side). We had heard that Canadians were very polite and courteous, and we got to experience this even before we were in the country. As we crossed the bridge we met George at the gate leading to the Canadian side. He biked ahead and as we came down the bridge, he was waiting for us and rode with us about three miles to make sure we found our way. It was great to hear about his love for cycling, his work and family, and his Canadian perspective on life. Just another example of divine appointments by which we were blessed.
Often times, one goes back to visit something from childhood and remarks, “huh, this seemed bigger when I was a kid.” Niagara Falls does not fit into that category! From a distance, we began to see the mist of the falls rise up from the river well above all of the surrounding buildings. We arrived just as the sun was setting which created a spectacular rainbow. After spending time observing the falls from different angles, we navigated through the crowded streets to our accommodation that night. It turns out that we were there on a Canadian three day weekend, so the area was packed with families out for one last trip before the school year began.
The next morning, we headed north along the river before entering back into the USA. As we were getting ready to cross the bridge, we noticed a group of cyclists waiting to cross. We asked what was going on, and they informed us that there was a century ride that started out in Buffalo, NY that morning. Riders were just getting to the bridge to cross back to the US and they had an entire lane blocked off for the cyclists! We asked if it was OK if we rode along and they had no problem with us crossing with them back to the US. The entire bridge was lined with cars waiting to go through customs and we bypassed them all, probably saving us an hour or more of waiting in line. After crossing the bridge we parted ways with the other cyclists and rode through the countryside of New York until the city of Lockport, where we joined the Erie Canal trail, a crushed stone trail that follows the Erie Canal. Childhood songs came back into mind… “And you’ll always know your neighbor, And you’ll always know your pal, If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal.” AKA, the Low Bridge Song!
After riding along the Erie Canal for a few days, including a zero day in Brockport, we headed north to meet up with Lake Ontario, our third and final Great Lake of the trip. There is something about being on water which is relaxing and inspiring, particularly when you can watch the sunset. We were treated to quite a display of the Lord’s handiwork that evening and went to bed with full hearts.
The next few days of riding became increasingly hilly, signaling we were approaching the Adirondacks. One of our accommodations included a stay at Stysh’s Brown Barn, a campground run by a great guy named Dan. He was very enthusiastic about cyclists and gave us great advice about our ride the next day. Big hills. It may sound odd, but just knowing how many big hills you will have in a day makes the ride easier. Just as our blog is named, we had a slight detour that day. We had planned on bagging more miles; but as we rode along the Fulton Chain Lakes, Spencer’s rear derailleur cable snapped. This caused his bike to shift into its top gear as they were pedaling uphill (not fun). Turns out we really are being blessed on this trip, as we had literally just left the Pedals and Petals bike shop/flower shop in Inlet and were no more than a quarter mile from its front door. The owner personally fixed the bike and again provided great service! We audibled that evening and only biked to Racquette Lake where the owner had said we could find cheap hotel rooms above a small restaurant. Seeing as rain was predicted, we took his advice. We adjusted our plans for the next few days and had a short ride to Ticonderoga where we would take another zero day. Our generous motel owner saw we were bikers and upgraded us to a ground floor room with a full kitchen! This and wonderful meals at the Hot Biscuit Diner ensured we had a great zero day.
After a short ferry ride, we entered into our twelfth state of Vermont. We were warned about the route in the Northeast, as they apparently did not know of the concept of a switchback and just went up and over the mountains when the built the roads. We saw a sign with a 12% grade climbing over Middlebury Gap, the steepest we saw on the trip. That evening, we were blessed by another WarmShowers host, Anders and his fiancé, in South Royalton, VT. They had moved to the area to attend the law school in town and were literally still moving in when we arrived! So generous to open up their home to us.
That day, Nick had noticed a music instrument repair store in a tiny town we road through. He recalled that our friends Steve and Leah had just visited Leah’s sister and brother in-law somewhere in rural Vermont and that the brother in-law worked for a music instrument repair store. Nick texted them to see exactly where it was, and sure enough, it was the one we had rode past. Even knowing that, we were in for quite the surprise the next morning. That morning as we made the steep climb out of Sharon, VT, a passing car rolled down their window and yelled “Nick!” It was Leah’s mom and sister! Leah had just let them know that morning we would be passing through the area which is where her sister lives. It just turned out we were at an intersection at the same time on a rural mountain road with almost no traffic. We both feel incredibly blessed by preordained appointments, such as this one, that we don’t know of in advance.
We made it New Hampshire that evening, our 13th state. The next day we had our biggest climb east of the Mississippi, Kancamangus Pass. On the way up, we crossed the Appalachian Trail and had the chance to talk with some hikers on their own long distance journey. It was also exciting for Spencer to see the trail as his sister, Kim, had hiked the trail and met her now husband on the trip. Although we climbed 2000+ feet that day, the grade was much better than in Vermont and our legs felt pretty great that day. We were admiring the view after the pass when we struck up a conversation with Liz and Dave. It turns out their daughter had bicycled cross country a few years earlier. We enjoyed hearing about their own adventures in the Adirondacks before heading down the mountain and into our 14th and final state of Maine.
Our campground that evening wasn’t our favorite as the area had some flooding a few weeks earlier, resulting in contaminated ground water. The campground host was kind enough to provide us with a gallon of water to get us through the night (that was after seeing the disbelief on our face since there were no stores within 10 miles). The next morning we stopped early for water at a rural convenience store. It turns out they also served breakfast, including grilled wild blueberry muffin tops. This amazing breakfast item was confirmation we were in Maine.
We made our way through the hills of western Maine to the Lewiston Auburn area. We had our last WarmShowers stay with another wonderful hostess and host, Kathleen and John. We had a spectacular dinner including curried carrot slaw and pizza with veggies from the garden. It also turned out that John had lived in Nick’s hometown in Indiana for one year while in junior high! Such a small world. We greatly enjoyed our conversation with them, hearing about their own bike tours and life now in Maine.
The next day led us down the coast for our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean. We wound our way along bike paths and eventually the famous Route 1 that most vacationers take along the coast through the state. After some VERY steep hills, we finally made it to Moody’s Diner where we met up with Nick’s parents. They had moved to Maine over a decade ago and were excited to host us for our last zero day. We spent our time exploring the coast near Camden and eating amazing meals. It was such a blessing to spend time with them as we neared the end of our journey.
The next two days led us into the heart of Down East Maine, to the region of Acadia. The Northern Tier officially ends in Bar Harbor, but we would be traveling a bit further to hit the easternmost point of the US of A. We had our last night of camping in Ellsworth before connecting with the Down East Sunrise Trail. This rail to trail would be better described as a rail to ATV path. The larger limestone gravel made it a bit challenging at times to ride; however, we were more than happy to not have to watch out for traffic in our mirrors. We made our last stop in Machias and rested up for the final push. This also allowed us to get our fill in of more wild blueberries.
We woke up to gloriously blue skies for our final 36 miles of riding to the West Quoddy Lighthouse, just outside of Lubec, ME. Our ride began with a short distance on the Sunrise trail before turning off at East Machias and heading toward Cutler. At Cutler, we passed the Naval Station, which is an array of antenna that’s used in the Atlantic for communications with submarines.
After Passing through Cutler, the wind was at our backs and it seemed like no time at all before we were at the lighthouse in West Quoddy. There to greet us were Nick’s parents and we were surprised by his Aunt and Uncle, Mark and Mary, who drove out from Indiana to see us finish! After lots of hugs and photos, we made our way down to the shore to dip our tires into the Atlantic Ocean. This also gave Spencer the opportunity to pour Pacific water he had carried from Cape Alava and for Nick to skip two rocks he had carried as well.
The next few days were spent with Nick’s family on Campobello Island, a Canadian island in New Brunswick which is also home to Roosevelt Campobello International Park (FDR’s former vacation home). We took some nice hikes, ate really well, played a lot of cards, and shared many laughs as we reflected back on our 4000+ journey.
We also had the chance to check out Acadia National Park and meet up with our Kiwi friends, Tom and Jane, who finished soon after we did.
So what was it like finishing? Surreal. We mentally know that we biked across America, from the Westernmost point in the 48 to the Easternmost point; but it still feels quite strange to have accomplished something we have been planning for so long. But what stuck out the most to us both is how much we were provided for by the Lord and how wonderful the people were along the way, whether strangers who hosted us, or friends and family along the way.
Thanks to all of you who made our journey possible, through your hospitality, encouragement, and prayers. We are eternally grateful to have had such an amazing journey. May you all be blessed in your own journeys and detours.
A Slight Detour 