Oh Canada!

On Thursday morning, August 29, I took the final ride of my nearly two week trip.  This one did not allow me to check off a new state.  But I was able to check off my second Canadian province as I woke up in Windsor, Ontario across the river from Detroit, Michigan.  A couple of decades ago I did a bike tour from Jasper to Banff, riding down the Icefields Parkway.  So now with a morning ride in Windsor I’ve added Ontario, joining my previous ride in Alberta as my two provinces north of the U.S. border.  No, I’m not attempting to get all of the Canadian provinces!  But I figured that a ride in Canada would make for a much more interesting final ride of the trip rather than staying, and riding, in Detroit where that afternoon I went and got my 26^th active major league ballpark when I saw the Cleveland Indians play the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Waterfront Trail in Windsor begins at the Ambassador Bridge and runs for about four miles through tranquil parkland,  passing several monuments, sculptures, and giving a view of the Detroit skyline across the river.  In addition to many cyclists and runners, there are also a handful of fishermen who try their luck at catching something in the Detroit River.  Others try their luck at the Caesar's Casino across the street from the park.  When riding the Waterfront Trail you eventually have to go out onto Riverside Drive, but in that short stretch there are bike lanes on each side of the road.   Drivers in Windsor seemed very courteous to cyclists.

Here are some pictures from the Windsor Waterfront ride. 

 

 

 

I made one diversion off the trail to go over to the VIA Rail Station to see the morning train that goes to Toronto.  In the station there is a display with several hockey goalie masks that notes that the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is right across from Union Station.  As someone who worked at Amtrak for years, and as a hockey fan, this little detour a couple of blocks from the river struck a couple of chords for me.

Then it was through the Windsor-Detroit tunnel and over to Comerica Park in Detroit for the ballgame.  Afterwards I drove to Columbus, Ohio (about four hours) to spend the evening with my friend Frank who I know from my days at Amtrak, and his wife Gail.  And then Friday it was an all day drive home, with a stop in Washington, PA for lunch with my wife’s cousin.  At 7:45 p.m. my eight new state, two new ballparks, and 15th Hotter N Hell trip was over!

By Monday I will add the final post for 2019 to this blog, summarizing my efforts this year that now have me at 43 states, and I’ll outline my plans for 2020 to complete my conquest of all 50 states (and all 30 current major league ballparks)!

Thanks for reading my blog.  For those of you who want to see the data from this final ride of my trip you can go to:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4007257257

I’ll send out an email when the final post for 2019 is up.  Enjoy the holiday weekend.  

Bruce

Windy Indiana and Michigan Farm Country Ride for states 42 and 43

While I was in Texas this past weekend I bought at the Hotter N Hell consumer show a light jacket for the rest of the trip “just in case.”  Well, just in case happened this morning.  When I left the Hampton Inn in South Bend for this last state ride of my almost two week trip, it was in the 50’s and very windy.  The jacket kept me warm and comfortable for the first half hour of the ride before it finally came off.

This morning’s ride left the hotel and after heading west for a mile, turned north.  The route was quickly out of the suburban area and into farmland.  After a couple of miles of riding through Indiana, the road passed into Michigan without any notice.  Soon I was riding past cornfields that were indeed “high as an elephant’s eye.”  A turn to the west put me right into the face of a strong headwind.  While the country roads were not smooth as I might have wished for, they were not bad except for a short patch of “chip seal” that seemed to have recently received a new coating. 

In this picture I'm just as shadow of myself!

When the road passed back into Indiana, passing the state line was very noticeable.  The loose chip seal on the road turned into previously repaved chip seal with the surface somewhat smoother and noticeably darker.  Also, at that point the stateline was indicated with an understated stone marker that had Michigan on the north side and Indiana on the south side. 

After turning onto a southbound road that passed under the Indiana Tollway, the headwind turned to a crosswind and then at mile 20 a turn east to head back to South Bend put the wind at my back for most of the last 10 miles.  That was a welcome respite!

Less than a mile from the hotel there was a bike path that offered a route over a creek via a metal bridge that looked reminiscent of the bridges I’ve seen in old pictures of the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend interurban.  Can anybody confirm that my suspicion is correct?

 

With this ride I completed the goal of adding eight states to my running total during this trip.  I now have 43 states, and after tomorrow when I go to a Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers game in Detroit I’ll have 26 of the 30 current major league stadiums.

Tonight I’m in Windsor, Ontario and plan to take a 10 mile ride along the waterfront in the morning before putting the bicycle back into the car for the last time until I arrive home on Friday night.  Over the weekend I’ll add one more post wrapping up this trip and setting the scene for next summer’s pursuit on the final seven states (and four ballparks).

If you want to see the data from this morning’s ride, check here:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3998829343

Thanks for following along.

Bruce

Two Blocked Trails, the Mississippi and a Mudbath for my Bike

Up until today everything had gone exactly as planned.  Even last Thursday when morning thunderstorms in Jackson appeared to threaten my plans to ride in Mississippi, they ended early enough that I was able to get in both the Natchez Trace Parkway ride and the ride that afternoon in Shreveport.

Today the plan was to ride off Choteau Island and pick up the Madison County Trail down the Illinois side of the Mississippi River about 12 miles to the McKinley Bridge to cross over to St. Louis.  Then the plan was to ride up the Riverfront Trail on the Missouri side of the river, and cross the Chain of Rocks Bridge, the former Route 66 span that is now for pedestrians and cyclists only, returning to the car at the parking lot on the  Illinois side.

On the road leading to the former Route 66 Bridge

People Used to "Get Their Kicks on Route 66"

The road off the Island was part of Route 66

This is not the Chain of Rocks Bridge.  This is the bridge off Choteau Island where the Chain of Rocks Bridge begins/ends.

Very early on in the ride I lost the trail and ended up on a local road through a semi-rural area.  After several miles I saw a utility crew and asked them if they knew where the trail was.  One of the guys said I should turn around and go about ¼ of a mile back where I’d see it cross the road.  Somehow I’d missed it on my way down.  The trail at points ended up using local streets with turns not always well marked.  Eventually I made it to the point where the trail goes along the river to the McKinley Bridge, but there was a sign that the trail was closed while an 18 month reconstruction projects was being done on a railroad bridge that crosses the Mississippi, and which the trail passes under.  I hunted for an alternate route and finally rode about three miles on a highway shoulder to reach the bridge.  The bicycle trail across the bridge used what had apparently been a railroad right of way at one time.  The Gateway Arch, downtown St. Louis, and the twin towers of a highway bridge that each looked like the arch were all visible from the bridge.

The suspension bridge with arch-like towers crosses the Mississippi and the Gateway Arch is seen at the right.  This view is from the McKinley Bridge.

 

The Gateway Arch

The bicycle and pedestrian section of the McKinley Bridge

When I reached the St. Louis side I headed for the Riverfront Trail to head north to the Chain of Rocks Bridge, but part of the trail was closed just like the one on the Illinois side.  So I headed north on the bike lane on Broadway, past basically an industrial area.  It became obvious that I was slowly moving away from the river.  I asked a man, about my age, who had just gotten out of his car how to get back over to the river.  He gave methe directions and then said, “That will be $2.00.”  I assumed he was kidding so I joked back, “Put it on my account.” He responded that I didn’t have an account and that I’d have to give him the $2.00.  I’d never had an experience like that.  I said, “I’ll send it to you,” and pedaled away as quickly as I could.

After several more miles of riding through industrial areas I reached the Riverfront Trail.  The night before it had rained heavily and there were puddles and patches of mud.  Unfortunately one of the mud patches was a bit deeper than it looked and I ended up with thick mud all over the bike.  In fact it was so thick on the wheels that it fouled up the brakes and as the bike moved it picked up dirt on the trail and turned it into mud.  I had to stop, pick up some branches and work for about 20 minutes to get enough of the mud off the bike that the wheels would turn.  I should have taken a picture to post here, but I was too focused on trying to get enough mud off the bike to ride it, that I never thought about using the camera.  Finally, when I got back to the hotel (it’s a good thing I had asked for a late checkout) they turned on their outside hose so I could somewhat clean off the bike.  That thick mud clung to the bike like concrete and I must have been spraying the bike for at least 15 minutes!

On the Chain of Rocks Bridge there were a few artifacts from Route 66 which were a nice touch.

Entrance to the Chain of Rocks Bridge

Crossing the Bridge

Route 66 artifacts on the bridge

So even though the day did not work out quite like it was planned, I did get two more states, Illinois and Missouri, bringing the total to 41.  Tomorrow is a 30+ mile loop from South Bend through parts of Indiana and Michigan leaving seven states for next year!

Thanks for following along.  There will be another post about tomorrow’s ride, possibly one more since I’ll get to do a short ride in Ontario, and then sometime this coming weekend a wrap-up of this trip.  

Here’s the data from today’s mudfest!

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3997184933