Day Five

Day Five of the Great Bicycle Journey to the New York City: Phenomenal day. Reece and I trekked some 101.42 miles all over Ontario, pounding the pavement into submission with our tires. We started in Marine City Michigan and crossed by ferry for $1 apiece, and while doing so happened to meet a lady and her husband who kindly paid for us. On the ferry, she shared that her dad had played football with Vince Lombardi at Fordham University back in the late 30's and was one of the "Seven Blocks of Granite". His name is James Hayes, class of '39. Really cool. Anyway-we covered a lot of miles through Canada, I mooed at a lot of cows we passed, and at one point we got chased down by two giant dogs that we barely outpaced on our bikes at 30 mph. It's been an incredible, awesome, memorable day. Buffalo, we're coming for you.

Make Way for Ducklings!

We added four to the Barnhart family this week when we picked up some suckling ducklings. 

We picked two Rouen, which look similar to Mallards, and two Khaki Campbell
which are supposed to be good for egg production.  Our plan is to take them to the Rowe's where we'll have them run around eating all the bugs and create a fun diversion for the kids.

 The ducklings are set up in the basement where they have had a lot of attention from the kids since we picked them up on Thursday.  They were probably 2-3 days old then and are around 4 days old in this photo.

And no, they're not under a red light to prepare them for broasting, it's just their heat lamp.

Make way for ducklings!

Day Four

No picture for today. Long day, tough day. Started out by Ypslanti and biked north through parts of Detroit up about ten miles outside of a town called Marine City, where we'll cross by ferry over into Canada. Hopefully I'll have access to some WiFi in Canada, but I won't be able to use my phone internet for regular updates for a few days. Trip is going well though.

And it comes to an end...

I was in a bit of a somber mood this morning, and decided to take a walk through a lovely cemetery near my apartment here in Seattle. The sun was rising, birds were singing quietly in the trees, and here and there people were reverently visiting the resting places of people they love. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I came upon this grave and tombstone.

Happy retirement, Dad!

Day Three

Day Three of the Great Bike Trip to NYC: A long, good, hard day. Only one flat today, and it was mine. A patch later, we were good to go. Also, a slight correction on yesterday's post: we only rode 90 miles and got to Bronson, Michigan. So today, we made up the ten miles and then road another 90 to get to Ypslanti. We traversed many rolling hills in southern Michigan and couldn't have been more grateful to see the view from inside our hosts garage looking out onto a beautiful evening over the neighborhood. It's good to feel/be at a home, at least for one night.

Day Two

Day Two of The Great Bike Trip to NYC: a really great day. Despite overcoming the overwhelming odds of two flat tires on the road, Reece and I made great time from Laporte, Indiana to Bronson, Michigan, tallying up 98 miles for the day. Entering into God's country (Michigan) was particularly meaningful for me, while Reece was merely quoted saying "it's nice". Truly a great day for the Buffalo Riders. Look out New York, we're coming!!

Day One of the Great Bike Trip

Day One of the Great Bike Trip to NYC: a good deal of a learning curve. Heavy winds and rain riding down Lake Michigan from Chicago, followed by three flats at different various places, a broken spoke and bent rim, compliments of Gary, Indiana, and a ton of lasagna and great food, from the kindness of the Buresh family in LaPorte, Indiana. Day One; 77 miles: complete.

Powerkiting at the Beach

Powerkiting at the Beach

To all those that think I'm only working hard, slaving away on the Subaru project with dad in my newfound, post college graduation freedom while I'm at home--I'm not. I'm also finding a little time for recreation, or in this case some powerkiting at the state park. My friend Alex and I hadn't gotten out there with our kites in a couple summers, but yesterday we decided to go again. I still only weigh just a little under 300 lbs, and this is how much it was tossing me around. Wind is powerful.

Also, I'm heading out on my cycling trip from Chicago to the east coast next week. Prayers are appreciated, as are Tour dé France style roadside concession stands set up ever forty kilometers or so. If you all take shifts, I think we can have evenly distributed stands all the way from Wheaton to Newark. Anyway, I'll be posted a picture or something everyday to keep everyone in the loop and let them know I haven't eaten poison berries or went crazy.