Bicycle Tours

This May, the Rear Admiral and I will be married for 25 years. We decided to do something big to celebrate our life together. We are planning on loading SeeMore up, and heading west.

On May 20th, we will ride east to Seabrook New Hampshire. There we will touch the Atlantic Ocean, and stay overnight before returning back home. School lets out around June 20th. Then we will continue this adventure.

Our first night will see us ride route 101 then 119 towards rte 9 in Brattleboro Vermont, and our second or third night will hopefully see us on the other side of the Green Mountains, in Bennington Vermont. From there we will follow the Erie Canal system across New York. We have traveled this way before, and are very excited to do it again. We plan to visit Dustin in Rochester, New York and then head into Fort Erie, Ontario across the Peace Bridge.

In Ontario we will be traveling through the towns of Dunnville, Port Boyer, Port Stanley, Wallacetown, and Marine City. Next we will cross into Michigan and travel through the towns of Capac, Silverwood, Bay City, Midland, Coleman, Lake George, and Ludington. At Ludington we will cross Lake Michigan via the ferry to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, we will be traveling through the towns of Wrightstown, Shiocton, Shawano, Mattoon, Crandon, Eagle River, Conover, Boulder Junction, Mercer, Butternut, Clam Lake, Haugen, Cumberland, and Osceola. We cross the Mighty Mississippi River in St Paul Minnesota, will ride across Minnesota visiting towns named Dalbo, Milaca, Royalton, Long Prairie, Clitherall, Battle Lake, Pelican Rapids and Hawley.

We will cross North Dakota at Fargo, and visit the towns of Erie, Hope, Cooperstown, Binford, Warwick, Minnewaukan, Esmond, Rugby, Granville, Minot, Makoti, New Town and Williston. We will spend a while in Montana, while visiting Big Sky Country, we plan to do a night ride. We will also travel through the towns of Bainville, Colbertson, Poplar, Wolf Point, Frazer, Glasgow, Hindsdale, Saco, Malta, Wagner, Harlem, Chinook, Havre, Kremlin, Inverness, Lothair, Shelby, and Cut Bank.

From Cut Bank, we head north into Alberta Canada, before going across the "Road to the Sun" in Glacier National Park. Continuing our Montana experience, we will travel through the towns named Whitefish, Olney, Eureka, Libby, and Troy. Crossing into Idaho we will travel from Clark Fork to Sandpoint.

Our last state will be Washington. We will be traveling through Newport, Ione, Colville, Kettle Falls, Republic, Wauconda, Tonasket, Okanogan, Twisp, and Mazama. We will explore North Cascades National Park and continue through to Anacortes Washington where we will touch the Pacific Ocean.

That's the plan. We hope to finish by the end of August.

During the first two weeks of July 2005 Mary (the Rear Admiral), our nephew Georges, and I toured Nova Scotia on bikes. My Mom and Dad, who traveled via motorhome, also joined us. Oh the home cooked dinners we ate (THANKS MOM!) and the great guidance (THANKS DAD!)

Nova Scotia is divided into ten scenic travel-way sections and we were able to ride the Lighthouse Route, Sunrise Trail, Glooscap Trail, and Evangeline Trail. . . yes Dad we did need 4 weeks, but we only had two.

We had GREAT weather (it only really rain only once, and that was at the end of our day in Lunenburg), and only one day of bad headwinds. The routes are mostly not busy (the roads on the Glooscap need major repairs!) and the Nova Scotia drivers are THE BEST! They are very very courteous to cyclist.

If you go, bring bug spray, use the information centers, don't worry about the hills, there will always be one more, and cross your fingers for great weather!

From: Wellesley, MA
To: Bourne, MA
Mileage: 89.7

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We registered Friday night and found the process very well organized. We were given an ID bracelet that tracked our movement from the start through the water stops and the finish line.

After spending Friday night in Gillette Stadium listing to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, we arrived at Newman Elementary school at 6:15. It was raining and overcast, with temperatures in the upper 60s. Our kids helped get our gear ready and left to go back to the hotel (and more sleep) Clyde lead us to Babson College and the start of the PMC, the rain was steadily coming down but with our rain gear we remained dry and warm.

There were about 2000 bike riders of all abilities, and a number of fellow tandem riders at Babson College. It was quite a scene, we have never witnessed so many cyclist in one place. At 7:30, after stretching, meeting people, and picture taking, everyone lined up for the starting line in three large groups. The experienced cyclist 18 mph and up at the left, the intermediate cyclist 18 - 14 mph in the middle (and the largest group), and the casual riders to the far right. We were to be released one group after another.

Mary was part of team ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) and I was an adopted member of ABC, because Clyde refused to be split in half. There are 12 members of Team ABC, and 7 members belong in the first group of riders. They wanted all of us to start off together, so Clyde joined them at the start (with a little bit of wariness in his stride). Off we went, under a gray threatening sky. We had removed our raincoats, and would not need them for the rest of the trip. The ABC team was in the back of the elite riders, and the first 2 miles we rode out of Babson in a pack of about 200 riders at a moderate pace. Words cannot describe the experience of riding those first few miles line with people cheering us on. However, the sight of well-wishers did not end at the starting line, during the whole 86 miles, the road had pockets of people cheering us on. Some blew horns, some offered water, some offered support, some saying thanks, some spraying water, and some holding pictures of children that won or loss their battle with cancer. It was a very humbling experience for us.

Clyde usually rides alone, we have our own pace that we go through life. As we reached the 2-mile marker, people began to pass and we pass a few but the pace that Clyde was comfortable was established. Roy, Ivan, and Chris (ABC members) followed us, and we followed them for this journey. Even though we had just a few sprinkles in the first 10 miles, the road was full of puddles and water. Water sprayed like shower nozzles for the bikes in front. Soon our feet would remain wet for the remainder of the ride.

The route was extremely well marked, and at the dangerous intersections the volunteers and police stopped traffic for us. There were 4 water stops spaced about 18 miles from each other. All at schools, offering water, Gatorade, food, massage, bike repair, music, and port-a-johns. Peanut Butter sandwiches never tasted better. For the 4000 riders (2000 riders started at Sturbridge), there was almost 2000 volunteers, and they where GREAT!

This event is a model for fund raising, almost all the funds raised (I believe 92 percent) go directly into the fight against cancer, and it was amazing to see everyone along the way giving of their time and energy.

The ride was beautiful and we rode through state forests, farmland, small towns, and neighborhoods throughout southeastern Massachusetts. About 30 miles into the ride, the Sturbridge group joined us. We had merged with the Sturbridge elite riders (because they were on their 50-mile marker). For the whole trip (except for a very small break) we could see riders ahead, passing, or behind us. At one time 20 elite riders, who missed a turn, passed the 5 of us. I guess if the first rider misses the sign, the people behind him/her just ride with faith. Mary and I yelled, and the last two riders hear us and peel off. They then yelled, and the next few peel off, this continued (I can only assume) until they all turned around. They got back together and passed us again about a mile up the road. All giving Clyde thanks for the "heads up".

The weather turned humid, hot, and SUNNY the last 12 miles of the trip. We rode into Bourne, a large crowd of well-wishers, and the finish line around 1:10. The other ABC team riders average 18.6 mph and where waiting for us. After drinking lots of water, and talking with fellow riders and watched other cyclist finish, we headed back towards the Lindsay's restaurant (our pick up spot) off the Cranberry highway We did not have one breakdown, and Clyde, Mary and myself feel very good, with no soreness. We know we just did a big ride, but feel very good.

Average speed: 16.3 mph
Starting time: 7:30 a.m
Finishing time: 1:10 p.m.
No. of Riders: 3,582
2003- Money Raised (as of 8/1/03): $9,400,000

Dear Friends,

Everyone has been touched by cancer in their lives. We have lost family members and friends to this disease. Thankfully, due to incredible research and innovation at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, many are becoming cancer survivors. The PMC is an annual fundraising bike-a-thon with a specific goal: to eradicate cancer. Mary and I were honored to ride for "Team Decco" and the many who gave us donations.

From: Mount Vernon
To: Mount Vernon
Mileage: 37

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Last day of biking. Dustin has to get home for the SATs on Saturday morning. He has been studying pretty hard during this vacation. It was nice to be away from all the distractions of being at home. Mary and I left the kids at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. They were done with biking, and wanted to spend the day exploring Mount Vernon. This is the second time they've been there, but they were just toddlers their first visit. They visited everything except the house itself because of the very very long line to get in. Mary and I left (directly from the parking lot) on the Mount Vernon trail to Washington D.C. It links up to the C&O near the Key's bridge and Georgetown University. It was partly cloudy, but turned to all sunshine around 11:00. The temperture was in the 80's. The paved trail winds around for 18.5 miles along the Potomac river and through Alexandria VA. We passed many people jogging, walking, and biking. But the trail was not crowded at all. We past Jones Point Lighthouse, Ronald Regan National Airport and Lady Bird Johnson Park. We crossed the Arlington bridge instead of going down two bridges to Keys bridge so that we could park on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial. We saw a red tailed fox on the side of the Lincoln Memorial's lawn! This paved trail is a must do for any biker. It reminded Mary of a ride in an amusement park, with natural beauty. She puts it in her top ten rides; I kid her because she has so many top ten rides. What a great way to end this biking journey. Clyde was very happy on this stretch of trail, and strutted his stuff. He needs a bath, and some TLC. He was a really trooper with no problems except once a day the large tandem chain would fall off due to a stick getting caught in a crank cog. Mary's leg feels very good after this trip of 37 miles. After 6 days at about 56 miles a day, I feel great. Today my back did not hurt at all. Next time, I will prepare a little differently. I would do more upper body strength building. The trails take more arm and back abuse then I thought that they would. I think the next adventure will be doing the Erie canal!