Sunday June 1st Route

Niagara here we come! Sunday's route Welland to Batavia, takes us though Niagara Falls. After we leave Welland its a short ride to the falls. We plan to spend a little time on the Canadian side before crossing the bridge into the US. From there we will continue on to Batavia.

Day Six Leamington to Welland Ontario

Today was our longest route 104 miles. That's a long way to go in one day on a bicycle. To make it harder there was strong eastery head wind most of the day. The guys worked hard to keep the group together and maintain a steady pace throughout the day. We stopped every 15-20 miles to rest and replenish.

The landscape along the route was mostly farmland. Similar to midwest farms this time of year workers could be seen plowing and planting. I noticed a few covered flat green houses with early season plantings well underway.

Our destination was Welland. This is a town that once thrived on industry. One such was six paper mills. One of them previously owned by the Chicago Tribune which milled and shipped rolls of newprint from here to Chicago via the great lakes. All but one of those mills are gone today.

We had dinner at the Welland Firehouse who's members came to greet us and opened their house for the evening. Desert was served compliments of the ice cream parlor next door.

Detour. It pains us to do this but today for eight miles we had to load our bikes into the vans and portage a construction zone. Traffic on route 3 was heavy and the paving work left no shoulder for us to ride on. Pat Brennon, Greg P and Mike Sequin make light of the situation.

I see a lot of this here. Farmland with mixed energy and communication substities. Wind generators, cell towers and oil wells.

Nice house rest stop along the road today.

On some occasions riders having a mechanical or tired day may have to use the van draft up to the main group of riders on windy sections of road.

Rider Pat Brennon

The Welland FD prepared a great feast for us. 

 Inside the Wellend Firefighter house hall with the Ignite the Spirit and 41&9 riders and support crew.

Day Five Leamington to St. Thomas

We had a great day on the road today. We stayed at the SeaCliff Hotel in Leamington. It's nested on the shores of Lake Erie directly north of Sandusky Ohio, Cedar Point and Pelee Island. At the end of the road is the ferry which can take you to Pelee and beyond. Leamington is Tomato capital of Canada. Leamington sitting on the north shores of lake Erie (which are noteably warm in this region) provides a idea humid climate and soil composition for growing produce and flowers. There are miles of greenhouses along Rt3 as we rode into town.

From Leamington we rode east, northeast toward St. Thomas. Tom Omsted, a local cycling trainer guided us along the Talbot Path Rt3

Leamington, Tomato capital of the world. According to this price at a local restaurant they must not be in season.

Yes there are still phone booths in Canada. A rarity in the states.

Know your flags; Canada, Ontario, Leamington, and USA flags

The harbor of Leamington looking South to Ohio USA

The SeaCliff Hotel

Tom Omsted giving us a brief history of the region before our departure.

The marshes of Leamington wildlife conservatory

Along the route of the Talbot Path crossing Point Pelee National Park

Tony Snyder pedaling out the early miles

HIKE Metal Shipyard. Among others, this company makes the boats that tour Niagara Falls. "Maiden of the Mist"

HIKE Metal Shipyard

Route along Lake Erie with a perfectly centered utility pole. Its challenging to take pictures with and iphone while riding. If you stop to take a picture you lose the group and have to catch back on which requires a bit of hard pedaling.

Many modern homes line the route and are settled close to the shore.

This is Chicago Firefighter Mike Sequin on today's ride. The ribbons tied to his seat pack are his 

"Ribbons from the Heart". Each representing a love one whom battled cancer. 

Each color represents a different type of cancer.

The Red Jersey

In the Giro d Italia race the race leader wears the Pink Jersey. In the Tour de France the leader wears the yellow jersey. On the Wrigley to Fenway ride one rider each day is honored to carry Hanks Schuelers Red Jersey. Today I was bestowed that honor. 

Large Turtle we saw along the route.

View of an echelon. This formation is used when riding into a cross wind (similar to geese flying), In this case the wind is coming from the right. Cyclist overlap the rider in front to conserve energy and maintain speed. Staying in the draft can save about 30% of your energy.

Matt and I posing with Hank's jersey (#9 Bulldog baseball jersey) and the Northwood #9 engine.  The number 9 has been a reoccuring coincidence with these fire truck throughout the ride.

Arriving in London, just outside St. Thomas behind fire engine escort.

Today's Plan St Thomas to Welland

Today we ride from St Thomas/London to Welland Ontario. This is our longest planned day of riding. 103 miles by this plan but could be approximately 110 miles with detours and or alternate routes if we choose to take them.

**For those of you following me on Garmin "Live Tracking"; I may not be able to send my signal. International cell phone data is limited with my current plan. We will see once I'm on the road.