Bike in the water…The trip is complete.

At 7:06 pm EST I stepped on to the beach at the Atlantic Ocean. 3651 total miles across.

I made it.

Yesterday, I rode across Vermont in the morning. Yes, all the way across a state

I may make it to the coast today. It is a little of a streach, but we will see what happens. I think there should be a lot of down hill.

I took the tour today. Very interesting. I have seen many pictures from the 1850-80′s. On the tour I would walk into a room and recognize it. It was very cool.

The building is 93,000 sq/ft. There is a lot to see. I am going to have to go back and stay in the house. Take some time just meandering and reading. They have an amazing library, so many old books.

I took lots of pictures.

So, I made it to Oneida. I rode by the Oneida Community Mansion and looked around the town. Tomorrow, I will take the tour and be on my way. So, in a way today is a rest day.

I found the Oneida books that I have been looking for for about 2 weeks. I have been reading most of the morning. I found a great book that is a reproduction of a diary of a community member from 1876 with commentary. The member, a man, fell in love with another member. Personal and community strife followed. They ultimatly left the community. Very interesting.

Over all Oneida is a very pleasent town. There are huge, wonderful, brick houses everywhere. It is a town that seems like it has been around forever and will last forever too.

The canal path has been nice, very level

I tought that I would make it back into the US today. As it turns out, I think that I am within sight of it, but still in Canada. This is a bad thing because today is the start of a long weekend in Canada. So, the room rates are very, very high. Life goes on.

Once I am back in the US, I will have about 488 miles left in the trip. I really can’t beleive the end is so close.

I plan to spend some time at the falls. Then, I am told that there is an Eire Canal bike trail. I will try to find it and ride it.

I am just going to take it easy and enjoy the last few days of the ride.

I passed through Woodstock today. Well, Woodstock, Onterio. I don’t make it to New York until tomorrow. I think I will stay around Niagara Falls. It would be cool to stay at the falls, but I am sure they will want an arm or a leg. I am using all mine at the moment.

The ride is going very well. I am only days away from finishing. So, I am starting to reflect.

Yesterday, Phil headed south and I headed east.

I went to the Dow Gardens and took some cool pictures.

So far, I have covered 2750 miles. I have less than 1000 to go. I expect to be done in about 14 days.

Yesterday I rode 64 miles. It rained for most of the morning, but after that it was a very pleasant day for a bike ride. I passed through Ocean Spray’s CO-OP farms and saw lots of cranberry fields. Most of the day was spent in wetlands. I took some cool panoramas and pictures of water lilies.

A strange transformation has occurred in my mind. I am now a cyclist. I ride the bike and it is easy now. When I started the trip, I was unsure I would be able to complete it. Now, I have no doubt. It is only a matter of time.

Now, I am looking for the next challenge. I have been watching Le Tour de France. I am getting some ideas. I am now in good shape. Funny how riding a bike packed with 75 or so pounds of gear for 8 to 10 hrs a day can do that. Anyway, in today’s stage the riders were averaging about 25 miles per hour. Good pace. On my 165 mile day I had an average of 16.7 miles per hour.