Day 43 – Our Final Rest Day

July 30, 2018

Day 43 – Final Rest Day in Niagara Falls, NY, USA

I really, really like rest days.  I am not alone.  But this is different from the others.  

Before we get to that, just a quick sketch of a terrific day.  After a lazy start, several folks attended Reid’s stretching seminar this morning.  I don’t know how so many folks made the 7:30 session, but I went to the 8:30 rerun.   After breakfast, some folks took a boat trip on the Maid of the Mist and some toured wineries.  Tami and I decided to go for a leisurely bike ride on the nearby bike path and along the rim of the Niagara River.  No need for spandex or cycling shoes today.   

The river rapids downstream of the falls were a brilliant aqua blue and white.  Some tens of thousands of years ago, the current falls were seven miles downstream from their current location.  Erosion rates vary, but are averaging somewhere around four feet per year.   All along the rim, we encountered more beautiful scenery and vistas.  All told, we had a leisurely 10-mile round trip.  I spent about an hour this afternoon working on my bike, cleaning it up and getting ready for tomorrow.  

We had a great group dinner at a nearby restaurant, Wine on Third, and finished it off with ice cream at Twist of the Mist (a play on all the other touristy “mist” offerings.) 

Tomorrow we begin our final leg of the journey starting with a 104-mile ride to Rochester, NY.  And there will be some killer climbs as we bike over mountains to get across Vermont and New Hampshire on our way to the Atlantic Ocean.  

But it is not the biking.  

It is a feeling of the impending melancholy that the challenge, the effort, the joy of riding our bikes every day will soon be coming to an end.  Sound crazy?  Yes, it is a bit of that. 

We have formed bonds of friendship, of the shared challenge, of the aches and pains, and to be sure, of the many many laughs and good times.  It will be hard to replace that.  When this is all over and we have said our probably tearful goodbyes, we will return to our daily lives.  Some will return to their offices and daily grind.   

We are already starting to talk about where and when we should have a “reunion ride”.   And … we’re not even done with this one yet. 

Please enjoy a few photos of our leisure time in Niagara Falls and thank you so much for following along at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com. Please keep those cards and letters coming.  Really appreciated!  

… Jeff