But ABB has been doing this for so long - they have thought of every detail. First, as I mentioned yesterday, they prescreened all of our passports. Second, they have over the years worked out a deal with the Bridge Authority to shut down the bridge to traffic so that we riders can cross safely.
This is not something easy to do. This is like shutting down one of the NY bridges. In order to make sure we are all together they have us line up at the bottom of the bridge.
They put the slow riders up front (me included). Then they have a truck that escorts us over the bridge. Here is the side view of the bridge again.
It actually is a big hill climb to get up and across the bridge. When we were on the bridge, the ABB crew shot pictures of us crossing as a group. As I was in the front, I am hoping they got a couple of pictures of me riding on the bridge. If so, I will post tomorrow.
Once we were over the bridge, we had to go through Canadian Customs. They reviewed our passports one at a time. Again the bridge is still closed - so I suspect the people in the cars were steaming.
I am happy to report we all made it into Canada. We put Bill ("wounded warrior project") up front with his American Flag and Canadian Shirt - to warm them up.
So we have now officially left the USA. And contrary to my friend Rich Luciano who said I have now been disqualified on my ride because we left the USA, I reminded him this is America by Bike - not the USA by Bike - and the last time I looked Canada was on the North American continent! Phew!
But just in case there was one last chance to turn around...
In any case once we left the border, we had an 83 mile jaunt to London, Ontario. Again the miles this week are racking up (113, 90, 90, 78 and now 83). Hopefully we get a short one soon as my body is really sore (more on this later).
About 3 miles into the ride the group heard a loud train whistle. The fast riders quickly beat the gate going down. Us slow riders got up to the train gate and saw this freight train coming from about 1/2 mile away. A couple of us wanted to go under the gate as it was clear that this train was poking along.
But a couple of riders objected and for the good of the group I stayed back. BAD MISTAKE!!!!
The train ended up being about 600 cars and it took at least 20 minutes to pass by. To make matters worst another freight train came through from the other direction (equally as long) and the total wait time was about 25 minutes. Never saw trains this long...
Here we are waiting for the train to pass. Not much you can do but relax (which is still damn near impossible for me)....
The train finally passed and we headed out on our ride. One of the Canadian riders swore up and down that the winds would be at our back. WRONG AGAIN. The headwinds were moderate and were strong enough just to make the ride hard.
About half way through the ride, Jim (the mechanic) can riding by (each staff member gets to ride every other day). I told him I was looking forward to the next rest day in Niagara Falls as I was going to get full-body, sports massage.
He said you don't have to wait this long - as there was a massage place right next to the hotel we were staying at in London. This was great news as I could really use some work on my back and neck.
Unfortunately he was pulling my leg as this is what I encountered when I reached the hotel...
I gave some serious thought to going there regardlessly. How bad could it be? Even an XXX rated message has got to do something with the back and neck - don't you think?
But the better part of me said no - so I will have to wait until we get to New York State.
Terry one of the Canadian riders called ahead and had a case of Labatt's beer waiting for us. I will have to reciprocate in NH.
Nothing better after a 83 mile ride than a beer. Or a massage.
We head to brantford, ONT tomorrow and finally a short ride of 75 miles (never in a thousand years before this trip would I have ever considered 75 miles to be short). Forecast is 60% chance for thunderstorms. Ugggg.
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