Canada-U.S. Border Crossing

45 miles

Today is the first day I got on the bike in the morning and didn’t feel sore. The Niagara Falls trip was a vacation from our vacation. We almost got in trouble when we crossed the Canada-U.S. Border. We came into Canada on the Peace Bridge and there was a special pedestrian trail and customs office. We assumed it would be the same on all the bridges.

Returning to the U.S., cars were backed up across the entire bridge. There was a sidewalk on the side of the bridge. We didn’t see how to get on the sidewalk, so we hoisted the bike over the guardrail. When we reached the other side of the bridge, there was a locked gate across the sidewalk. A customs person walked towards us and said we had to go over the guardrail. This was not an easy task, because the sidewalk is lower than the road. The customs woman helped us.

The guy who looks at your ID and lets you go through or not told us we were supposed to wait in line like everyone else. But he let us through. We would have had carbon monoxide poisoning from waiting on a bridge with idling cars for a couple of hours.

In Lockport we got on the Erie Canal Trail.

No motorized vehicles. Flat, slightly downhill even since we’re following the direction of the water flow. The trail surface is compacted rock. Our bike is getting dirty but it’s a smooth ride.

Some teenagers asked us if we were part of the bicycle group. No, we said, what group? They told us a big group had gone by, all wearing wristbands, and they are camping at a school in Medina tonight. What was a big group? 20? 100?

We followed handmade signs to Medina elementary school where 437 people were camped for a fully supported tour from Buffalo to Albany called “Cycle the Erie Canal”. They are going about 50 miles a day. Trucks haul their gear, meals and rest stops are catered; and there are speakers, concerts, and other activities along the way. Lots of older people, children, tandems, and recumbents. We got some stares with all the bags on our bike. After seeing only two other touring bikes in last 700 miles, it's strange to ride in a pack of 400+.