I jumped on my bike this morning at 6:25 and started pedaling up the first hill thinking “uuuh…my legs” then I told myself “only a couple more hills and it will get better :)”

I rode alone at my paste stopping here and there to get a coffee or a snack. I pulled over at a gas station around mile 40 because I was really tired, put my bike agains the convenience store and went to get something. A young and very friendly truck driver looked at me, soaking wet from the rain and pretty exhausted from the hills. He asked me if I was ok and I noticed in his voice that he was feeling very sorry for me, so I replied “yes thanks! I’m happy, I like the rain: it cools me of. And I’m loving my day so far, I’m just a bit tired and needed a break.” I looked at his massive blue truck and said “I’m sure you know what it means to be on the road for many hours. How is your day going so far?” He smiled, surprised; he was quite for a second and was just staring at my bike, probably thinking “yes I know what it means but it’s not the same!” But then he said “yes, I do know 🙂 My day has been great too, I enjoy the rain as well :)” It was pretty funny because I totally notice that he was lying to me, only trying to encourage me. Then he wanted to buy me coffee and lots of chocolate because he said I needed and deserved it. This little and unplanned break made my day and gave me lots of energy and happiness to pedal the remains 48 miles.

For those who didn’t know, I can tell you that the state of New York is a hilly state. We had more than 4800 feet of elevation gain today over 107 miles. Theoretically the ride should only have been 95 but we got lost on the way adding 12 hilly miles. We were going down a very nice hill and I was thinking: “this is amazing :)” until we arrived at the bottom off it, at a big intersection and realized “shut! we missed a turn!!” Oh well…it happens. We passed many towns today and one of it was Town of Italy!

Welcome to New York State! We crossed the border again today into the USA agin. This time it was as short and easy as it was to enter Canada, but after some question we kept pedaling east into New York State. There were probably a million stops signs on the road today which always scare me a bit. Overall I was having lots of fun sprinting up those hills, especially after having watched the Olympic cycling yesterday 🙂

Today was our day of in Niagara Falls, which I really needed after this hot week. I went to see the waterfalls which were amazing, but I had a hard time because I’m not used to be with so many people anymore after 6 weeks of riding in the countryside of the United States.

It was a hot but beautiful day along the Canadian Lake Erie, to arrive in the famous Niagara Falls city. 80 enjoyable miles, with an average speed of 20ml/hr. I was pedaling while daydreaming when I realized that the road literally ended. I looked back and my first thought was “did I miss a turn?!” Then I remembered that we had to cross the river with a little ferry and that’s why the road was ending. Once we arrived on the other side we found this very nice pink bike: I think I should finish my cost to coast with it, in a more classy way. 😍

I always imagined Canada like the cold and covered by snow and ice continent; I am sure that that’s what it is in the winter, but believe me, right now it is not! It was so hot today that I probably lost 15 pounds of water from my body and since it is basically impossible to replace them while riding, the further out in the day, the slower we were going. We averaged probably 24ml/hr on the first 50 miles and about 18 on the last 40, with a total average of 21,5 ml/hr. Two miles before the campground we stopped for a cold drink; we got of our bikes, looked at each other and we all had he same thought coming up: “Are we sure that we can enter a coffee shop like this?!” We were soaking wet, dripping sweat everywhere as if we just came out from the shower. We sat on the wooden bench outside the café and when we got up we left some funny prints on the bench 🙂

It doesn’t happen every day that I put my passport in a plastic bag and stick it in the back pocket of my cycling jersey. It was quite exciting today to cross the border of the USA to enter Canada. We had to take the ferry across the lake and walk with out bikes to the immigration office. The security man at the border was very nice, he even put a stamp on my passport. 🙂
Then we jumped back on our bikes and kept pedaling into Canada. Has the scenery changed? Not really, but something that I noticed was that as soon as we entered Canada it was quieter, on the roads and in the towns.

Today I rode alone the last 40 miles of the ride: I couldn’t really find a rhythm, I was a bit tired and needed some peaceful time on my own in the nature. It was hot like yesterday but pretty enjoyable. When I arrived in Memphis, I sat up my tent under the biggest tree I could find to benefit from its shade and laid my bike agains it.

Some people asked me how I manage to cycle every day so many miles, how I can sit on my saddle for so long and how I find the energy and motivation to get going every day. Or how I can be happy waking up in a humid tent at 5am and setting it up smelly every afternoon for 64 day. How do I not get boarded or tired? Well, to be honest, I really like it; I like routine and I like challenges. At the end of the day it’s all about discipline and finding positive aspects of everything we do, whether it is going to the office or cycling across the States.

I like to look forward to new places and new things happening. I know that every day I’m doing the same drill but also that every day is going to be different and that I’ll see new places and people. It’s like when you go to work or school every morning, thinking “this is the same I did yesterday and the day before”, but in reality it is not: we learn and discover something new every day, something worth remembering and sharing with other people. I started asking people how their day had been so far and it’s impressive to see how no one really complains, but instead they say things like “it was harder than yesterday”, “it could have been worse” or “I’m happy to be here now” …or simply “good enough not to complain” 🙂 We can learn from experiences, from books, from people or simply from observation.

 
It’s nice when a 94 miles day feels relatively easy. We only had 2700 feet of elevation gain and most of the miles were on secondary roads, under trees or on a very nice bike trail. There was literally no one on the path, so Nick requested to ride on the left side of the road to make him feel home for a couple of minutes. 🙂