September 3, 2017
Day 129: Through done finished
We returned the rental van this morning and Two Far, too is really over. As my Dad used to say, we’re “through done finished”. It was a great trip. We enjoyed being together on the tandem every day. We saw many interesting places, met a lot of terrific people and made wonderful memories.
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The Bike
Our tandem was the perfect transport. We had no mechanical issues and not a single flat tire in the entire 4889 miles. The racks and panniers worked great and all the electronics performed just as they should.
The Route
Overall, we were pleased with our route. Adventure Cycling’s Atlantic Coast Route took us on good, bike-friendly roads and through nice small towns. Once we got into Canada, we used Ride with GPS to determine routes, with Google Maps and Google Earth for additional information. We had just a few issues. Ride with GPS tried to put us on a couple of non-existent roads and a number of unpaved roads, a few of which were just rocky paths. We caught most, but not all, of those ahead of time with Google Earth. We need mapping software that tells us when the route is unpaved. Apart from those few places, our Canadian routes were very good. We were never on a road where we felt unsafe due to traffic. Almost every driver who passed us was courteous and respectful of our space. We didn’t have any close encounters. We did have one driver in Poughkeepsie, NY shout an obscenity out his window, but we figured that was just New York-ese for “Welcome to Poughkeepsie”.
The Weather
Our only ongoing issue with this trip was the cool and cloudy weather. Many cyclists may have found daytime highs in the upper 60’s and low 70’s to be good riding weather, but we really missed daily warm sunshine. I think we had more days with heavy clouds than we did with sunny skies. We were extraordinarily lucky with rain, however. We had only one day with persistent rain. Two other times, we had brief heavy showers and then there were a few times we got very light sprinkles which didn’t amount to anything.
The Lodging and Food
We found nice places to stay along the way. We used a combination of chain hotels, locally owned roadside motels and B&B’s. A couple were memorably bad, but many more were excellent with great hosts and interesting other guests. We really liked the times we were able to stay in the center of small towns and had places to walk around and explore in the afternoon.
Food wasn’t an issue. As long as there was something to eat close by we were happy. We carried a supply of snacks with us all the time and we certainly never went hungry! There was the occasional Diet Coke withdrawal to deal with, but we soldiered through those times without too much suffering😊
The People
We met great people everywhere. Traveling on a tandem creates a lot of friendly interest and we talked to everybody. Stopping to talk to other touring cyclists is always interesting. It is so much fun to share stories. The Canadians we met all lived up their reputation as warm and friendly people.
A special category of people is the friends we visited along the way. After weeks on the road, it is just the best thing to spend some time with friends. We can’t thank you enough Herb and Joan, Jacques and Lise, Pierre and Sylvie and Dave and Sharon for being wonderful hosts. And also, John and Aline for traveling to ride with us one day. You all added so much to the memories of this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you all in Florida this winter.
The Numbers
- Days on the road: 127
- Cycling miles: 4889
Pedaling: 4798
Pushing/walking: 5
Ferry crossings: 76
Van shuttling: 10
- Car miles: 1351
- Flat tires: 0
- Breakdowns
Bike: 0
Personal: 2 - Accidents: 0
- Injuries: 0
- Diet Coke
Consumption: 427 servings
Cost: $471.65 - Memories: *TNTC
*for our non-medical readers – too numerous to count
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