Day 47

JULY 25 Stromness to Niagara Falls, Ontario

We got up early and left Rock Point, eager to get to Niagara. The first ten miles of our day were on roads right along the shore of Lake Erie, until we reached the town of Port Colbourne. While crossing a bridge in the town, dad decided to stop for a picture. I didn't see him stop, since I like looking through the metal grating on bridges at the water below, or hear him warn "Stopping". When I looked up, dad was at a full stop in front of me; I frantically snatched at the brakes, but I was too late, colliding into the back of dad's bike and toppling to the ground (Luckily, we were riding on the side walk). "you all right?" dad asked, and I nodded weakly, "are you still a guy?" He asked, noting that the bike seat had been rammed into my crotch by the fall.
"No." I snapped angrily, "And I'm going to throw your bloody camera into the river!" frustrated as I was, I managed to laugh: the crash was completely my fault... I simply wasn't paying enough attention. After the bridge, we crossed onto a bike path that we would follow for the rest of the day.

I was shaky and slightly unnerved for the next few miles (and sat rather uncomfortably on the bike seat) but eventually regained my composure. Half way to Niagara, we stopped for a snack, and for dad to check out his bike because it was making a strange noise. As dad took off his panniers, William rode up, "Everything okay?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," dad replied, "my bike has just been clunking and I don't know why. That's always the part that bugs me... if I could just figure it out..."
"Hey look, your guy's favorite place." He teased, gesturing to a subway down the street, "Did you guys stay in Rock Point last night?" William asked. I nodded. "I went a couple more miles up the road to a campground right on Lake Erie. It was amazing."
"Yeah, our site was right by the lake, too." dad said, "I mean, we had to walk along a little path to get there, but there was this gorgeous view..."
"Ahh, good for you, good for you." William made the phrase sound sincere "Well, I'm off to pick up a sub. Catch you guys later." We never actually did catch William later; he rode off to the subway, while we munched on our goldfish and blueberries, and our paths never managed to intersect again. Funny how that works.

As soon as we were back on the bikes, up rode an older man with a knotted bandanna on a red racing bike (dad was impressed by its "nice lugs and down-tube shifters). After riding and talking for a while, dad finally asked the man his name, "Well, my biking friends call me Spike." he said.
"Spike?" dad asked skeptically.
"Well, my real name is Mike." Since then, dad and I have referred to him as Spike. "Just ahead," Spike told us, "We'll come out of the trees, and across the lake we'll see the Buffalo skyline getting closer and closer; it's really amazing. Sure enough, as we rounded a bend and popped out of the trees, the Buffalo skyline was visible over Lake Erie... it was pretty weird to be in a foreign country looking into America. We left at Historic Fort Erie; he kept riding while dad and I went up to the fort (although we decided not to actually go inside). "I don't know much about history," Spike said, "But Fort Erie was basically put in place as an elaborate toll booth. Make sure the English got their share of the fur trade. Oh, and one other thing. Up past Niagara Falls, there's a Buddhist Temple. It's not really a tourist attraction, but it is pretty cool to look around inside. Well, have a safe trip." We thanked him and waved as he rode off.


In the town of Fort Erie, dad and I stopped at a bike shop to have his bike checked out. When we walked in, the man behind the counter was selling a skate board to a couple of kids. The kids left, and he turned his attention to us, " 'ello, what kin I do fur ya?"
"Well, we're on a bike trip across the country, and my bike's making a weird noise. I was hoping you could check it out."
"Our mechanic's at the store... let me give 'im a call and git 'im over here." the man picked up the phone; after talking for a few seconds, he hung it up again, "Steve'll be here in a couple o' minutes. 'e's the best mechanic I've ever worked with. I'm Rex, by the way. You are..."
"I'm Chip, and this is my son, Seth."
"Seth.... 'at's a Biblical name, innit?" I nodded, "So, Seth, what're you interested in? Wait! Don't tell me... let me guess. You look like... an academic."
"Yeah, pretty much." I admitted, impressed that he could figure that just by looking at me. The way he said it, it didn't feel like just a lucky guess. "I enjoy school and learning..."
"I majored in sociology, so I like to try an' guess these things about people." Dad went out to bring his bicycle into the shop, and Rex and I kept talking. "So, are you in college?"
"No, I'm going to be a senior in high school when I get home. Then I go to college. It's sort of scary."
"Ah, nothin' to be afraid of. Maybe a bit nervous, but don' be afraid. You'll do fine." As we were talking, Steve walked into the shop. He looked over dad's bike and tried to convince dad that he needed a replacement bottom bracket; dad decided to risk it with the one he had.
"Okay, then." Steve said skeptically, and started to put dad's bike back together. he leaned on the rack a little bit, and the same creaking sound we'd been hearing all day came out of the bike. Steve started laughing, "Well, there it is! It's your rack!" Rex gave us directions to the grocery store, where we went to pick up lunch, then we started into the last 20 miles to Niagara Falls.

Almost immediately after we started riding again, we spotted another cyclist. The woman pedaled over to us and began talking to dad. She introduced herself as Carol, and wound up riding with us all the way to Niagara Falls. "My husband started a program called Teen Trekkers, taking kids on bike tours. " She told us when she found out what we were doing, "This year is the first time they have a group going across the country. My husband's in Europe, though."
"Have you ever read the book Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across the Country?" I asked, and Carol shook her head, "oh, it's a really good book about a middle school teacher taking some of his students across the country. It sounds a lot like what your husband's doing."
"I'll have to look that up some time." Carol said. We rode with her to a rest stop by the falls, also talking to an older couple riding Bike Fridays (bicycles that can pack into a suit case).
"I want to bike across the country for my 70th birthday." the woman said, "But I'm not so sure it will happen. As it is, we're driving around the country with our Bike Fridays and a 6-by-12 trailer. It can seem pretty small some times."

Leaving the rest stop, dad and I were on our own again, and finally we rode in view of the falls. The natural part of the falls, the sheer power it exerts, is incredible. The tourist build up around the falls makes it one of the most vile places on earth. The entire city was a zoo, far worse even than the strip in Las Vegas. It left me feeling rather dirty even just passing through it. We checked into our hotel, a ways off the beaten path (but still far too close for comfort), ate an over priced dinner, then went to bed.