0 miles ridden – 0 feet climbed.

Unfortunately even though I could have slept until 7am I was awake and ready to go at around 4am as, it turns out, were most others on the trip but I was able to lay in bed listening to the Archers omnibus so all was not lost.

By 7:15 we were in a cab to the nearest recommended launderette and by 9am we were back breakfasted and with laundry complete. Sadly evidence of yesterday’s mud remains but at least nothing smells! 

Next stop Maid of the Mist. This is the US boat service where passengers wear blue ponchos – the Canadian boats are called Hornblower and the passengers wear red ponchos. The Falls themselves are spectacular but almost everything else is ‘shabby tourist’ with all the usual traps and high cost items. I found it wasn’t so much the sight of the Falls but the sound of the rushing water which captivated me as it feels both thunderous and soothing at the same time. Well worth a trip:

In my humble opinion unless you like Las Vegas type glitz and/or casinos there is nothing other than the Falls worth seeing  in Niagara but they are themselves worth a trip.

Tomorrow we start the final leg of the trip with many mixed feelings. My body feels like I have been cycling 80 miles a day for the last 6 weeks and wants a rest, I am fed up of wearing the same clothes and I want to see Sue but I am high on the excitement of the experience I am having, the things I have seen, and the people I have met. I have cycled over 3000 miles, climbed over 90,000 feet, crossed three time zones, the Continental Divide, and I still have three states left before we finish.

Tomorrow is the last Tuesday, next Friday the last basin clothes wash, and before I know it the last breakfast of stale cereal, plastic eggs and stale bagel. If I never eat another banana, fig roll, chocolate chip cookie, or drink Gatorade again it will be too soon. No more butt balm, tiger balm, or sudocream. No alarm at 4:15. No more breakfast at 5:30. No more missing Sue.

What am I going to do?