Summer 09 - pre Jane and Johannes visit

It has been a remarkable summer with the other non-music festival activities being the icing on the cake. Managed to squeeze these in between bus driving and gardening shifts respectively.

Photos from the bottom -
1.Edward and Kiba our lodgers for 1st half of 09 - a delightful couple from South Carolina, but sadly transferred by TSA to Lafayette, Louisiana
2.Hiking with our current long term lodger Mike on trail up to Cathedral Lake
3.Hiking with our cycling friends Mike and Joan from Cincinnati
4.Crystal Mill and a quarter way into the epic Lead King Basin bike trail round
5.Lance Armstrong powering his way to victory in the mountain bike race at Snowmass
6.Our neighbour and guide for the day Beige at start of hike to Capitol Lake - Mt Daly on left and Capitol Peak ( a 14er ) in centre. The Lake sits right underneath it
7.This beautiful pond on way to Thomas Lakes - another day hike M & I did on our own.
8 & 9 with the abundance of wild flowers on the way.

Summer - 2009 - music festival

The Aspen music festival & school has again been the highlight of our summer. Huge new dimension for us though has been having a brilliant young oboist Amanda staying with us for the full 9 weeks of the festival. Apart from the very substantial perks of free access to all concerts, recitals and masterclasses , and regular inspiring oboe lessons in-house for me , not to mention having with us my resident personal reed maker , she was an absolute delight to have here. When she left a week ago , the house seemed very quiet in more ways than one. Her practicing was like having a daily professional concert in your living room.

We went to something in the Festival virtually every day . What we looked forward to more than anything was the weekly opera masterclass at the Wheeler Opera House See photos. Simply brilliant . We'd cycle into Aspen early each Saturday morning , get our free tickets , enjoy coffee and muffins in the square outside Paradise Bakery in donwntown Aspen, and take our seats ( always in the very front row ) at 10 am for 8 or so excerpts from different operas on which the students would then be critiqued on their performance and do it , or parts of it, again. Sheer bliss. Stars of the future opera world we have no doubt.

Then another superb bike ride home and often in to Aspen again for a concert in the evening. Just day after day and night after night of stunning performances.

What we didn't get free access to were the 3 operas ( this year La Boheme , Britten's Rape of Lucretia , and Don Giovanni ) , and we splashed out a bit for seats for all 3 . Again quite magnificent - all directed by the brilliant Juillard, and Aspen Opera director Ed Berkeley - see photo. The Britten we enjoyed particulary bringing back stirring memories of Turn of the Screw in Glasgow all those years ago.

Concerts at the Benedict Music `tent` we enjoyed from inside and out . The latter often enjoyed with picnic , wine and delightful company - see photos of both .

Will try to cover all the other activities of a memorable summer in separate entry. Jane and Johannes arrive in a few days , so I need to get on with it.

UGRR - Owen Sound, completion and reflections

Before giving a few of our reflections of the whole trip , photos above ( click on any , for enlargement ) show from bottom to top
1 M being congratulated by an interested passerby on reaching Main St , Owen Sound. Ont.
2 After finishing a delicious lunch courtesy of this lovely Napalese owner ( and chef ) of this restauraunt immediately on reaching Owen Sound. He insisited on giving it as compliments of the house .
3 The wharf at Owen Sound , southern end of Lake Huron.
4 The Greyhound bus that initiated our 15 hour journey back to Cincinnati via Toronto and Detroit.
5 Mike and Joan to whom we shall for ever be grateful delivering us back to the Buick at Milford ( outside Cincinnati ) self storage. From there a straight ( with one motel stop ) 22 hour car journey back to Snowmass through Ohio , Indiana , Missouri and Kansas.

UGRR: REFLECTIONS ON COMPLETION

We finish with
**an overwhelming sense of satisfaction to have crossed the USA from south to north and beyond by bike--albeit in 2 trips. Total time taken, 47 days, averaging 50 miles per day.

** an "in the guts" appreciation of the sufferings of the slaves who fled (as Aunty Martha so well said --George isn't having a good time unless he is suffering--and we only had a very small taste of the suffering of those slaves!!!) and of their desperate desire for freedom that drove them on

**a lasting impression of the kindness of the folk who never failed to offer support, friendship, hospitality and assistance when needed

**a sense of wonder at the beauty and grandeur of a constantly changing landscape

As the Butters so aptly have said, touring is all about "highs and lows" so here are some highs:

1. arriving at the Owen Sound, having battled mainly headwinds once crossing into Canada--descending alongside a waterfall, which emerged into treelined streets of porched cottages

2. setting off from Cincinnati with Mike and Joan, cycling along a corridor of trees and cliffs, rushing rivers and many sightings of wildlife (not squashed, for a change!!!): birds, groundhogs, deer, raccoons, snakes and turtles--and learning all the history of the Little Miami Railroad from Mike and Joan, and visiting the charming former railroad towns

3. the amazing extent of the rails to trails throughout Ohio--usually paved, easy gradients, lovely countryside and NO TRAFFIC! Well done Ohio!

4. getting to know towns which began as names on a map, then were seen as distant watertowers and finally emerged as tree lined streets and houses with large shade trees, porches--like a film set from "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Tom Sawyer". America is more than just strip malls and fast food joints--small towns do still exist, and they are wonderful! And of course meeting the people who lived there who were unfailingly interested, amazed and helpful in so many ways: doing our laundry in the laundromat for free, being given a $20 Canadian note when he heard where we were shortly to cross the border, the man who rescued us with his pickup truck after G's bike had 2 blowouts, the complimentary lunch in the Rocky Raccoon Cafe in Owen Sound simply because we had come such a long way on bike!

5. cycling on a Sunday morning in Amish country when ALL the Amish were on their way to church, dressed in black dresses, or suits for the men, handmade boots, the women wore white starched aprons, and the men had hats and long beards--some walking on the road pushing huge buggies filled with several babies and toddlers, or else packed into a black carriage pulled by a horse, trotting hell for leather.

and then the lows, of course!!!

1. 2 blowouts outside Oberlin, and having to seek help from a kind man with a pickup truck. He looked like a farm worker, and it turns out he was retired FBI!

2. consistently cold weather in Canada--thanks to Duncan for lending some warm clothes--and having to get up in the middle of the night in a campsite to be sick, and naturally the camping area is at the farthest possible place away from the toilet block. (Why do the RV's ALWAYS have to be near the toilet block and the tent sites so far away? Not only have they got microwaves, satellite TV's--they all have toilets, and no doubt jacuzzis as well!). Many of then even have golf carts attached to the back of the RV's just , it seems , for GETTING to the toilet block !

3. getting very wet and cold on the stretch between Delaware , OH and Butler , and findng the anticpated Malabar Farm hostel accommodation closed. The day was saved by finding the Angelwood B & B and their hospitable and generous proprietors Vicky & John.

4 taking a wrong turn outside Medina and fighting back against the wind to get back on track.



5 Skirting - for ever it seemed - Hamilton, Ont and taking the hard shoulder of a freeway for 8 very unpleasant miles against the wind and with storm clouds threatening.

By way of conclusion , a big thank you to all those who befriended us from Mobile to Cincinnati , including the librarians in so many public libraries ( what a wonderful resource ) who were without exception interested in our trip and enormously helpful with use of computers and recommendations for good eating spots. Food was of course our fuel and we were rarely disappointed .

Thanks finally to Adventure Cycling for mapping such a fabulous route and for the massive amount of info that their maps contained .

Lake Erie to Lake Huron

Photos:
1. M & Duncan before dinner at a superb restauraunt in Ithaca. Had breakfast with him early next morning and then back to Buffalo, returned the hire car and
2. on to the Peace Bridge separating USA and Canada 20 miles or so ( into the wind again ! ) up river from Niagara Falls.
3 the Falls in spectacular style.
4.Plaque showing how advanced Canada was over its neighbours in abolishing slavery and thus the creation of the UGRR. ( sorry , got wrong order here - see top photo )
5.Drinking a welcome ` cold one ` on the shores of Lake Huron at Craigleith Provincial Park on our last night before reaching Owen Sound. Despite well over a thousand feet of climbing on last day, we savoured ( Mary might not use that word ) every mile of that historic last 40 miles albeit against a strongish west wind.
5. Standing at what was known as the final terminal of the UGRR.
6. The plaque explaining the signifance of the various coded signs guiding the escaping slaves on their phenomenal journeys. And we thought it was hard on a bicycle with all the modern clothes and comforts !

Conneaut, Lake Erie to Buffalo

1. Setting up camp at Conneaut , OH ( interstate a few hundred metres away but again had place to ourselves. Another early start and tail wind up Lake Erie . Next night at campsite at entrance to Presque Isle outside Erie , PA.
2. A rowing 8 going through their paces on Lake Erie ( Jane please note ! ).
3. On to last of 5 Adventure Cycling maps since leaving Mobile , AL . Quite a milestone. These maps have been superb in every way.
4. Big breakfasts after an hour or 2 of cycling are pretty special . Real American style and good home cooking . This is a good example . Superb value for $20 for us both and to include 20% tip . And always meeting interesting ( and interested ) locals. Learning a lot about small town America - and the recession is hurting .
5. Typical example of safe house and of course the nearer to Canadian border , the more significant they became . This one at Orchard Park - a smart suburb of Buffalo and 10 miles or so from the border ( and the Peace Bridge over the Niagara into Canada) .


An interesting night in the Youth Hostel in downtown Buffalo and today ( Thursday 14th ) , we hired a car , left cycles , and drove to Ithaca ( 3 hours or so ) for an excellent dinner with Duncan and the night on his floor . Breakfast with him tomorrow and then should be back on our bikes by midday & through Niagara and to camp in Queenston tomorrow night. And so onwards , we hope, to Owen Sound on Lake Huron, Ont - the final destination.

Oberlin to Lake Erie

After a fascinating tour from the Oberlin Heritage Soc ( the symbolic statue depicting rails going into the ground being particularly impressive ), we got off after lunch and made it to Willow Lake campground. Had the place to ourselves with only the geese as our delightfully noisy companions. Away soon after 7 , but went mistakenly off route too far north of Medina. Half an hour's ride back into wind to rectify. Highlight of the day was a superb lunch in a Lebanese restauraunt in Hudson. Lomg day ended in a campsite outside Burton . Again the place to ourselves and we were given a spacious outhouse to set up camp in. V cold and threatening rain , so v p;eased to have cover.

Off at 7 next morning and cycled through the 4th largest Amish community in the world. Sunday morning 8 am and and the black horses and carriages were out in force transporting whole families to Church. Going in every which direction it seemed . Children and infants in attendance - and masses of them . Extraordinary . It was as if we had been plonked back in the middle of the 19th century or earlier. A day before, we saw the ploughing with Clydesdales - and of course farm after farm we passed where there was no car and and no telephone or electric wire in evidence . Always dressed in black and all the men in top hats . The women with black skirts ( and white aprons and white starched bonnets for Church) . A real education .

Kilbourne to Butler OH--Mary's post!!!!

Woke up this morning to thick damp dreary mist, which has now given way to Scottish drizzle. But spirits are high after a fabulous lunch in a SLOW FOOD restaurant in Fredericktown--one local we asked for a restaurant recommendation said "I wouldn't go there--it's too slow". Slow it was---as all food was made by the husband and wife team from scratch. Oh wow. The owner, picture below--asked had I read "Fast Food Nation" and I was able to say it is in my pannier for reading this trip! She had read it, and taken it to heart, and was doing her little bit to promote healthy, home cooked, non-processed food. And it was gorgeous!!!!

Heading to a B and B tonight outside Butler, sadly the Malabar Farm hostel which was recommended was not available, but we were recommended to the B and B. This will be very welcome, as we are cycling in soaking rain wear. This Goretex stuff is all a bunch of hype, I think. We are wet, although warm--a bit what I imagine being in the womb is like.

(Next day.) The B and B WAS delightful, and very satisfyingly, it rained all night, justifying the money spent. And we set off after a HUGE breakfast at 6.30 am for Oberlin. Very, very beautiful countryside: rolling, forested hills; old barns; twisting, bubbling streams; cows grazing in fields and SUNSHINE. Amazing, too, to cycle through the Amish communities and see fields being ploughed by a 4 horse team, and women and children dressed in long skirts and caps, and no shoes!!!!! We passed a long grey bearded man driving his horse in a typical black Amish carriage.

Luck ran out though, with G's bike having TWO blowouts--we fixed the first and it happened again (lesson here--always set off on a tour with NEW tyres!!!!!) but we found a nice man who drove us 14 miles into the Oberlin bike shop just as the rain set in again.

So we have ended up in the Oberlin Inn (lovely--2nd night in a row indoors!!!), drying out, with new back tyre for George, and excited about having tomorrow morning exploring all the UGRR sites in Oberlin before heading off in the afternoon to camp.

Hearing of floods in Alabama where we were at this time last year...so our rainy weather here palls into insignificance by comparison!!!