BACK IN THE HOMELAND!!!

Day 42 Imlay City, MI to Sarnia, ON
Distance 132 km
Saddle time 5:05
Avg speed 26.4
Max speed 46.7
Total ascent 209m
Total descent 289m
 
Another great day on the bike!  When we got ready to go, sadly it started raining just as we left.  Not just a little rain, but a torrential downpour complete with tons of thunder and lightning.  We decided to stay in the school for an extra 45 min as we waited for the worst of it to stop.  We set out in the rain with Katie, Kaitlyn, Malori, Betsy, Jessica (another new rider) and myself, but Katie and Kaitlyn made it through a stoplight before us and we got separated.  We had a nice fast ride to the first SAG, and the rain let up, but then I made a classic noob mistake.  I tipped over on my bike and couldn’t unclip on time and hit the pavement with the drive train side of the bike!  The derailleur hanger was bent and I couldn’t shift.  I may have had a few moments of panic while my dad tried to get it working a bit better.  We were able to move the shifter over so that I could at least ride, and we set off in pursuit of Peter, a friend of mine who is good with bikes and I knew had left not too much ahead of us.  We hammered down at 30-32km/h to catch up and he bent my hanger somewhat straight.  I much appreciated this considering that shortly after that we turned into a pretty nasty headwind, and I certainly appreciated the extra gears!

We rode South from Port Huron to catch the ferry at Marine City (we weren’t allowed to ride across the bridge).  It was fun to take the short ferry ride across, but even more fun when there was a small crowd of Canadians cheering us in and waiting with coffee and cookies!  This was particularly excellent considering the Canadians have been bragging to the Americans about how good the hospitality was going to be in Canada, and we have been proven VERY right!  Also, my Grandma met us there, which was special!

With my grandma off the ferry

We had a tailwind riding North to Sarnia, so we rode at a nice 30-35km/h to get into the school.  Harold and Peter both worked on my bent derailleur hanger (and slightly loosened free hub) from my tip over and got things working perfectly (in exchange for me taking their laundry to my Grandma’s).  Now, I’m relaxing at my Grandma’s house, where we will have dinner and I believe there might be ice cream later!  Most excellent, indeed!