BRO QUEST 2009

The Bros are back in town! And country. And we love America a little bit more for all its great glory. Canada was fun but much more expensive than we anticipated.

Yesterday Stuart and I were yearning to cross back into the states. And it felt like Canada held all of its worst punches for our last day. We fell asleep some time around 4 on Monday night and didn't get up until noon. We weren't feeling our best, to say the least and started riding around 2pm out of Guelph. At about 2:15, it started raining heavily and didn't stop until close to 6. Highway 6 into Hamilton was horrible - no shoulder and heavy traffic. Many motorists weren't too happy to see us. About 3 miles outside of Hamilton, Highway 6 turns into a nasty construction zone. Then the construction zone funneled us onto the 406 - Canada's version of the interstate. At this point it was still raining, and I was not feeling it.

Hamilton itself is about 550,000 people, and it looked like it had suffered a similar economic collapse to the Rust Belt. We were able to pull off onto a better highway and eat some food before pushing on. The ride out of Hamilton was gorgeous. The tip of the peninsula is full of rolling hills, wineries, and beautiful townships. Wayne Gretzky even has his own winery. We rode into St. Catherine's around 9pm and thought we still had enough light to make it into the states before it got pitch black. Canada had a few more surprises for us.

Stuart and I had problems with our loads after the rain. I noticed my panniers were digging into my spokes occasionally, and Stuart had to repack his load. Still, every 5 or 10 miles, something would fly unexpectedly out of our packs, and we'd be forced to go back and pick it up. One one of the bridges out of town, I got a puncture flat which further delayed us another half hour while getting eaten alive by bugs. Stuart and I rechecked the map, talked to some gas station attendants who gave us "advice" on where to cross the border.

We followed their directions and all of the signs. After a while, we started biking onto a highway with no lighting. It turned out to be another interstate. About 2 minutes in, cops pulled up behind us shining their lights. They said we were incredibly stupid and riding on the highway was an arrestable offense. They told us how to get to the pedestrian bridge and likely saved our lives. It was a frustrating event at the end of a long day, but I'm glad we were able to make it safely back into the states.

To celebrate, we stayed at a hotel for the first time in our trip, ate disgusting amounts of food at Denny's, drank High Life, and showered. Continuing our love of America, we slept in late, ate Chinese buffet for lunch, and checked out the Falls.

A few observations about Canada:

• Canadian laws prohibit beer from being sold in convenience stores, grocery stores, or gas stations. Beer must be bought at beer stores. Before 6pm. As touring cyclists, we don't finish riding until 8 or 9pm, meaning we can't enjoy cold beer at the end of the day unless we buy overpriced beer at bars. Beer cans, however, are immediately refundable for 5-10 Canadian cents!
• The population of college aged women is alarmingly attractive. Stuart and I were more than puzzled by this. They were everywhere - gas stations, customs offices, restaurants, construction zones. It felt like we were riding through a beer commercial.
• There is a disproportionate amount of yellow and orange GM sportscars and trucks on the road. We think this has something to do with US consumers not wanting to buy hideously colored cars. Being the nerd that I am, I want to check out the tariff laws to see if this counts as export dumping.
• Canadian bike tourists are impressed when we tell them that we bike 80 to 100 miles a day. They're blown away when we convert that to kilometers