Day 29 – Ride Across America for GTG, Dunkirk to Batavia, NY

It’s been an outlet for them to share and allowed the opportunity to grieve. This has been an amazing program for both of my children and I’m sad my son is graduating and won’t have this any longer. I am extremely thankful this outlet has allowed my children to work through their grief and see that they are not alone.            – Barb, a GTG Parent

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For additional reading on the loss of a parent and the impact on children, you can read a general review in an online article called “Death of a Parent affects even grown Children Psychologically and Physically”, by Joshua Krisch in the May 9th, 2019 online publication, Fatherly.                                                                                                https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/parent-death-psychological-physical-effects/

Starting in Dunkirk this am,  the riders split into two groups.  One followed the prescribed course from Dunkirk to Batavia.  Marco and Morten chose to go to Buffalo and visit Niagra Falls – from both the US and the Canadian sides.  Only when they got to Buffalo did they learn the city was having a marathon – and the the bicyclists got caught up in some of the road closures.  They also had a flat – from Morten’s tubeless tire and there was no bike shop open to day to help them.  Ultimately, with the help of a local farmer, they taped the tire  – that helped for 30 miles, then he put in an inner tube to resolve the problem.

I missed the 3 state day, Ohio to Pennsylvania to New York.

Jim came in from New Hampshire to take one of the vans for the cross country ride he will lead in a week. His van broke down and can’t be fixed in time for his trip.  So, we will use the one van for the rest of the trip to the ocean.  Also, we are all disappointed in the lack of quality and cleanliness of the hotel we’re staying in.  Fortunately, it is just for one night.

Tomorrow, we head out for a 121 mile ride to Syracuse.  Each of the next four days will also have at least 3,000 vertical feet of climbing.  Our hope is that the rains and headwinds predicted for the next three to four days will lighten up and be easier for us to ride in.