Today was a day of highs and lows. We did get rained on for most of
the afternoon, but either it was a warm rain, or we are just getting
used to it, because nobody was grumbling.

After this trip is over, I will remember the amazing scenery, but
more impressive was the reaction of the wonderful people we have met
along the way. Today we had two good examples. We eat lunch at this
real small restaurant in Emmett, MI called the Main Street Dinner.
The owner heard about our trip and was so impressed that we all
received free ice cream desserts. Then later that night, when we
were checked into the Holiday Inn in Sarnia, Ontario, both our room
and the girl's room received complimentary fruit plates with a
card from the front desk staff wishing us good luck on our tour.

One of the problems we managed to overcome today was the bridge
crossing. We ended up in Port Huron, because both the bridge and
tunnel from Detroit to Windsor are privately owned, and do not allow
pedestrians or bicycles on them. You are expected to pay for a very
expensive taxi to load your bike (I think one at a time) and drive
you across. From some web research that I did, I was led to believe
that we might have better luck on one of the Blue Water Bridges
further north.

So we show up at the bridge to Sarnia, which has a sidewalk, but
were told that they no longer allow pedestrians on the bridge at
all. I suspect it has to do with 911 security. They do not want
anyone stopping on the bridge. We were sent over to see someone from
the Michigan D.OT. who informed us that we could not even ride our
bikes on the sidewalk, because it was closed, but agreed to drive
slowly behind us, effectively closing off the right lane, allowing
us to ride across the bridge. Bonnie chose to load her bike on the
truck and ride across. I should have done likewise.

And now to the low part of the day. The bridge was quite large with
a fair climb. The D.O.T. person wanted us to stick close together,
and Susie was worried about the climb so I suggested that she go
first. However, she decided to go second and I went first. At first
it appeared that they had stopped all the traffic, because there
were no cars at all as we started up the bridge, but it was probably
just a delay at the toll booths. About a third of the way across I
noticed fairly large expansion joints that were shaped like
interlocking teeth, so that the slots ran in the direction we were
traveling. Like railroad tracks I wanted to cross them at a sharp
angle and started to pull out to the left, when I noticed that cars
were starting to drive up the middle lane, so I turned back and did
not cut the angle enough. Possibly the medal or my tires were still
wet from the rain, but it all happened so fast, I could not be sure.
Within a second of hitting the expansion joint, I was on the ground,
with my bike on top of me. Evidently my front wheel slipped and fell
completely through, and was resting on the front pannier racks. I
instantly flipped over the bars followed by the rest of my bike.

Thank G-d, all I received was a small scratch on my elbow, and I
suspect the most painful part will be when I remove the band aide. I
have been having a lot of problems with that lately. But it did
damage my front wheel. I was able to limp to a bike store, The
Bicycle Shop in Sarnia, where they did the best they could to
straighten it, but the mechanic did not believe the wheel would last
very long with the weight of a fully loaded tour. They did not have
any Open Pro Mavics 36 spoke wheels, and because it was after three
o'clock and they missed the order deadline for the day, they
could not receive a replacement for two days. The owner of the shop
called several stores in London, Ontario and found one that would
order the wheel for me and build it right away. It will still take
two days, but my plan is to try and make it to London tomorrow on the
straighten wheel, and then I will only loose a half to a whole day
by waiting there. I should be able to catch up to the rest of the
group in a day or two.

I should be really upset, but when I think of how bad that type of
accident could have been, I guess a wheel and a day lost is of no
real consequence. But was are now in Canada, aye; the land of
Looneys and Twooneys, and maybe even hockey next year.

To get here we have cycled (and stumbled) 4,390 kilometers and
climbed 32,561 meters.