Back in the US of A .... sorry for the radio/blog silence. I could lie, say I was out of the country and couldn't update the blog or that while in Canada we were on a different voltage. Or I could say that there was a massive revolt and mutiny within the ranks of the penguins, but I will be honest and say that we have been riding hard with 82 miles on Friday, 68 (that I extended to 92) on Saturday and 78 yesterday that a splinter group led by roommate Charlie extended to 95 on the way into Niagara Falls. This with the ride definately turning more social, with before dinner gatherings at the pub my dedication to any remaining  loyal readers has lapsed.

But have no fear .... all is well. Today is a rest day in Niagara Falls and I will try to catch up.

First of all is the update on the leadership and threatened mutiny. The official leader and ABB commander is Mike Munk a military ex-air force guy that took and instant dislike to me and several other left leaning, long haired, fun loving riders, who he saw as rotten apples which were in danger of spoiling the barrel. Since day one there has been a simmering battle that I often seem to be in the center of regarding the many rules and the "tone" of the ride. I have dutifully followed my mantra of "learn the rules so that they can be broken properly". In the early days of the trip in the harsh, unfamiliar western desert and mountains, where physical survival was an issue, the Commander and his wife Barbara (a motherly type, stickler for the rules and who has not ridden more than twice for a total of 50 miles) and Karen the commander's clone and "adopted" daughter were in control. The support team of Jim (the mechanic from VT), Bud (60 year old, monster rider, lowest ranking worker and sympathetic rebel), MN Jeff and sweetheart Cathy were quietly and respectfully supportive.

As we moved east a series of tragedies that I saw as just Karma befell the leadership. Mike broke his ankle while changing a flat on the van, we lost 3 riders, 2 hotels were overbooked and at dinner and breakfast 3 times we ran out of food, Mike came down with influenza and disappeared for 2 days. These events along with the riders and sympathetic crew beginning to collaborate and get to know one another better began to breed some discontent. All of this, combinned with mellow, Minnesota Jeff and Kathy making some of the decisions led to a desire for change, i.e. sleeping later, more than a half hour between breakfast and "load/departure", dinner at 6 or 7 rather than 5 PM, and more fresh fruit and local produce at the SAGs rather than bananas and plastic Wall-mart oranges. WE WANTED MIKE SHIPPED OUT!!!!! And I thought it might happen ....... but sadly, no such luck.

Mike is still with us, but he seems a bit humbled and somewhat subdued and is showing some small signs of loosening up. Meanwhile I and and a growing number of other "bad apples" continue to swim in the lakes and rivers, have a few cold ones at the bar, ride side by side or even go to the left on a deserted road, show up on time or even late for meetings, go off route to see the sights, sleep out under the stars and increasingly have a lot of fun together.

I will close with some photos of the past few days in Canada which has been very enjoyable and about which I cannot not say enough nice things. The green and increasingly New England-ish scenery, friendly and unpretentious people, smooth well kept, bicycle friendly roads and courteous drivers were a joy.

A Canadian farm with the ubiquitous corn

I tried to get the Maple leaf flag

A nice bike path through Canada

The bridge over the Niagara River to the USA