She can only clean like two dishes before *SPLURT!*

Ahh, electronics. I don't really miss a computer not being at my fingertips, I realized today that even the most modest creature comforts really go a long way. Clean clothes, for instance.



We're in Ypsilanti (Yip-sel-aun-tee), MI, right outside of Eastern Michigan State University, staying with the illustrious former Saratoga Springs crew coach, Jason Boyce. He's been so great to us, and it really brings back so many memories of SSRA seeing him again. He's one of the few people that I feel comfortable around who has an age greater than 10 years my own.



Last night we stayed in Detroit, with the two of the co-owners of Back Alley Bikes (http://backalleybikes.org/). They ran one of the many volunteer/DIY bike shops that are starting to spring up around the country. We took some epic pictures of the front of the shop (it was closed, and we stopped by as we were leaving their apartment). Thanks so much to Ben, Chelsea, and Adrian for letting us crash at their place, and thanks to John for hooking us up with them (http://www.warmshowerslist.com/ is pretty amazing).

Getting in to Canada was easy. Getting out, not so much. They HATE bikes- can't ride across the bridge, or through the tunnel, or stuff your bike in a cab and cross, or stuff it in a bus and cross.. but we stuffed our bikes in a bus and did it anyway. Props to Windsor Greyhound for breakin' the rulez. Customs, oh boy. "Do you have proof of citizenship?" "No. I have my New York driver's license." "How do I know you're a US citizen?" "(because I'm white and I love Jesus?) ..." "Where were your parents born?" "(where were YOUR parents born?) Rye, New York and Albany, New York." "Are you bringing anything that you bought in Canada back to the states?" "(nope, I finished the last of the whiskey on the bus over here) No sir." "Okay, you're through." "(oh, I was so looking forward to the full body cavity search.) Thank you sir."

Going through Canada was.. flat.. pancake flat. And.. corny. Not in the comical sense, more in the sense of we were watching corn grow. Field. After field. Of corn. The Town of Eagle was comprised of two opposing abandoned antique shops on opposite sides of highway 3. People were, for the most part, genuinely nice and helpful- mostly awed.

People see biking all this way as a huge deal. When you're doing it, it all seems so tiny. Instead of going in a circle around town, you're heading west. If you counted up all the steps you've taken in your lifetime up until now, going in circles, you probably could have walked to California.. if you're a bit older, maybe back. I guess that's why it hasn't set in what we're doing- for us, it's just the daily grind with new people. We live it day to day, and experience it for ourselves. The awe-struck look on people's faces as they imagine what swash-buckling adventures we must have reminds me of "All Quiet on the Western Front". Dulce et decorum est pro patria.. bikes?


..but it's still really fucking cool to ride along Riverside Dr. in Windsor and see the TOWERING CITY OF DETROIT READY TO EAT YOU.