New England Shore Trekkers are Soaking Up Block Island's Natural Beauty

Today we woke up to the sound of gently chirping birds. After a brief breakfast of blueberries and bagels, we hit the road and headed out to the northernmost point of Block Island with our sights set on the North Light lighthouse. After a sunny bike ride and a luxurious hike through the sand we made it to the beautiful ocean side lighthouse. We spent the next couple of hours simply enjoying ourselves on the beach; doing yoga, collecting shells, and soaking up some sunshine. We then made our way back to the bicycles and grabbed some food to have a beach picnic beside a sparkling pond. After eating our fill, playing the guitar, and swimming in the fresh waters, we decided to pack up and head into downtown Block Island. We then had an hour to roam free and explore the beautiful streets of the town. While Adam, Willem, and Yotam broke off to get candy and slushies, Hazel, Lauren, and Andrea spent some quality time window shopping and picking out bumper stickers. After meeting up we headed over to a classic fried seafood restaurant in which we indulged in clam cakes, fried shrimp, and root beer  floats. Soon after, We decided to hit the road and set our sights for the other side of the island to catch the sunset. While reaching the beach in the nick of time and enjoying some sunset swimming, the Trekkers soaked up the last moments of the long day. We soon headed off for a short but sweet night ride through the sea side streets and returned back to the camp site tired and content.
 - written by Trekker Lauren 

quotes of the day:

"Classic Kirk"

"I'm picking up what you're putting down."

"Sign me up!"

"This is so summer 2K15"

New York-Montreal Trek Ends with Great Day in Montreal

Our last day in Montreal was a lot of fun!  We biked to one of the islands, and visited a environmental museum called the Biosphere.  This museum had different exhibits on environmental aspects, and how human beings affected the earth. Buckminster Fuller was the scientist and architect who came up with the biosphere, and there was an exhibit on him too.  After this museum, our trekkers went to the Formula One race track, where we got to test out our speed.  There were many other cyclists there, dressed in full kits, with some souped up bicycles.

After that we went back to the hotel for lunch, and then to the Red Path Museum, the museum of McGill University.

In the late afternoon we relaxed from all the education heavy stuff with some soccer and Frisbee.  Then, since it was our last night in Montreal, we went out to a fancy Italian restaurant! Some of us stuck to the menu though and ordered things that even leader Andy hadn't heard of. 

Then we did some last minute trinket shopping and hurried to the bus station to catch a red-eye bus back to the good ol' Big Apple.

Home Cooked Dinner by John's Aunt BJ for Across America Trekkers

7/21- We set out this morning with a mission: to make it to Gillette, WY to enjoy a hearty dinner with John's family! We rode over seemingly endless rolling hills, and stopped in Spotted Horse (population: 2!) for lunch. There we encountered a solo cyclist going west on a cross country ride who hailed from Toronto and was headed towards the Oregon coast, who waved us onward with promises of flat roads ahead. We arrived safely in Gillette, after quite a few hills, where we were graciously hosted by John's Aunt BJ and Uncle Jay.Tomorrow we make for the Black Hills of South Dakota! Life is good and we've got 1,300 miles under our belts to feel proud of.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and spent the evening looking at maps and sharing stories, while eating brownies and vanilla over cream.

New England Shore Trekkers Head for Block Island

We woke up at the hotel in Mystic and we ate WAFFLES!!! Adam had a five course breakfast. Lauren and Adam led us as points on our long journey. Around 13 miles into our trip, Yotam's chain sacrificed itself to the gods. A nice mechanic came to us from town to fix the broken chain. As we were waiting for the mechanic we had brunch in the most popular back yard in town. The rest of the group continued on while Yotam and Sarah had the chain fixed and then had a nice ride together to catch up. The whole group reunited, we biked ahead, having a great time enjoying the view and the people. After some biking, we stopped to fill up water bottles and our leaders surprised us with sherbet. As we were biking, we looked to our left and saw a beautiful and enormous blue pond. We continued to a Stop and Shop supermarket where we bought lunch and dinner for the next couple days. At the store we split up, three people went on with Elazar to get ferry tickets, three grocery shopped with Sarah. We raced to catch up so that we could catch the express ferry to Block Island! The boat ride was very majestic. We filled out water bottles at the port and headed to the campsite. There we created amazing chicken Mac and cheese. After that we were surprised again with marshmallows! We ate marshmallows, twinkles, and devil dogs. After accomplishing our 40 mile (longest day) we went to sleep tired and accomplished.  -- written by Trekker Yotam

Quote of the day: "this is a family show."

Lake Ontario Trekkers Living Well in Toronto

We woke up this morning with excitement, we were only 35 miles away to Toronto! During those 35 miles we enjoyed ever minute on a paved bike path along the lake with a beautiful view. On the trail we stopped and enjoyed the view while skipping some rocks.

When we made it to Toronto we had our first dinner out at a Mediterranean restaurant. After, we explored down town Toronto finally finding a books store, which was our mission since day one in Buffalo. Ending the day sharing a box of Timbits from Tim Hortons for dessert, which was a first of many and swimming in the hotel pool. -- Trip Leader Stephanie

MONTREAL IS AWESOME - New York-Montreal Trek

Today was our first full day in Montreal, and it was a good one.   After waking up and breakfast, the group visited the Basilica of Notre Dame, a massive cathedral built in the 1820s.  Due to high demand from the Trekkers, we had lunch at Tim Horton’s, a well-known Canadian restaurant chain.

After that, we biked 5 miles to get to the Biodome, (boy are Montreal's bike lanes awesome!) basically an indoor zoo featuring several different biospheres. Their theme this summer was all about sloths! Although we waited in line for at least 30 minutes, the Biodome was interesting and was worth the bike ride and the line-waiting.  We then biked back in the rain to our hotel and had sandwiches for dinner.  After dinner, the half of the group that was still up for exciting Montreal touring went out into the Montreal theater district... and discovered a free Weird Al Yankovich concert!!!!!  Our group just wrapped up day 14 of 16 and we have one more day in Montreal before heading back to New York.

Across America Trekkers First Day in Wyoming

7/20- Our first day in Wyoming consisted of rolling hills and scenic ranches. We stopped in Sheridan to stock up on food and to clean our bikes up, and enjoyed a lunch full of fresh fruit and vegetables for our first trip salad (finally!) We rode out on scenic route 14 towards Clearmont, riding over rolling hills and enjoying lush farmland complete with llamas and myriad cows and horses. We camped for the night at a spot that was suggested to us by the town's mayor, where we cooked a hearty
noodle dinner and enjoyed some well deserved chocolate ice cream.

State #5 for the Across America Trekkers

7/19- We started our day by riding into the Crow Indian Reservation where we made our way to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We took a nice long lunch break just outside the battlefield, where we spent over an hour pouring over the Custer Battlefield Trading Post's gift shop and resting inside the brightly colored teepees on their lawn. We picked ourselves up and spent the day riding along the scenic frontage road, where we stopped for tuna fish wraps by the river. Ever on the pursuit for water (as we've been traveling along beautiful back roads), we stopped later in the day in Wyola where we were warmly helped by the Native American community. We were pleasantly surprised when one little boy took out his parakeets to play with us!! Branton, Katie, and Tyler were thrilled having the birds climb all over them. We kept on riding into the early evening and swiftly made it into our fifth state: WYOMING!!  We ended up camping on Connor Battlefield campground in Ranchester with smiles on our faces and feeling victorious.

Mystic Seaport was the Days Destination of the New England Shore Trekkers

July 21st was an eventful day for the New England Trekkers. A few technical difficulties with the bikes created many opportunities for group learning in the morning. The group was excited to have bagels with various toppings for breakfast. At lunch we picnicked near a Shop and Svessel, and the lighthouse. After visiting the gift shop, the group continued on to the hotel where everyone was excited to jump into the pool. For dinner, mystic pizza! A great day.
top which led to friendly conversations with locals. The biking route in the afternoon was the prettiest yet, leading us on winding roads through glorious New England pasture lands and forests. Everyone was incredibly excited to reach the famous Mystic, Connecticut! We rode through the downtown area and admired the historic harbor and village. We parked our bikes at Mystic Seaport and bought tickets to the beautiful outdoor museum of a coastal village and boats from the 19th century. A few favorite parts of the museum were the clock-smith shop, the Charles Morgan whaling

Lake Ontario Trekkers Round the Western Edge of the Lake

We took a bit of a different route than was mapped out fir us this morning. We followed Ridge Rd until Hamilton.  We passed through many vineyards and small farms. I stopped to buy some raspberries from a farm stand. We were set back a bit when my derailleur hanger snapped in half, but I was fortunate to have a motorist stop and offer an old derailleur he had at his house up the road! He even helped me put it on and adjust it, he used to work at a bike shop. Back on the road we had a late lunch before continuing on through Hamilton rounding the western edge of Lake Ontario. The group was excited to see Toronto off in the distance. Yet we had a grueling ride to the Bronte Campground as we faced a strong headwind and busy roads. Chefs Claire and Kyle made an outstanding dinner! Off to Toronto tomorrow!

New York-Montreal Trekkers - "Finally Getting to Montreal"

At the campsite "Camping des Arpents Verts," trekker Gabe had the great idea that we should wake up a half hour early so we could get a half hour jumpstart on the day, so that we could get to Montreal earlier. The route was highlighted by bike paths along either side of the Saint Lawrence and over the intermediary Nuns Island along with visits from some friendly turtles, snakes, and racoons.  Although we didn't get to Montreal as early as hoped because of some ambiguous road signs and construction, we were lucky to take (and rest on) a bike shuttle over a bridge that happened to be  closed to cyclists for the time being.  

On this shuttle, we got chatting with a retired vice principal cyclist, who lead us most of the way to the hotel, and took us on a more scenic route than our planned route, along a canal.  Upon reaching the hotel, a late lunch was had, and many trekkers decided upon showering.  That night we walked around downtown Montreal  and decided (Always tough to make everyone happy!) upon Mexican food at the aptly named "Don Mexicain."

Lake Ontario Trekkers Bike the Niagara Region

LO Group Leaving the Niagara Falls Youth Hostel

Today we had a delayed start because we had to stop by the bike shop to fix Jake's bike. While we were waiting the group explored Queen St in downtown Niagara Falls, Ontario. Stephanie bought some amazing bread from the local bakery that we ate for lunch. We also picked up some delicious locally grown yellow plums at a farm stand. We traveled on down the road to the Welland Canal Museum in St. Catherines where we learned all about the big lake freighters that go up and down the canal. It was a hilly ride right at the end of the day when we rode the last mile into the campground.  Tonight we're camping at the Balls Falls Conservation Area. After a sloppy joe dinner spearheaded by chef Kyle the group went to explore the waterfall and waded in the river.

New England Shore Trekkers Bike the Connecticut Coast

The New England Shore Trekkers awoke in Hammonassette State Park and had our first breakfast together of oatmeal! We made sure our bikes were road safe thanks to our 'Safety Coordinator' of the day, Willem! With camp packed up we got on the road. Yotam led the group as our 'Point' of the day and he did great. We stopped at a bike shop in the morning to have a few adjustments made. It was exciting to be out on the road! Later in the morning, Adam got a flat tire. While cooks of the day Hazel, Yotam and Andrea went food shopping with Elazar, Adam, Lauren, and Willem fixed Adams flat tire with Sarah. The group proceeded to Harvey's Beach, a beautiful spot on the  Long Island Sound. There we swam, ate lunch, and enjoyed Italian ice. The group really enjoyed the cold water amidst a hot summer day. We biked for another couple hours to our camp site and got tents set up upon arrival. It is an awesome spot next to the forest. Cooks are making potato pancakes and veggie stew! It was a beautiful day!

Last Biking Days for the New York Montreal Trekkers

7/19 In the morning after tenting in Trip Leader Andy's back yard, the trekkers encountered a severe thunderstorm.  After trying to brave it for a few minutes, we quickly turned back to Andy's apartment and waited it out for a few hours.  We threw our clothes in the dryer and played some Carcasonne - a strategy game based around building a feudal landscape.  Carter was the winner! After departing,  we braved some intense heat, and some more on and off rain, some rain that trekker Jonathon was quite thankful for.

After staying at "Camping des Arpents Verts" and having some hilarious difficulty communicating with the locals, The trekkers were finally off to see Montreal!

Non-Biking Day at Niagara Falls for the Lake Ontario Trekkers

Today was our first free day without biking on the Lake OntarioTrek.  After having breakfast at the hostel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls we returned to New York to spend the rest of the day there.  We began by exploring the falls on top for a bit, with just a little bit of confusion as to where we were going.  Eventually we made our way to the Maid of the Mist to ride through the falls, promptly getting soaked.  

After that we headed to the nearest grocery store to get what we needed for lunch and dinner and went to a park with a path to the Whirlpool Gorge which we hiked.  For the record, one of our counselors, Tyler, is a liar. The majority of us did not particularly want to go on the hike but he assured us that it was only a mile.  It was more than four miles.  However we managed to push ourselves back to our bikes where we played a few a few games of Ninja with Jake and Jack ending up triumphant.  We headed back to the hostel  and the cooking crew consisting of Mary, Jack, and Jake prepared chicken and eggplant Parmesan for dinner on baguettes.  After cleaning up dinner we went to the fire works at NiagaraFalls before holding a meeting to review the day and turning in for the night.
-- Trekker Claire

Across America Trekkers Realize HUGE and Beautiful Montana

7/18: We biked into Billings in the morning and found The Spoke Shop where we stocked up on patches, got a new tube for Tyler, trued Lydia's rear wheel, and tried to unlock the secret to mounting Katie's handlebar bag. We continued on to the grocery store for a tasty lunch with rotisserie chicken and loads of fruit, then embarked on the rolling hills to Hardin. The hills proved to be tough, and after a pb&j rest stop we decided to find a motel for the first time since Helena. Making mac and cheese with chicken and corn for dinner, we had a great nights sleep on the phenomenally comfy beds before moving on for our last day in Montana.

Across America Trekkers Pedal a 110 Mile Day....

7/17: For our first century we made amazing time all day thanks to strong tailwinds and a steady downhill. We stopped in Big Timber for first lunch at a great gas station with brilliantly colored tie-dye wolf shirts and huckleberry jam and honey. After fixing a couple flats we continued on and made it to Columbus for second lunch, a solid 40 miles down the road. There Katie discovered an empty trucker lounge where we ate pb&j and caught up on presidential news (apparently Donald Trump is leading the Republican primaries!). We pressed on and made it to Laurel by 6:30 and scouted out a campsite by the river. We headed back into Laurel for dinner and the Owl Junction diner kindly kept its doors open late for us to have a tasty meal and milkshakes. After heading back to the campsite we had completed 110 miles for the day!

The New England Shore Trek Started Today.

The New England Shore Trekkers began a 350 mile ride from Guilford, CT to Boston, MA.  Over the next 2+ weeks the group will cycle through Mystic, CT, Block Island, Newport, RI, Providence, RI, onto Cape Cod, Provincetown, and Boston.  They met early this morning at Bryant Park in Manhattan and took a MetroNorth train to Guilford.  After several games to get to know one-another and a talk about bike safety the group biked 8+ miles to Hammonassett State Park where they will camp for the night.

Lake Ontario Trekkers Bike Along the Niagara River to the Falls

Today Teen Treks team Lake Ontario had a fantastic first day! The group met up in Front Park by the Peace Bridge in Buffalo and got to know each other by playing ice breaker games. Then we hit the road and crossed the bridge to Canada and rode up the Niagara Parkway towards Niagara Falls. We stopped for lunch and swimming in the river on our way. While looking for water we happened upon a lovely historical museum right before we got to Chippewa. The museum documented rural life in Ontario including muskets, a working old telephone switch board, and old bicycles including a penny-fathering! Back on the road again we were soon in for another wonderful surprise right across from the supermarket, we stopped at a lemonade stand. The proprietor of the stand, Gram, was a very good salesman and wanted to get a picture with the group. We ended up sharing our ice cream with him after we went food shopping. We rode on stopping at Niagara Falls briefly before heading over to the hostel to unpack. Kyle and Claire cooked a wonderful dinner of Buffalo Mac and Cheese! We then went to explore Clifton Hill briefly before heading back for bed. What a busy first day!

NY-Montreal Trekkers Enjoyed Biking Northeastern Vermont

Our intrepid Trekkers were treated to a gorgeous ride on Friday over rolling green hillsides along Lake Champlain as they pedaled roughly 35 miles from Vergennes to Burlington, VT

where they paid a visit to the aptly named Old Spokes Home, a nonprofit bicycle shop and museum. After a scrumptious dinner of udon stir fry prepared by Adrian, Gabe, and Carter and a hurried smores session, the crew bunkered down in their tents as rain poured down. We awoke the following morning for a short and pleasant ride that featured two short ferry rides crossing from Vermont through the Champlain islands and back into New York. Leader Andy hosted the group at his spacious apartment in Plattsburgh on Saturday, where he whipped up some mango salsa over Caribbean black beans. Tomorrow the boys will be waking up early for an omelette cook-off to fuel up in advance their Canadian border crossing - Montreal, here we come!