Hosted Travelogs and Stories from the Road - Strawbee's First Ever Tour <3 Biking to Canada.

I had so much fun, everyone. I biked from Champaign, IL to Canada, and I met so many friends and had great times along the way. The whole trip to Canada only took me 5 days, but I vacationed for over 2 weeks. Here's info and a ton of pictures! :3

Day 1 - Champaign, IL to Lafayette, IN. 90+ miles, 12 hours. (I got lost a lot. x_x And Mapquest took me down a mud/dirt/gravel road for 2.5 miles)

Day 2 - Lafayette, IN to Fort Wayne, IN. 115 miles (185 km!), 13.5 hours.

Day 3 - Fort Wayne, IN to Findlay, OH. 85 miles, 11 hours (I took my time. xD)

Day 4 - Findlay, OH to Sandusky, OH. Only ~65 miles, because my friend from Findlay biked with me. <3 It was amazing how much better shape I was in after biking for a few days... he was so exhausted by the end and I was all ready to go for another 60!

Day 5 - I took the ferry across to Canada. ^_^ My Canadian friend picked me up. More fun ensued.

I was really ambitious with my mileage, and people kept telling me to take it slower, since I haven't been practicing biking and it was my first tour, but the more people that told me I couldn't do it the more I wanted to do it... so I did. ^_^

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2642.jpg
My baby, fully decked up. It did great, for a $115 bike! And I packed really, really light as you can see. I lived off the same 3 outfits for 2+ weeks and had to handwash quite a bit when there wasn't washing machines. D:

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2661.jpg

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Northern Ohio is REALLY depressing to bike through. x_x Completely flat roads, which are awesome, but... there's nothing. Nothing. I was so depressed all day.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2711.jpg
Ohio town... so representative.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2692.jpg
I lived off these and Subway.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2767.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2766.jpg
"After" picture, on Pelee Island, Canada.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2765.jpg

Fun Times with friends and other pictures while on vacation. PS, I'm so tanned now! And buff! --

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2726.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2729.jpg

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http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/canadia3.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/DSCN2863.jpg

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http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/Dscn3128.jpg
(So nice to wear an actual outfit again... I love clothes and girly stuff but I did live for 2+ weeks on like... no clothes. ^_^)

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/Dscn3129.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/dsnc3.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa316/chinajapan2007/BikeCanadia/morecanadia80.jpg

=)! I had so much fun.

for someone who hasn't been riding a lot I'd say you did an amazing job - you should be proud of yourself! Especially since you weren't on a super light expensive touring bike! Just goes to show, it's not the bike, it's the rider.:)

Were you actually riding alone?

Thanks! And yep. The first night I couchsurfed and the person I stayed with was really nice. Second night I got a hotel. Third and fourth nights I was sharing a hotel with friends, and then I was in Canada and stayed with my Canadian friend for the rest of the time. :**

My bike is a road bike, I think those are supposed to be lighter than touring bikes, right?

Way to go. Looks like an awesome trip!

Looks like you had a lot of fun.:thumb: That's seriously impressive milage per day as well. I think the longest day I've ever done on a tour was 128km (79.5miles) and I was knackered after that.:o

Thanks everyone!

I think it helped a lot that I'm light and I packed really light. =]

Great job, inspiration for everyone. Every tour I go on has at least one learning experience. Sounds like you will get through law school with your determination.