Strangers are friends yet to happen.

It is the 5th of July as we are enjoying a relaxing grand time in Vermilion, Ohio at the home of Kathryn’s folks, Joan and Roger Skelley-Watts. This is day two of a short but well deserved break from biking. As we are allowing our muscles to recoup we have been feeding our faces, reorganizing, telling our stories and looking back at pictures of our remarkable trip thus far.

Last you heard from us we were in Geneseo, NY at the home of Ben, another incredible stranger who has helped us out along our way. From there we continued to bike westward with our new found friend, another Kathryn, aka “Bag Lady”. The day was tough filled with head winds, exhaustion and raw emotions. There is something about pushing your body to the limit that brings you to a very vulnerable place. I guess biking across the country can’t be gloriously happy all the time. After lunch we continued west as the Bag Lady headed east back home. We will miss her presence but will carry her inspiration with us throughout our journey.


As the sun was setting and our legs were aching we pulled into the town of Hamburg. Narelle spotted a church with cars in the parking lot and asked around for a place to pitch our tents. We soon found ourselves at the home of Brenda and Jim, a kind hearted couple who not only offered a place to camp but warm showers and cake. Brenda even contacted her sister in Erie, PA to see if we could stay at her place the next night. So that’s where we went. The next day we made it to the lake shore of Lake Erie and to the state of Pennsylvania. As we were crossing the state line we ran into another bike rider with quite a heavy load on his bicycle. His name is Wes and he had just spent the past year biking around the perimeter of the United States! It was incredibly inspiring to see Wes towards the end his mighty trip with a bright smile on his face. You can read about Wes and his adventure at http://tourduculture.com/

It was a marvelous smooth ride all along the lakeshore to Painesville, Ohio. On our way we stopped for a quick pick me up in Ashtabula where we met George Cuddy, another cross country bicycle rider. He has given us even more inspiration to keep on pedaling. You can read about his ride and cause on his website. That night we ended up at the home of Nana and Papa, Kathryn’s surrogate Grandparents. We enjoyed the evening with homemade burgers and pie and a splendid visit from a camp friend, Susan Mulcahy.

The next morning we began our trek along Lake Erie to Vermilion, Ohio. As we were on our way cruising along, just outside the city of Cleveland, we ran into another cyclist, Jim, who was out for an afternoon ride. We began chatting and biking along together and all of a sudden found ourselves enjoying lunch with him and his family at the Shorbey Club, an elegant lakeside getaway. As if lunch wasn’t enough, us and our loaded bicycles, were soon offered a boat ride to the other side of Cleveland. How do you say no to that?! So off we went with the breeze in our hair and beverage in hand experiencing the city from a beautiful boat with families we had just met.

After quite a day we finally rolled into the town of Vermilion. Since we had been away Kathryn’s mom had had her 60th birthday so we stopped by the dollar store to decorate ourselves and bikes with balloons and streamers before our surprise arrival. It was a success! Since we arrived in Vermilion we have celebrated the 4th of July at Kathryn’s brothers pig roast and are preparing ourselves for another leg of the journey. We would like to personally thank all who have crossed our path to help make this trip a bit more exciting, inspiring and fun!

Happy Independence Day!