Day 1 - Drive to Niagara Falls, NY - Bike to Niagara Falls/Goat Island - 13.9 miles

Welcome to all of the followers of our journey! We are honored that you would take time out of your day to read about our little journey from Niagara Falls, NY to Lubec, ME. And to those that are returning here from last summer’s LIFECYCLES TransAM ride, you may see some familiar faces on this trip, and we hope to make this trip equally as entertaining to follow (considering you put that trip’s commentary in the entertaining category).

So, we are calling this trip the ECR, which stands for Extreme Challenge Ride. The boys that were invited to join this trip have demonstrated ability, character, and a desire to ride! The breakdown of the team is 5 teen boys aged 15 - 18 and 5 adults (ages not required - but 4 riding bike and one driving the van).

We gathered at Community Fellowship Church at 7am to load up the trailer and hit the road. There was also another LIFECYCLES team meeting there at the same time. but that team was heading to Jersey Shore, PA to begin riding to Niagara Falls. This summer, LIFECYCLES has 5 teams of young riders (1 - girls and 4 - boys) taking to the roads to challenge themselves to go farther and do hard things. It’s exciting times!

Our drive north to Niagara was uneventful, which is exactly what we ordered. We landed in Niagara Falls at 2:35pm and checked into the hotel, thankfully our rooms were all ready. Everyone gathered their bags and headed into the hotel to change for a quick ride to Goat Island. After navigating a few neighborhood roads, we hit a bike path that led us to Niagara State Park and then across a bridge to Goat Island. For 6 members of the team this was their first time seeing the Falls in-person, so we spent some time allowing them to take in the sights. Then we jumped back on our bikes and made our way back to the bike path.

Because we have a 76 mile day tomorrow, we decided to eat up and hit Olive Garden for the unlimited bread sticks, salad, and soup!! After dinner we headed back to the Niagara State Park to take in another angle of the Falls before going back to the hotel for sleeping. It’s time to get back into the routine of riding every day, and the duties that come with life on the road.

Thanks again for following along!