Canada (and funny signs)

Crossed over to Canada on a ferry! Another first on this trip.

I don't know why, but I just love silly signs.

I realize that Canada too is an agricultural country. Well, at least Ontario is. I just enjoy seeing the fields of corn and the barns.

The history unfolds. The Quakers who settled the land where apparently pro Empire. The British Empire. Canada is still a part of the Commonwealth and their money still has the Queen on it. Names of towns are from the old country and names of streets have Lord this and Sir that.

I like the fact that on many streets old or abandoned bicycles are transformed into objects of beauty for ornamentation.

I see funny sides in what the locals see as normal. The following sign tells drivers that, when snowing, roads can get icy and one needs to take care. This reminds me of the signs in the U.S. The locals just shoot the signs and they get to look just like this one.

And what is this? Doesn't anyone check the font size?

OK, back to cycling. These fellas just don't care. I cycled right by them. I guess they are used to people.

And finally I reached Lake Ontario and Toronto.

Jews and Christians in the U.S.A.

"Jesus Loves You" This is the statement I need to address here.

Being an Israeli, a Jew, cycling through the United States, primarily in the rural areas, including the Bible Belt, the discussion with people I meet along the way often gets to the "So how come you are a Jew if you don't believe in God"? We'll get back to this one soon.

Jews, those who observe the religion, have this custom that when they travel away from home, they are often hosted at other Jews' homes. This custom helps those who eat Kosher food to feel comfortable during their vacation and that they are eating food that will not compromise their beliefs. So it came as a surprise to me, since it is known to my friends that I am not observant, that my friend Cara suggested I stay with friends of hers in Ann Arbor. I thought that is could be yet another type of experience for me, so arrived at Ruth and Michael's home in the afternoon. They had a few guests over, so it was easy for me to mingle within a group of people. They were discussing the Charlotteville march aftermath and were surprised to hear that my experience has been very good in regard to meeting non Jews along the way.

My host Michael:

The next day, I met this wonderful Christian couple Rosemarie and Michael. These were probably the most knowledgeable couple on Judaism that I have met to date. They knew their Old Testament as well as the New one, they have visited Israel, and yes they love both Israel and Jews. For them, all that is going on in the world is part of God's plan, yet they were open to hear my views. We spent, I guess, an hour just talking about our different approaches to bringing good-will to our societies. They were amused, naturally, that my last name is Emanuel.... All this came to be just because I asked if they knew of a motel near by since it looked like it was about to rain. Nice folk.

So back to the discussion... A Jew is a member of the tribe of Judea, one of those twelve tribes of Israel. This tribe, including an eleventh of the Levi tribe, is the only survivor of the biblical era. The Israelites, now down to the Jewish tribe, have a religion. One can be a member of the tribe without following the religion. One can join the religion and automatically become a member (Ruth the Moabitan joined and became the grand mother of King David. Moses had a wife from Kush. Stories in the Old Testament have a reason for being there).

One aspect of being a Jew, if one follows the religion, is that the Messiah is yet to come; he has never arrived. Hence, the question of Jesus being the Messiah is irrelevant. To me, Jesus cannot be the son of God since there is none. 

So, does Jesus still love me?

Michigan

So Matt and I, arrive at a small motel on the outskirts of New Buffalo. Brit, the owner, greets us, gave us each a beer, and we start talking about differences between the metric and imperial systems. It came about because both Matt, who is from China, and I think in metric. Brit was one of those in favor if the metric system. The car industry, for instance, has a huge expense due to the fact that they need two sets of tools.

Being far from the restaurants, Matt and I ordered pizza and chicken wings. This is my chance to get some information from him. He is 26 years old, our way of counting, or 27 in the Chinese system. In china one's age is counted from the beginning of the year, so when born you are "one". We count the age at the end of the year.

China, according to Matt, is a democracy but not liberal. One gets to vote, and there is more than one candidate, but the results are known in advance....I think we have different a interpretation for the word democracy.

We moved on to personal questions. He spent some three years in England. He recalled his experience to be a more rough environment than what he was used to back home. Later, he moved to the U.S., as legal alien (his words), and has studied philosophy.

He does not know yet if he will move back to China or not. This depends, also, on his girl friend.

The next day, I headed towards Ann Arbor (a two day ride).  Along the way I got to a nice bike trail. At the trail head and along the way there are air pumps. I was suffering from an air leak in my tubeless tire. Instead of stopping and inserting a tube, I stopped every so often to pump air into it.

A local cyclist, Michael, was very helpful in finding on his phone the bike stores in Jackson, a big city just 10 miles ahead.

Hmmmmm

Well, the guys at the bike store, On Two Wheels, did a great job. But it is more than just being good bicycle mechanics. They ran out of tubeless tires. So they stripped one off a new bicycle from the display floor and installed it on my wheel. Service!!

So thank you Pat, Jeff, Frank and Adam for taking care of me and my bicycle. Professionals and gentlemen.

All I can say is

Oh, yes, and what does this mean? Rebels?

Zooming through Illinois and Indiana

It took me three days to get from one side of Illinois to the other with hardly any time on a highway. So far, this state had the best bicycle paths since the beginning of my trip. Some where on gravel, some on paved trails, some single path (width suitable for one bicycle) some double width paths.

It started with a trail alongside the Mississippi and then on the banks of a series of canals beginning just outside Moline (on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities) all the way, with minor interruptions using local town roads, all the way to Indiana.

The first day, rainstorms were predicted. I made it to the shelter of the state park near Wyanet in time to avoid the storm.

Just before arriving to Hobart, Indiana, I met Matt, a cyclist from Chicago, originally from Shanghai, who was on his first day of a week's touring cycle around lake Michigan. He continued on the trail while I headed for food.

With it's old fashioned movie theater, its pride in Lafayette and their good food, Hobart was the first sign of changes to come.

I was making my way to Michigan, yet still in Indiana. The trail ran alongside a nice, warm watered lake. I took a break for swimming. Glorious!

I reached lake Michigan and ran into Matt again. We cycled together and crossed over to Michigan. More about this interesting young man in my next post.

The Mississippi

I ended my visit to Iowa with my friend Ed and his partner Terry. They took me on their boat on the river. We went out to Clinton for a nice meal and back again to the Quad Cities.

Along the river banks there are a few towns and beaches (onto which sand taken from sand pits along the river is poured). One town was established by Dutch pilgrims who brought their windmill with them from Holland.

On the way back, the water was choppy. We bounced up and down over the waves (created by wind and current). I enjoyed that part of the ride the most.

Iowa

Although there is not much to say about it, Iowa is a special place for me. I spent three years here from 1982 to 1985 as a student. I have dear friends here with whom I have been spending the past two days and will see them the next two days too.

So when I left Omaha and headed into Iowa, there was this familiar feeling as if I was back home. The countryside, the farms and barns, the corn.

One cannot ignore the corn in Iowa. It is everywhere

But Iowa is not only corn. I love the barns too. They have a special feeling to them.

And also the birth place of John Wayne, Winterset.

This feeling of being welcome was enhanced when I got to Delta (my previous post). And from Delta I was racing to get to the Quad Cities. I found another 'Rails To Trails' trail

and finally got to the Quad Cities:

First stop was Ed. He has been my close friend for some 35 years! It was so nice to see him and Terry in their beautiful home. The following evening they hosted me for dinner. It was an Iowa dinner. Steak, baked potato and corn. 

 Terry and Ed

I then got home! Yes, my home for three years at my host and dear friend John. 

My bedroom that has remained exactly as I left it 32 years ago:

John loves his cars. He has had a number of sports cars and now he has a thunderbird. So here it is:

More on this visit once I am back on the saddle.