We awoke at the crack of dawn to hear strange sounds coming from behind our room at Auberge Harris.

The first three photos show the cause of the noise. Seems there was a balloon festival and the field behind our hotel was a prime launching spot. All the balloons were off the ground and on their way by about 6:30 am. It was a beautiful and interesting sight. There must have been close to 100 balloons launching from various locations. The light winds gave us courage for the ride back to the U.S.

Traffic on the road to Rouses Pt. NY was bad...just joking. It's photoshopped.

Here's a sign you don't see too often in Maryland...snowmobile and offroad crossing.

Back to the U.S....almost. The border station is miles from the actual border.

Here's where the troubles began. Since 9-11 they've cracked down on entry requirements and since my wife is a naturalized citizen they wanted a passport. The nice guy at customs let us wait in the shade and we were actually happy to take a rest. After about 45 minutes of calling around and checking his computer with no results, he said to hell with it and let us in. I guess we really didn't look like terrorists.

Rouses Pt., NY in the background, and a shot of a strange little fort about 15 miles inside Canada. Lots of strange history in this area.

Man, you folks hauled a LOT of stuff. Do you tour often? Ever thought about getting BOB trailers?

BTW when we did that ride (before 9/11) I think the guard at the border was asleep when we crossed back into the US.

We tour unsupported, and camp about half the time. When you load up a tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, camp pillows, various ground cloths, cooking gear, a small stove and fuel, utensils and plates, enough clothing and shoes to get us through a week or more of varying weather, plus one "restaurant" outfit, camera gear, repair gear, spares, lights, food, sunscreen, bug repellant, shaving and personal items, etc. it adds up. Usually we have more than we need, but what's another 10 pounds when the bike, rider and gear already weigh about 250? Our gearing on the touring bikes is low enough to get us up 8 to 12% grades fully loaded without breathing hard.

We have done "credit-card-touring" on our road bikes. For a 3-day weekend, we can get away with just backpacks, but for the long haul, it's good to have everything you might need. Especially when the nearest store might be a 20 mile round trip from the campsite.

We looked at the BoB, but we already have racks and panniers. Plus, with a BoB, who pulls it? For a husband and wife team, even if we switched off, one would be working while the other was impatient to go faster. As it is, we can distribute the load so that we cruise at an evenly matched pace.

It's amazing how much stuff we need to feel comfortable. The tent and sleeping gear takes up a lot of space (and won't fit in panniers), followed by clothing and food. I was able to do an overnight camping trip with just rear panniers, but it was a tight fit and the bike didn't handle well with so much weight in the back. The best thing I've found is to take multipurpose things (e.g., put some clothes in a sleeping bag stuff sack and use as a pillow, frisbees make great plates) and then keep mental notes of what I didn't use on the trip (that extra fuel bottle, clothing layers, the extra pair of socks) and not take them next time. For multiday trips (bike/hike/canoe) that I've done, I'll plan for food and water along the way to reduce the day to day weight. I could survive on a lot less, but it's no fun being cold, wet, and hungry. I'm planning a trip for this weekend so we'll see if I've learned anything :)

Great ride report - thanks for all the pictures. Isn't there supposedly a mysterious monster that lives in Lake Champlain, or am I thinking of something else?

........We looked at the BoB, but we already have racks and panniers. Plus, with a BoB, who pulls it? For a husband and wife team, even if we switched off, one would be working while the other was impatient to go faster. As it is, we can distribute the load so that we cruise at an evenly matched pace.

You each get a BOB of course.

Or you can just do like I did and let the wife haul it (the problem with this little number (assuming you can talk her into it (I was recovering from a broken knee)) is that by the end of the trip she is going to be kicking fit from hauling everything and you will have lost fitness from cruising along next to her (plus every cyclist (and lots of drivers) who passes you (or worse; you pass) is going to give you a ration for letting her haul the thing while you are unloaded).

However it does look like you have really top end equipment already and are used to panniers so the BOB idea is just theoretical anyway.

Where and when is your next trip?

Next tour will probably be a credit-card tour of North Central Florida this winter. Next summer we'd like to start from Vienna, go down the Danube to Budapest, then back up looping around in Slovakia, thru Bratislava and finally back to Vienna. We've done a similar tour by car and it was beautiful. No crowds on the roads, beautiful scenery, nice people, and inexpensive except for Vienna and Budapest (where we won't be staying long).