Category: Touring

I woke to a beautiful sunrise on the Erie Canal. 

Today started like many others have this past 6.5 months. I’m riding to my next sleep spot and this is where today becomes a treasure. Unknown to me, Ken and Joe of Team Eliminator had been planning a surprise.

They drove to Rochester and rode the Canal to meet me on route to Pittsford. This is the highlight of this tour, I can’t imagine what could top this! These two friends rode with me to Pittsford. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We ended the day at Jay Saylor’s home where I will stay an extra day with Nancy. The Saylors gave us a tour of Fairport that enclosed a whiskey tasting at the Ironsmoke Distillery.

Today I left as the sun lit the day. I will need to get through Buffalo to pick up the Erie Canal Trail.

Riding into Buffalo and then getting onto the local bike routes to get into the city to connect with the Erie Canal Trail was a clusterfuck of road construction. Multiply detours, some marked and some not, took all my concentration.

Once I found and began the Erie Trail I relaxed and left the city behind. I rode into Lockport and visited the Lock and met some cyclists that eagerly listened to my story.

A tour guide at the Lock offered a few suggestions as to where I might set up my tent for the night. I found a very nice quiet spot along the canal to end my 82 mile day.

My sleep last night was restless after trying to find a decent motel 70 miles away. All the parks are now closed in NY. All I could find was two sketchy motels.

I decided to stop in Dunkirk at the Clarion with fewer miles hoping to get a good night’s sleep.

I now have two long days, an 80-ish day to Lockport followed by a 75-ish mile day to Pittsford.

It rained last night and into the morning with wind and cold. The start wasn’t early and it wasn’t warm yet. It was never warm today but I did have wind at my back.

I’m making my way to the Erie Canal Trail through Buffalo, NY. All the State Parks are closed. The motel choices really suck. $500 a night for a decent room and $120 a night for a flea ridden rat infested dump. No Warmshower either. I hope when I get away from the city and get to Lockport  things will change for the better.

My Warmshowers host, Peter, hopped on his bike and guided me to my route so I wouldn’t have to backtrack.

On the bike trail to Cleveland.

Riding through the wealth of Bratenahl.

A mild start in the 50° and soon warmed to finish the day. I am now at Geneva on the Lake.

Another short day to Peter’s home, a Warmshowers host, for the night.

I stopped for a nice breakfast in Vermillion. Busy city riding for a while.

I now have a full day’s ride to Geneva on the Lake.

A cold morning with heavy dew that didn’t  warm and dry up until 10 AM. I made the best of it enjoying breakfast followed by peach pie and coffee.

There aren’t many choices to stay between here and Geneva of the Lake. I couldn’t find a way to split the distance into two days. So I worked out some options for a three day ride instead.

I rode the North Coast Inland Trail from Fremont to Clyde. On this trail I met an interesting man, I’m guessing in his 50’s, that has never owned a car or has a drivers license. He goes everywhere by bicycle or kick scooter, we talked for a while about the tour and his life. He offered a better way for me to get to Avery by continuing on the trail to the end before turning north to once again pick up my route.

I stopped in Avery for the night to split the distance into thirds. I checked into the Quality Inn. I think I’ll sleep well and tomorrow ride to Lakewood, a city on Lake Erie, to stay with a WarmShowers host.

I started riding at sunup for the short days ride to Gibsonburg to connect with Nancy.

The headwind was 10 mph, half as strong as the last few days.

The afternoon was spent doing laundry and planning where to stay between Cleveland and Buffalo. Nancy brought back some nice treats from the trip into town. Beer, ice cream, and pie!

I stop in the Blueberry Cafe on my way out of town for breakfast. They opened at 7:00 AM so the timing was right. The breakfast special, pancakes with eggs and bacon was a real treat.

This was another push into 20 mph wind that continued all day.

I had planned to camp at Mary Jane Thurston State Park but the park was full. I took plan B and got a motel room in Napoleon twelve miles short of my goal. In kind words, this is maybe the worst motel I’ve slept in. Yuck! I didn’t use the shower and I covered the bed with the tarp I use to cover my bike. I slept in my own bedding.

I was up with the sun and left for Gibsonville for a short 50 mile day.

My day will be fifty five miles to Monroeville where I will sleep in the Community Park. Being a short day I wasn’t in a rush to get going so the morning was very relaxed.

I couldn’t get away from the NE wind. I was either going north or east so I pushed through 15-20 mph headwinds all day. The cool 60° day was a nice riding temperature.

On Yoder Road to Poe I came across a detour sign because of a closure just before Poe. I flagged down a car coming from that direction and asked if I would be able to get around the obstruction. I was told that on a bicycle I probably could so I continued.

The detour would add many miles so I took the chance. The road was closed because the river washed away the ground under the road. There was a two foot sag in about ten feet of the road’s length. The area supported me and my loaded bike so I was able to continue twenty two miles to my sleep spot.