Hot, hot, hot

Mentor to Vermilion, OH

It was another scorcher today. I had hoped to cover another 10 miles, but the heat started to get to me and I just had to stop. Or maybe I should say that the heat started to get to me quite a bit earlier, but I finally got to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore!

The entire ride today paralleled Lake Erie, and was mostly through residential areas. The first 60 miles were either residential or urban (downtown Cleveland), and the last nine were more industrial. There were areas on both sides of Cleveland with huge mansions along the lakefront. Most of the other houses were much more reasonable. I started out this morning by running into a biathlon. Unlike Greg O'Shea's stint as the RAAM leader, I was going in the opposite direction of the race. That gave me a chance to watch the cyclists coming toward me. It must have been a "fun run" type of race, or else I just missed the serious racers. The folks I saw were riding all kinds of bikes - some racing bikes with aero bars, but also some hybrids and cruisers - and all kinds of clothes. I even saw someone wearing one of the original Bell Biker helmets! I remember those helmets as being both heavy and hot. Too bad I couldn't tell the guy that he'd be more comfortable (and probably safer) wearing a more modern helmet.

The start of the Cleveland Lakefront Bike path was a little weird. It looped through a park, and then right back out on the road. But it did turn into a real bikepath at the eastern edge of Cleveland, and stayed that way all the way to downtown. That made the ride into Cleveland a good ride instead of a fight with traffic. I was very glad that I rode through Cleveland on a Sunday because there were sections of the road before the bike path appeared that would have been challenging to ride in traffic, to say nothing of the section through downtown. I'm also glad to be done with city riding for a while. The stop lights got old really fast. It seemed that as soon as I got going I had to stop again!





I stopped at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a rest. I didn't go into the museum, which was absolutely swarming with people, but I thought that the building was beautiful. It's a series of glass pyramids. And there was something funny going on outside - the Beggin' Strips dog obstacle course. The dogs only made a brief appearance outside because it was so hot. They were spending most of their time lounging in an air-conditioned RV. The obstacle course was pretty funny. It included a series of fire hydrants, a couch and a shoe that were both teeter-totters, and a blow-up dog that the real dogs ran through.







Just as I was approaching Vermillion I stopped at a farm market to see if anyone know of a place to stay nearby. The heat was just starting to roll off of me. Once couple told me about a Holiday Inn Express that they thought was still a few miles away, and then offered to throw my bike and trailer in their truck and drive me there. She had been working outside all day, and said I looked like I needed to be out of the heat. I almost took them up on it, but then someone who lived in Vermillion told me there were a couple of mom & pop motels within the next one to two miles. I rode on into Vermillion and found a nice cool room for the night. I'd like it if tomorrow is cooler, but the weather forecast is for another hot one.

Time for me to crash for the night...

A quick view of Pennsylvania

Erie, PA to Mentor, OH

I finished my tour of the northwest corner of Pennsylvania this morning and entered Ohio, so now I've been in 6 states and one province. Maybe I shouldn't count New Hampshire, Ontario, and Pennsylvania because they were so short - but I did bicycle in all three, so I think I'll count them.

Today was one of those "I could have stopped earlier, maybe I should have stopped earlier" days. I had finished 50 miles when I arrived in Geneva-on-the-Lake, but I wasn't tired and I wanted to do another 10 miles. I thought there were places to stay up ahead, but I was wrong. There were 2 pretty awful looking motels, and no campgrounds. I'm sure my sister is proud of me for passing up those places... I spoke to someone who lives in (or near) Madison, and he told me there wasn't really anything decent until Mentor. He also told me it takes him 30 minutes to drive there. At that point I could have gone back to Geneva-on-the-Lake but I decided to press on. It was an unexpected 80-mile day, but it was a good one. It turned out to be another 20 miles from Madison. I was feeling good, the weather was good, the terrain was good, and I really didn't start fading until close to the end. And I did end the day in Mentor, which is not too far east of Cleveland. This will actually work out well, because I will be riding through Cleveland tomorrow. I think riding through the busy Cleveland lakefront area will be more pleasant on a Sunday than during the week.

The ride today followed Lake Erie for a good part of the way, and there were actually sections where the road was next to (but above) the lake. Most of the time there were houses between me and the lake. For the most part they were rather unassuming structures, but there was a section between Conneaut and Ashtabula where there were some pretty imposing houses. It really makes me wonder what the people who live there do to support themselves, since there doesn't seem to be much around there. Maybe they work in Cleveland, but it seems like that would be a pretty nasty commute.

Coming into Ashtabula, the scenery went from pristine lakefront to heavy industry. It was amazing how abrupt the change was. Right after I crossed the Ashtabula River just after entering the town, I saw a sign that said "The Ohio Department of Health advises against eating fish caught in this area". What are they doing to the water? I wonder if they mean fish caught in the river, or if the danger area extends into the lake too.







The next town after Ashtabula was Geneva-on-the-Lake. It would have been fun to stay there if I hadn't still been so full of riding energy. It was a very funky resort town, with the main street lined with mom & pop motels, arcades, ice cream places, bars, restaurants, etc. The streets were also lined with an unbelievable number of motorcycles. It was kind of amazing to compare Geneva-on-the-Lake which had a population of 1600+ and was very alive with the towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut which were much larger and didn't seem nearly as active. That could have been a function of where I was riding though, because I passed through all 3 towns along the lakefront, and the two larger towns probably had a lot more going on further from the water.

I spent some time looking at maps last night, and realized that I might not want to ride straight across Indiana and Illinois. It would make more sense to find a diagonal path to meet up with the Transamerica route. If I follow my planned route I will go west to Iowa, then back off and come east a bit as I head south through Illinois and Missouri. Of course, I left home with only my Adventure Cycling maps. My stack of AAA maps is still at home. I was hoping to find a AAA office sometime next week, figuring that today was out of the question since it is a weekend day. I rode into Conneaut, Ohio, and one of the first things I saw was a big AAA sign. Imagine my surprise to find that they were open today! I now have road maps of Indiana and Illinois, a campground book, and pages torn out of the tour book showing motels. The tour book was too big and heavy for me, so I only took the sections that I thought I'd need. I'm not sure a diagonal route is possible without riding on Interstates, so I may still end up following my original route. At least now I can attempt to figure out if it's possible to take a more direct route. That's a task for another day...

When I was talking to the owner of the bakery I stopped at in Conneaut, I mentioned that I was glad to be in a new state because I felt like I was never going to finish riding across New York. She told me she thought I'd feel that way about Ohio too since it is pretty wide. She was surprised when I told her that I thought I'd be through Ohio in much fewer days than it took me to cross New York.

As I was leaving Erie this morning, I noticed something that I thought was a typo on a sign yesterday but that appears to be deliberate. The people in Erie spell diner as "dinor". Very odd. Everywhere else I've been they're are called diners, not dinors. Is that an acceptable alternative spelling, or is it an Erie thing?

While I'm asking questions, maybe one of you can answer these for me. I've obviously had too much time on the bike to think of odd things, and now I need answers... My questions have to do with farming. The first is - why are barns red? I've seen a few white barns, but most of them have been red. Maybe it's just a custom, but it seems like there must have been something behind the color. And the second question - how do farmers manage to have straight rows of crops with dirt but no weeds between them? It seems like the weeds grow in my garden as soon as I walk inside. (OK, so now you know I'm really crazy...)

Wildlife... I've been seeing quite a few squirrels and groundhogs, and more red-winged blackbirds. Some of the squirrels have been playing suicide games with cars, but luckily I haven't seen any of them get hit.

A final day in New York

Dunkirk, NY to Erie, PA

I woke up this morning to very gray skies. I thought for a while that it was going to rain, but it didn't, and the sky finally cleared. For a while it was blue skies with clouds to the north, gray skies to the south, and a mixture just in front of me. It actually turned out to be a beautiful day. I would take a lot more just like today if I had a choice.

I'm finally out of New York! Sometimes I felt like I was crawling across the state, even though I wasn't. I ended the day in Erie, PA. It just wasn't in the cards for me to get all the way across the corner of Pennsylvania and into Ohio today. That would have been a 90-mile day, not what I wanted to do today. I started the day on route 5, but had to cut over to route 20 for a while. In this part of the state, NY 5, US 20, and Interstate 90 all parallel each other. 5 is closest to the lake. At one point I saw signs for construction for the next 18 miles and decided to backtrack to a county road that would take me to route 20. I remembered Jeff telling me about construction on route 5, but I couldn't remember where he said it was. If I'd thought about it this morning I would have started on route 20 because the construction just had to be today. It wasn't a problem though - the two roads were only 1 to 2 miles apart most of the day today.

I stayed on route 20 a little longer than I needed to because I just had to ride through the village of North East, PA. That's a crazy name for a town. Can you imagine answering the question "where do you live?". I live in North East. No, what town? That is the town name! And, to top it all off, the village of North East is in the northwest corner of the state. I did find out that the town and village are in the northeast corner of Erie County. Talk about confusing! Thanks to Scrappy and his grandson John who waved me over to give me some cold water, and who gave me the answer to the question on why North East was named North East.

I passed an old man working outside his house and had to stop and chat when I saw the signs saying that he sold picnic tables and bicycles. He is 80 years old, and has been doing this for the past 16 years. When I started talking to him he thought I wanted to buy a bicycle from him. Oops - I wasn't trying to lead him on, I was just curious. The picnic tables looked OK, but the bikes were pretty suspect. He had a garage and a basement full of old bikes. I asked if he serviced them, and he said no. In fact, he said he didn't know anything about those "speed" bikes. I guess he's not going to put the bike shop in Dunkirk out of business anytime soon.

Rest day... a little riding too!

Dunkirk & Fredonia, NY

Yesterday I considered staying in Buffalo for a rest day, but when I listened to the weather forecast I changed my mind because yesterday was supposed to be a drier day than today. Then when I got to Dunkirk I thought I'd press on today - but when I woke up this morning I knew it was time for a rest. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body. I pried myself out of bed, dressed for cycling, and went to breakfast. As I was eating, I decided it was time for a quiet day, and a sudden downpour cemented that decision. I didn't fall asleep again, but I did spend the morning reading in bed. What decadence! When I checked about extending my stay here for another night, the desk clerk asked if I needed anything from housekeeping. She gave me fresh towels and more shampoo (used to hand-wash my clothes!), and told housekeeping not to make up the room. That was great, since it stopped them from waking me up if I had fallen asleep again.

There were several periods of downpours this morning, and there's a severe thunderstorm warning tonight. The humidity is supposed to be better for the next couple of days, which will be a welcome change. I'm glad I didn't travel today because I would have been facing pretty bad headwinds in addition to the rain. There were noticeable headwinds yesterday, but not as hefty as today. The winds have been out of the west at 18 miles per hour, with gusts to 31.

Once I was done lounging around this morning I did get on the bike for a while. After all, it is my only transportation. I rode into Fredonia for lunch at a bakery, took a quick tour of the SUNY College at Fredonia campus, then rode up to Lake Erie to visit a historic lighthouse and War of 1812 memorial. Unfortunately, it turns out that the grounds and the museum are only open for 4 hours a day, and I didn't happen to catch the right four hours. I also rode by that large industrial building on the lake that I mentioned yesterday. It turns out to be a power generating plant.

I somehow managed to ride 17 miles in my wanderings today - oh the joy of riding an unloaded bike for a change!

Before I left for my ride I spent some time talking to the motel staff who were taking a lunch break outside. They have seen other cyclists here, but didn't realize that they were on an established cross-country route. They were pretty amazed about my trip That seems to be a universal initial reaction from most people. I got a "you really rode here from Massachusetts?" today...

I've been staying in motels much more than camping so far. Sometimes I've opted for staying inside because of the weather, sometimes because there were no campgrounds around (especially around the larger cities like Rochester, Buffalo, and soon Cleveland), and a couple of times because I was just lazy. Last night was both a weather-related decision and an "I've gone far enough for the day" decision. I knew there was supposed to be heavy rain and wind last night (and that forecast was right) as well as rain all morning today. I figured if I decided to take a rest day I'd rather not be stuck in my tent in the rain. I keep thinking I should send the camping gear home to get rid of some of the weight but that would be the absolute wrong thing to do. I looked forward to my map of Indiana and Illinois, and not only are all of the services off route by quite a bit, but there are also only campgrounds shown, no motels or B&Bs. So I really do need that camping gear!

I was hoping to pull another 3-state day getting from here, across Pennsylvania, and into Ohio, but I just looked at the maps and I think it's probably too far for a day. Tomorrow should be my final day in New York though. I know I've been making good progress, but I can't believe how many days I've been in this state! I'm sure I'll have the same feeling about Missouri where I'll be riding both south and west through the state, and Kansas, which is a really wide state.

The first day along Lake Erie

Buffalo to Dunkirk, NY

When I arrived in Dunkirk I saw a brochure that listed Buffalo as a not too distant attraction at 30 miles away. Of course, that was via the New York Thruway, which is most likely a pretty straight line. My 52 mile ride must have been following a pretty crooked line!

I didn't leave Buffalo early this morning. It turned out that the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site was across from where I was staying. It opened at 9, so I went over to tour the house and to visit a special exhibit - "From Teddy's Bear to the Teddy Bear, Celebrating the 100th Birthday of an American Icon". I don't know if I would have stayed around to tour the house, but I had to see the teddy bear exhibit. It was fun. I also picked up an interesting tidbit. A toy company has named a monkey "Dubya"- how fitting. However, I don't think the Dubya monkey is going to outstrip the Teddy Bear in popularity.



I finally hit the road at 10:30.The path out of the downtown / waterfront area of Buffalo was via bike path, and as usual I had a little trouble transitioning from the bike path to the road - the directions were a bit confusing, but I managed to figure it out. While I was standing there a cyclist (in a car, but with a bicycle on a rack) stopped to ask where I came from and where I was going. It was another case of cyclist jealousy!

I only got about 4 miles before I stumbled on the Naval & Military Park on the Buffalo waterfront. I stopped there to tour the USS Little Rock, which is a guided missile light cruiser. That was interesting. I think I would have had a lot of trouble on a ship like that at sea. I doubt if my tendency to get motion sickness would go away when working, living, and eating on the lower levels of the ship. And I can't imagine how anyone ever managed to get up and down the steep stairs (OK, they are probably called something other than stairs) in heavy seas.



I did the right thing by staying in Buffalo last night. I didn't realize that it was another 10 miles to Lackawanna, and I don't think I would have been too happy staying there. Not a problem, since I found a good place to stay in Buffalo.

The beginning of the ride today was pleasant, on bike paths along the water. The route then went through a very industrial section of South Buffalo, and on to Lackawanna. Not pretty, but it got me out of town. Past Lackawanna the official route followed some back roads along the lake. I opted to stay on Route 5 all day so I didn't need to watch for turns. I suppose that's lazy, but that way if I zone out I don't miss a turn! One side effect of staying on route 5 is that I actually passed some real grocery stores (as opposed to the so far ever present gas station convenience stores). That was good, because I needed to pick up some fresh fruit.

Traveling along Lake Erie is nicer than traveling along Lake Ontario because the road is closer to the water. There were times that I was right on the edge of the lake, and times that I could see the lake between the houses. It was pretty flat until the end of the day when the terrain changed to be somewhat rolling. Nothing steep, but enough to notice. That was probably because it was the end of the day though. Another difference is the crops - it seems that the area around Lake Ontario is apple-growing territory. And by the end of the day today I was seeing grapes and signs for wineries.

I stopped for lunch in Blasdell and ate what I thought was enough food. It wasn't, so I stopped at a small store along Lake Erie to pick up my first ice cream of the day. (Yes, I did stop twice for ice cream!). I ended up talking to the couple who owned the store for a while. I told them about my trip, and then they pulled their 3 daughters out to talk to me too. It was really amazing - they aren't cyclists at all, but they were very excited for me.
## icecream.jpg ##

Just before I crossed into Dunkirk, I saw what I thought were two kids in tire swings on the side of the road. I did a double-take when I saw the sign above them that said "Grand-kids for sale". I had to stop and take a picture. While I was standing there the woman who made them came out to talk. She said that quite a few cyclists stop to take a picture of her grand-kids, so she gets a chance to talk to many of us. The grand-kids are fabulous dolls, dressed in kids clothes and stuffed with plastic and foam pellets so they could stay out in bad weather. I left there with a big smile on my face.







At first glimpse, Dunkirk appears to be an odd combination of vacation property and industrial property. Along the lakefront, there is a marina and a boat launch right next to a large industrial complex.

Powerful water

Lockport to Buffalo, NY, by way of Niagara Falls, Ontario

Let's see - if I rode straight from Lockport to Buffalo, I'm sure it would have been a shorter ride than the one I took today. But it probably wouldn't have been as much fun. I rode by way of Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was a 2-country, 2-bridge day. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge into Canada was much quieter than the Peace Bridge was crossing into Buffalo. But luckily on the Peace Bridge bicycles cross on the sidewalk. That made it a reasonable crossing. I did have a scare partway across though - I was almost half-way across when I saw the bright orange square of a manhole cover that was up. I thought I was going to have to move onto the road surface, but the bridge workers very nicely closed the manhole and let me pass. Getting off of the bridge was another story. The Adventure Cycling map had pretty good directions, once I got myself to the left side of the bridge, not the right side where I came out of customs. The thing that was a little crazy was that I didn't really take any of the official bridge exits - I cut across a parking lot and through an almost closed gate to get to the street I was looking for. I started following the detailed instructions to the bike path along the lake, then thought better of it and stopped at a gas station to see where the recommended hotels were in relation to where I was. It's a good thing I stopped, because downtown and the hotels were in the other direction. If I'd started out I probably would have ended up staying in Lackawana, but I was really ready to stop, so I'm glad I stopped and asked. It was time to get out of the sun.

It was another hot day, with sun most of the day. There were some pretty big clouds hiding the sun for a while when I was in the falls viewing area. That created some amazing light effects on the falls when the sun peeked out again. I tried to catch it in some pictures, but I just wasn't fast enough to catch the light. It was fun trying. I did get cooled off while I was standing at the top of Horseshoe Falls; it's unbelievable how much spray comes off of the falls. I think it was about 11:30 when I came off the bridge and onto the Niagara Parkway, and I managed to wander around the area for the next 3 hours. I walked through some beautiful gardens, but missed the Butterfly Conservatory because I wasn't willing to wait in line for a half an hour to get in. If you looked up at the glass in the building you could actually see the butterflies from the outside. I'm sure it was beautiful in there, but I just wasn't in a waiting mood today. The next stop was for some food - a slice of pizza and something cold to drink set me up for the rest of the day.







Hey - can I pull this trailer behind my bike? I think this horse was ready to come out and play for a while.


After that I rode down to the falls viewing area, locked the bike to a light pole, and went to look at the falls. The whole area was mobbed with people, but it was still possible to get unrestricted views. The falls are absolutely amazing. Both Niagara Falls and Horseshoe Falls are very wide and high. From the Canadian side you can walk right to the side of Horseshoe Falls, so you can see (sort of) the water at both the top and the bottom of the falls. I found it amazing how turbulent the water is at the top of the falls in addition to the bottom. I took quite a few pictures, but as usual with something so impressive, I don't think the pictures do it justice. Having the digital camera is really fun. I didn't even think about taking only "good" pictures - I just kept clicking away in the hopes of getting some good shots. And I think I did get some.











I met a woman from Lockport as I was changing some money on the way into Canada. She was asking about my bike - and then about my trip. She said that she wants to ride the entire Canal Trail someday, from Lockport to Albany. By the way, if any of you repeat my ride from bridge to bridge - don't bother to change any money. All of the tourist places had everything listed in both Canadian and US currency - they accepted both everywhere.

I stopped to get something cold to drink, and when I got back to the bike I found a couple from Michigan staring at it. They were riding some cruiser-type comfort bikes, and had never seen anything like my Air Glide before. We talked for a while. When they heard where I'm headed, they told me that they had ridden across Kansas on motorcycles years ago and found it way too hot. I didn't really need to hear that since I'm expecting it to be hot in Kansas. I'm hoping that by the time I get there I'll be a little better adapted to the heat. Right now I'm enjoying the 70-degree days more than the 90-degree days. Today was better than the last hot day though. I don't know why, since both days seemed to be pretty humid.

The ride from the Falls viewing area to Fort Erie (where I crossed back into the States) was on a bike path that paralleled the road. I don't know if parallel is the right word though, because it seemed to snake in and out. I wonder how many extra miles I rode by snaking around on the bike path instead of riding in a straight line on the road. I would have switched to the road, but it was a 2-lane road with room for two cars and with absolutely no shoulders. I thought it was better to stay on the bike path. The thing I found interesting about the bike path is that it was also an access road to the houses along the Niagara Parkway. Their driveways were off of access roads that were also the bike path. I've never seen anything like that before.

I had dinner tonight at the Colter Bay Grille. It was named for Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park. I thought that was fitting, since Grand Teton is on my itinerary for the summer.

Interesting wildlife for the day - black squirrels! Too bad they wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a picture.


I was very happy to see this sign as I got close to the Peace Bridge. I had just followed the Adventure Cycling instructions to take an unmarked ramp, cut through concrete barriers, cross a parking lot, and cut through another barrier. And it worked!

The first flat day

Rochester to Lockport, NY

Today was my first flat day - as evidenced by the increase in my average speed. The weather could have had something to do with that too - it was in the low 70s and cloudy most of the day today, a sharp contrast from yesterday's 95 degrees, sunny, and humid. I was actually glad it was cloudy today.It started to sprinkle a couple of times, but didn't really rain until after I checked in to my hotel for the night. That was lucky. My talking to the sky, saying "please hold off for another hour" every time it started sprinkling probably didn't have anything to do with it.

My average speed today was 11.9 miles per hour, a far cry from yesterday's 8.9 MPH. And the first hour today was a slow one (9 MPH) - the time I spent on the Canal Trail. It was nice to have a bike path to get through Rochester - no need to deal with cars in a busy city - but I opted for Route 31 as soon as the bike path surface changed from paved to unpaved. Route 31 was a great riding road. It had a wide paved shoulder for most of the way. At least the shoulder existed between the small cities / villages - within the cities it usually disappeared. There was only one bad patch of road (non-road) in a construction zone. I was ahead of the truck that was about to water the road, but there was still some real mud and a nasty gravel section. It's a good thing I wasn't drying clothes on my trailer today. If I had been, I would have needed to wash them again! I guess that's something I should be more aware of - put the clothes away before riding through construction zones or unpaved areas.







The only hills of the day were as I was entering Lockport, and within the city itself. It was a nice change of pace, although I'm sure I'll welcome some hills again in a while. I felt like I was riding like a normal person today, not crawling along at a slow speed. Those slow speeds will come back again, but for now I'll enjoy the flats.

My first stop today was at a bakery to buy a blueberry muffin. The woman in the shop looked at me and asked "what's that blue thing?". It took me a minute to realize that she was looking at the tube from my Camelbak. She had never seen one before. No wonder some people look at me (and all cyclists?) strangely - biking clothes, helmet, gloves, funny sunglasses, and Camelbaks. I guess I look a little odd to some people. Maybe that's why the dad with a little girl in the ice cream shop yesterday looked at me like I had 2 heads! I was getting close to Rochester at that point, and I figured that people in larger cities were just not ready to talk to strangers who they thought looked odd.

I was riding down Route 31 when I heard someone say "are you touring?". It was another cyclist who was about to pass me. He asked where I was coming from, and where I was headed. Then he said he wanted to do a cross-country trip too, and said "I wish I was you - have fun" before he went on his way.

I stopped for a sandwich in Brockport. While I was eating, a man saw my bike and then came and found me to talk. He had done a Newport, Oregon to Washington, DC trip back in 1996, and is about to head to Europe for a 2 to 3 week tour. It was fun to talk with him.

It's funny - a bunch of towns in this area of New York are named for other countries. It makes me want to look into where the names came from. I've passed through or been close to Mexico, Greece, and Sweden.

Tomorrow I head into Canada to Niagara Falls and the Niagara Recreational Parkway. That should be fun - I haven't been to Niagara Falls for years.

Where I think I'll be...

Just in case you want to take this trip yourself, or if you really want to follow the details of where I'll be going, here's a list of the maps that I'll be using on my trip. I'm adding this page to my journal after my dad asked me how he could get a copy of the maps I'm using.

I'll be using Adventure Cycling maps for most of my trip, but I used my imagination along with help from some friends to figure out a route from home to Ticonderoga, NY.

From my house in North Andover to Plum Island and back
via back roads, using Rubel's Bike Map of the North Shore (Boston)

From North Andover to Brattleboro, VT
Route 114 to Route 110 to Route 113 to Route 119

From Brattleboro, VT to Ticonderoga, NY
Route 30, then I followed the signs to the ferry to New York

Adventure Cycling maps, in the order they will be used
Northern Tier, sections 10, 9, and 8: Ticonderoga, NY to Muscatine, IA

Great Rivers South, section 1: Muscatine, IA to Cape Girardeau, MO ^T Actual end point is Map 12, Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park

Transamerica, sections 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Murphysboro, IL to Florence, OR ^T Actual starting point is on Section 9, Map 10, Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park

Headwinds & rollers

Sodus Point to Rochester, NY

I wonder why I thought this part of New York is flat. It isn't, in case you are wondering. I wouldn't exactly call it hilly either, but I had rollers a good part of the day and strong headwinds all day. Overall the day was great, but I had a really low energy start. I'm not sure what I did to cause that - probably a combination of not sleeping well last night (I woke up every 2 hours!) and maybe not eating enough last night. I don't think I can blame breakfast this morning since I ate the same thing yesterday and it worked then. I stopped at the Pultneyville Pickle for Gatorade, juice, a fresh banana strawberry muffin, and another banana. That apparently did the trick, because I felt much better after that break. It might have helped that I sat there and talked to people for close to an hour too. I got some route advice, and decided not to follow the Adventure Cycling route for most of the day. I had already decided not to ride on the Canal Trail (which follows the Erie Canal) for the full 90 miles that the Northern Tier route called for since a good chunk of it isn't paved. I knew the section through Rochester was in good paved shape, so that's where I planned to ride it. What I didn't realize was how far south the route took me on the way to Rochester. It dipped south and then came north again. So - first I opted to stay on a numbered road (county route120 to state route 21) out of Pultneyville instead of following real back roads and dealing with navigating. I really prefer fewer turns. When I ride a route where you turn every mile, I always think I'm going to miss a turn. Then, instead of going all the way south to Palmyra, I turned west at Marion, following county route 207 to state route 441. When I was just north of Fairport, I turned south, then rode west from Fairport to Pittsford. That's where I finally made my entrance to the Canal Trail. The end result was that I cut 8 miles off of the Adventure Cycling mileage for the day. And yes, 48 miles was plenty today! I owe many thanks for John Welch who I met at the Pultneyville store for suggesting that I didn't need to go as far south as my maps told me to go.

Most of the section of the Canal Trail that I rode was very nice. Unlike bike paths at home, this one is not overutilized, so it is reasonable to bike on it. There were only two things that got to me. The first was that the first lock I hit didn't have an exit ramp to go around it, so I had to haul my bike and trailer up a set of stairs. Ouch! Needless to say, I had to make several trips. The second gotcha is that it was hard for me to figure out where to get off of the trail to find a hotel for tonight. Of course, I could have called for directions, but I didn't! I knew there were hotels on East Henrietta, and one of the signed roads that the Canal Trail passed under was West Henrietta. I figured that at some point west turned into east, but the little tiny map of Rochester that I had showed only West Henrietta, so I figured the east half was far away. That was very wrong. It turned out that West and East Henrietta are parallel roads and are only a small distance apart. Luckily I didn't go too far past West Henrietta before I stopped another cyclist and asked.

It was another hot (95), hazy, humid day today. I did manage to get a few pictures of Lake Ontario, but the lake pretty much blends in with the horizon.

One of the cyclists I met on the Canal Trail told me there was an air show here today. I was too far away to see much, but I heard the planes and I did see the Blue Angels fly by.

I've been seeing a bird fly by for the past couple of days. The bird has an orange body and black wings, and I just had to call my mom to find out what it is. She said it's a Baltimore Oriole. That's pretty cool. I don't have a bird book with me, but sometimes I can still find out what it is that I am seeing.



I finally got a glimpse of Lake Ontario. It was so hazy out that the lake and the horizon seem to blend together.

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Imagine my horror when I came up to these stairs on my fully loaded bike! The only way to continue on the canal path was to climb the stairs, so climb I did. It took 3 trips to haul all of my gear up the stairs - the bike, the panniers, and the trailer.

Where's Lake Ontario?

Port Ontario to Sodus Point, NY

Another good riding day, and a good day to talk to people too. The weather cooperated by staying cloudy, which kept it a bit cooler than yesterday. When I left this morning it was already in the 70s and humid, but it didn't get much higher than 80. That was a good thing. It tried to rain a couple of times, but never got any further than sprinkles.I managed to get on the road a bit earlier today - 8:30 - but that still didn't get me to camp before 5. I'm pretty much maintaining a 10 miles per hour pace. Today was relatively flat, but there were quite a few of those short very steep (15% grade and up - ouch!) hills to slow me down. Between my pace and stopping to eat, take pictures, and talk to people, I was on the road all day. But since my primary purpose is traveling by bike, it's OK if I'm on the road all day!

I met 2 cyclists from the Onondoga cycling club out for their Saturday club ride. We talked on the side of the road for a while, then ended up riding together for a few miles. They had to slow down considerably to go my pace! It was a nice change of pace to ride with someone for a bit.

I stopped for an early lunch in Fulton. I'm still trying to figure out the best things and times to eat for maximum energy all day. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting closer! I ended up getting an egg, cheese, & bagel sandwich at Dunkin Donuts. It tasted pretty good, and seemed to work pretty well too. Eggs don't usually give me enough energy, but I think the carbs from the bagel + the protein did the trick.

After lunch I stopped for what I thought was going to be a quick picture of a lake, but it ended up as a great conversation stop. It turned out that the spot where I stopped was the ending point for a triathlon. I stayed close to an hour chatting with 3 guys who were 3/4 of one of the triathalon teams. That was fun. My bike and trailer (as usual) were the conversation starter. What I find interesting is that the trailer seems to be attracting more attention than the bike. That's a little odd, since what people usually notice are the little wheels. Maybe it's because I'm riding with rear panniers, so the little rear wheel isn't as noticeable. Once people really look at the bike it attracts its own attention too.



I've been following the edge of Lake Ontario all day, but I didn't actually see the lake at all until the end of the day. And it is pretty much socked in with fog or haze right now. Maybe I'll see it tomorrow, and maybe not. There are quite a few campgrounds that are right on the lake, but most of them are a mile or more off the road. Guess that's one of the reasons that I haven't seen too much of the lake.

As I was grinding up one of those short steep hills coming into the town of Fair Haven, I noticed a sign for the Fly By Night Cookie Company. The sign said it was off of a side street 3/4 of a mile down the road, so of course I had to stop. What a dynamite place! It's in someone's house. The front room is a self-service cookie shop. You just take what you want and leave the money in the dish on the table. I spoke with another woman in there who had been going there for years. She said this appears to be a case where the honor system works well! They had so many fabulous cookies that I had trouble choosing what I wanted. I really wish there would be a store like that one every day of my ride!

The last 20 miles of today's ride was interesting navigating. Most of my route so far has been on numbered roads - until today. The end of the ride was a turn right onto Red Creek Road, proceed straight onto Furnace Road, Turn right onto W. Port Road, etc. Luckily the roads were well marked. I wouldn't want to rely on directions like that in the Boston area since there are so few road signs! I considered staying on the numbered roads instead of the back roads on the map, but I decided to stick with the map for the day. I'm glad I did because the route took me over some very pretty quiet roads, passing through mostly farmland with a little residential areas thrown in.

I'm staying at the South Shore RV Park tonight. I was a bit disconcerted when I pulled in to find the owner's house locked up tight, and the office and camp store signs on a building that looks like it was never opened for the season. There were people camping though, so I asked if they knew how to find the owners or the camp host. They pointed me to one of the permanent trailers, so I was able to get a site. I'm glad I didn't need to go on any further - it was definitely time to stop! There are only a couple of other people with tents here. As expected in an RV park, most of the folks here are in trailers, and some of them were joking with me about my trailer. There is a nice grassy tent area, not a bad place to stay.

I didn't see much wildlife today - only a raccoon, and that kind of freaked me out. I'm always a little leery of raccoons that are running around during the day. This one came from the side of the road, ran parallel to me for a while, then crossed to the other side of the road and disappeared into the undergrowth. It was a big dog day today though. Only one stayed with me for a while, but I really hate all of the dogs who think chasing bikes is fun. Today made me think I should pick up some HALT or other pepper spray. I did meet a couple of nice dogs in the campground tonight, including one miniature dachshund who was really tiny. Her owner said that she only weighs 6 pounds, which is tiny even for a mini.

I just had to move into the tent. I've been sitting at the picnic table with my electronic toys, and it just started sprinkling. Time to more "inside". It's odd, because what I can see of the sky (it's almost dark out, just a little dusky) doesn't look like clouds. But better safe than sorry - I don't want to risk my baby PC to the rain.

I'll be somewhere in the Rochester area tomorrow - and in a motel. There are no campgrounds for the next 100 miles, and after that they look pretty sparse for a while. It looks like there won't be too many until after I get past the Buffalo area.



The wonderful Fly By Night Cookie Company - you've got to stop there if you're ever in Fair Haven, NY

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The back, back, back roads

On the road again

Boonville to Port Ontario, NY

Whatever happened to 70 degree days? The weather has gone from 50 degrees and rainy to 90+. Wait - the day I rode to Utica was closer to perfect. It was another beautiful ride today, but it was very hot. It was a hazy day, humid, with temperatures in the 90s. I can't complain though, because the afternoon thunderstorms that were forecast never appeared.

It was a late biking start. My dad drove me back to Boonville, and I left there at 10am. One of these days I'll get my body schedule adjusted so I can start earlier. For some reason I had trouble falling (and staying) asleep last night, so it was hard getting started this morning. Hopefully I'll get to sleep earlier tonight.

I'm finding that I can't get enough calories into me at breakfast, so I've been eating whatever feels right for breakfast, and then stopping fairly early to fill up on Gatorade and to pick up something interesting for a snack.That seems to be working for me. My first stop of the day was at the Hilltop Market in West Leyden - for Gatorade and banana bread. I talked with the owners for a while - they let cyclists sleep in their screened room, and it turns out that their son Steven is riding the Northern Tier from west to east with a group from Adventure Cycling. They are telling all west-bound cyclists to say hello to Steven when they meet him, so he should get quite a greeting. One more message if any of you happen to see Steven - tell him he needs to put stamps on his postcards before he mails them! I got a bit further down the road when a man in a truck stopped to ask me where I was coming from, and where I was headed. Turned out to be Steven's grandfather. What nice people!

My target mileage today was 50 to 60 miles. I definitely made my target, but ten of those miles didn't contribute to forward progress. I was so fascinated by a combination gas station, store, diner, motel in Redfield that I didn't even see my turnoff on the other side of the road. I got about 5 miles up the wrong road before I woke up and realized that there should have been some small towns along the road, and I seemed to be getting into lonelier territory in a beautiful wooded area. I managed to flag down someone in a pickup truck, and he confirmed that I was still on county route 17. I was supposed to be on country route 2. Time to turn around and backtrack.

This morning had some rolling hills with a bit of a headwind. I actually welcomed the wind since it wasn't too strong, and it was helping to keep me a little cooler.There was one wicked uphill coming out of Osceola, with grades ranging from 8 to 15% according to the inclinometer on my cycle computer. Guess that was the payment for screaming downhill coming into Osceola. That little town was located at the bottom of a hill. To leave the town in any direction you had to climb. The end of the day was mostly downhill, heading for Lake Ontario. I ended the day in Port Ontario, after talking to some folks at a farmer's market in Pulaski. They recommended the Golden Fish in Port Ontario for dinner. That was a dynamite recommendation - I had an excellent fresh grilled haddock.

I was wrong about the black flies - they're still here. It was another day of getting swarmed whenever I stopped. Maybe they'll be gone tomorrow. I can always hope.

Wildlife, and not so wildlife for the day... I passed a field of cows and had to do a double-take. One of the cows looked like it was wearing trousers! That was an optical illusion caused by the cow's coloration. I definitely had to look at that one twice. I saw a groundhog run across the road while I was climbing the hill outside Osceola, and I saw and heard several deer in the woods. Then there were the goldfinch, the red-winged blackbirds, and the butterflies.

Rest & relaxation

...visiting family

No riding today. It was a rest day, but my mom and I were busy all day. I thought I'd take a nap, but of course I didn't. Maybe rest days aren't meant for resting - just for taking a rest from biking. I have clean clothes, and a clean bike - it's all ready to start riding again and hopefully ready to avoid rain for a while. I tried to pick up some of that pink Finish Line Bike Wash, but the small bike shop we stopped at today didn't have a clue about any bike cleaners. Water and a little citrus degreaser did the trick though, along with some fresh lube. I've always tried to keep my bike clean, but I might have gone over the top today. I carry my multi-tool in my seat bag (the only bag I have with me that isn't waterproof), so it got pretty wet this week. When I pulled it out to use it yesterday I noticed that there was rust on a couple of the tools. I hate rust - so I had to clean the tools too. No more rust, and it's now in a plastic bag, still in the seat bag. Let's see how long that lasts.

I'm going to stay with my folks for another day. I'm really glad I decided to ride down here instead of having them come up to Boonville. It changed our visit from several hours to two days. Very nice. And my dad is going to borrow a truck so he can easily drive me and my toys (bike and trailer) back up to Boonville Friday morning to continue my trip.

Those black flies really got me. I'm still finding welts that are black fly bites. Hope they settle down soon.

My sister has been calling my trailer a truck. When I talked to her last night, she asked me where I was keeping my truck - I guess she didn't think I should bring it into the house. But of course it is in the house, and the bike is in the garage. She and my mom both thought I should bring the bike into the house too! It's happy out in the garage though, and I was afraid that since the dogs seem to like grease that they might decide to clean the chain for me.

Change of plans

Old Forge to Utica, NY, via Boonville

Utica? Wait, weren't you headed for Boonville?
Too bad I didn't figure out that I was going to bike to Utica before I got off of route 28 this morning!

I had a late start today because it was going to be a short riding day. I slept until 8 - what bliss. Then I packed up and headed to the Pancake House for a pecan pancake breakfast. My waitress was very interested in my trip. She said she thinks she'd like to do a cross-country trip by bike too, although she wasn't sure about hauling gear. I told her about Adventure Cycling and suggested that she call for information on their maps and on their trips. Once I finally got on the road, I headed to Boonville. The route to Boonville starts out on route 28, but then goes via back roads for the last 17 miles.The route to Utica from Old Forge - the one that makes sense at least - stays on route 28 until it intersects with route 12. I did a few extra miles because I went all the way to Boonville, then decided that it was a beautiful day for riding, and that I should ride to Utica to visit with my folks instead of having them come up to Boonville tomorrow. Of course the fact that it was only 1PM when I pulled in to Boonville had something to do with my decision to push on. It was a good 59-mile day today instead of a very short 27-mile day. Right now I'm about 30 miles south of the Northern Tier - but I think it will be a one-way detour because I'll probably get a lift back to Boonville to continue my trip.

I'm pretty sure that the last 7 miles I spent on route 12 weren't a legal place to bicycle. North of there route 12 is a marked bike route. At one point, the bike route sign pointed off of the road, but it didn't say "bicycles must exit", so I stayed on the road. I got off at one point, then realized I wasn't where I wanted to be. I started to get back on the road and saw the "pedestrians and bicycles prohibited" sign. Interesting though that a state trooper saw me on that section of the road and did not stop me.

I called my dad at that point to get directions to his business - and he just laughed when I told him I couldn't get back on route 12. Then he told me how to find him. Once I was pointed in the right direction I found my way without getting back on the highway.

It's days like today that make remind how much I like traveling by bike. It was a beautiful weather day, and the first day since last Thursday that I was able to focus on something other than getting to my destination before I got wet and cold. I was able to stop and take pictures without getting swarmed by black flies, which was a pleasure. And I had a bit of a tailwind on the ride from Boonville to Utica, which was a nice change from yesterday when I had a cold headwind.

I stopped by the side of the road to take some pictures of some wildflowers. The next thing I knew a policeman stopped to make sure I was OK. I told him I was fine, and thanked him for stopping. It's nice to know that people will stop to ask if aid is needed.

Animals today - I saw several deer, some wild turkeys, and some Canada Geese with their teenage offspring. Unfortunately they all scattered before I could grab the camera.

Something I've noticed over the past couple of days in the Adirondacks... When I was in New Hampshire and Vermont there were sections where there were no houses, but where there were houses there were also people. In the Adirondacks, there were sections where there were houses but no people. I guess I was up there too early to see people during the week, although I didn't see a lot of people around on the weekend either (maybe a factor of the rainy weather). These were all camps that are used mainly on weekends in the summer. The other thing I noticed is that people who live further north in the Adirondacks don't consider the southern section of the mountains to be "in the Adirondacks". I was talking to some people from Keene (south of Lake Placid) when I was in Schroon Lake. They asked about my biking route, and when they heard I was heading east said "oh, you're not going into the Adirondacks". Technically I was already there!

I discovered when I got to the house that Brandy & Caesar (my parent's crazy dogs) either like sweaty skin or bicycle grease, because they promptly tried to clean my legs.

Good dinner tonight - spinach and tofu and fresh vegetables, with homemade blueberry pie for desert. That's a lot closer to my normal diet than what I've been eating on the road. My dad loves cooking, and we love eating his cooking.

Tomorrow is a rest day - and a laundry and bike-cleaning day.







Still on Moose River Road. I had this road to myself most of the time. Pleasant views, but a rough road surface. When the road smoothed out as I crossed a county line, I remembered how much I like smooth roads!

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Black fly days

Long Lake to Old Forge, NY

It was a much better weather day today, still chilly, but not wet. The rain was in the form of sprinkles, not downpours. I did a lot of talking to the sky whenever it started feeling wet. I know, I know, that couldn't possibly work, but it did the trick today. It was another beautiful ride today, mostly rolling with a couple of long uphills- followed nicely by some good downhills. The biggest problem I had today was the black flies. I found that I could only do one thing when I stopped. I could either change clothes (too hot, too cold), grab a snack, or take a picture. I couldn't stand the bugs any longer than that. I actually had to take my helmet off and brush off my head after one stop because I felt like they were crawling all over me! I guess there is one good side effect to my staying in motels because of the weather - I don't have to deal with the bugs at a campsite.

I spoke to the owners of the Shamrock Motel this morning before I left. They made sure that I knew that once I passed Blue Mountain Lake that there was nothing until I hit Inlet. When I said I thought there was a place to stay in Raquette Lake, they told me I wouldn't like it there. And they offered to come and get me if I ran into trouble on the road. Very nice. I also showed them the entry on the Northern Tier maps for their motel. They had never seen the maps before, and didn't realize that they were listed.

I met Jeff (from Michigan) on the road this morning - the first other Northern Tier cyclist I've seen so far. He started on May 15th, and has been riding 100 miles a day. He's definitely moving much faster than I am. He thinks he'll be in Bar Harbor in another 5 days. We chatted for a bit, and shared some tips for each of our ongoing routes. He told me there are a couple of guys about a day in front of me.

This is the first motel in the last three nights where I've had a phone in the room. The first thing I tried to do was to upload my journal entries for the last two days, but my baby PC wasn't getting a dial tone. Strange. Then I realized that there was a pretty long delay after pressing 9 for an outside line before the dial tone started. I couldn't figure out how to insert a pause in the dialing string, but since there is a data jack on the phone I was able to plug in without unplugging the phone. It was a long shot, but I picked up the receiver, dialed 9, and waited for the dial tone. Then I had the Jornada dial the rest of the number.
Boy, was I surprised when that worked. Hopefully it will work again so I can upload this entry too.

Tomorrow will be a short ride. I'm only going as far as Boonville. My folks are going to drive up to visit me on Wednesday, so I'll have a rest day there. I'm really looking forward to seeing them.







Helmet head - this one's for Alan. I promised I get some pictures of good cases of helmet head, and I thought I had a pretty good one at the end of my ride today.

Rain... wait, is that the sun? And more rain...

Schroon Lake to Long Lake, NY

Rain. Wait, is that the sun? Hey it's getting too warm for all of this rain gear. Oops - here comes the rain again. And again. And...

My dad saved me from getting soaked first thing in the morning, but I did get wet several times during the day. When I first woke up this morning it was still raining, so I slept for another hour. The next wakeup time was gray, but no water falling from the sky, so I headed back to Pitkin's for breakfast. Then I packed up, and right before I left I called my dad for Father's Day. Good thing, because when we were finished with our conversation it was pouring rain again. I stayed where I was until it changed to a drizzle.

I met Karl & Lori in the parking lot of the general (junk and more) store in North Hudson. They gave me their phone number and a map to their place in Old Forge in case I need a place to stay there.

I rode up Blue Ridge Road from North Hudson. It was gorgeous, and nicely rolling - followed of course by a long uphill that included a good chunk of 8 to 11% grades. It was one of those deceptive hills too. At one point my eyes were sure that I was going downhill, but I was still moving uphill at a pretty significant grade. I know it's an optical illusion - but I'm always amazed when that happens. The long uphill was were it first started pouring. I had just started to overheat, and had just stuffed my rain gear back in my panniers. Time to put it back on again. It was an on-again, off-again rain day. The rain was serious when it happened, downpours, not drizzle. But in between rainstorms the sun almost showed it's face. I was almost able to dry out between storms. It was definitely a better weather day than yesterday. The temperature was usually in the mid-50s when it was raining, warming up to the high 50s and low 60s when it wasn't raining. I heard some nice rumbles of thunder, but didn't see any lightening.

It was a bad day to stop and rest. Every time I stopped I was swarmed by black flies. Yuck! I guess that's another good reason not to be camping right now.

I pulled into Newcomb and stopped at the Northwoods General Store for something warm to drink. I was pretty wet at that point and definitely needed to warm up. I ended up talking with the owners and with Pat. After I asked how much further it was to Long Lake, Pat offered me a ride. He said he was heading back that way, and was driving a truck with enough room in it for my gear. I think I surprised both of us by accepting his offer. He said he didn't know if I was too much of a purist to accept a ride. I learned the hard way on my ride in Washington back in 1999 that sometimes accepting a ride is the smart thing to do - and I'd had enough of riding in the rain for the day. Hey, what's 13 miles in the overall scheme of things? Pat rides too, and he said he offered me a ride because he'd like to think that someone would do the same for him in similar circumstances. I have offered my house as a place to stay, and I never hesitate to offer help to other cyclists. I was happy to accept the ride today!

There were a couple of hummingbird feeders hanging outside of the store, so I was able to do some hummingbird watching. The store owner told me that one day one of the birds allowed her to hold it! She said she wanted to see how close she could get to the hummingbirds. She walked pretty close to the feeder, and the bird just sat there and watched her. She actually reached out and picked it up, and it just allowed her to hold it! When she put the bird back on the feeder it took a drink and then flew away. Isn't that just amazing?

Pat drove me around to look at the different motels. The Shamrock looked like it was the most convenient, so we pulled in here and just caught the owners as they were leaving for a Father's Day dinner. They set me up in a room, and turned the heat back on so I could warm up and get my clothes dry. What nice people! They recommended the Blarney Stone Pub for dinner, excellent choice. The restaurant had a hummingbird feeder in their window too, so I was able to continue my hummingbird watch.

The rain is forecast to continue for another couple of days. I hope it breaks soon. And my poor bike hopes it stops too. I'm starting out every morning with a cleaned and re-lubed bike, but it's amazing how much crap it picks up from the road in the rain.