Day 46 - Hamburg to Canandaigua - 95 miles

The day started off nippy - in the 50's but going to warm into the 60's. What to wear? I opted for my jersey and arm warmers. No jacket. After all, I'm a Colorado girl! By the first sag stop, I was cold and not having the greatest ride. My hands were partially numb and had tingly nerve stuff going on. Luckily the van at the sag stop was pulling the trailer with all our stuff on it and I had loaded pretty close to the end. Shane opened up the back for me and got my bag out. I found my jacket and some different gloves and things started looking a little better. We also had birthday cake at the sag stop for Kathi and it's hard to be crabby with birthday cake. Once we started riding again I got warmed up a bit, my hands started doing better, and life in general just seemed to improve. I started off tired and the cold didn't help but after 30-40 miles, I was thinking I might survive another day! Most days it seemed like the first third of the ride went by pretty slowly but after that things moved along pretty well. 

We were warned up front that it would be a double ice cream day and we should prepare ourselves for that. :) I must confess I was not able to embrace the challenge fully.

Fiona managed a shake with her fish sandwich. I opted for rootbeer with my cheeseburger. They had peach softserve ice cream which I did want to try but not a whole cone so I left it undone. While we were eating, Fiona's tire went flat and the staff changed it for her, then brought in the photographic evidence. Second flat tire at a sag stop in as many days! She knows how to time things.

By the time we made it to the second ice cream stop, I was ready.

Kids will be kids.

I had a nice combo of vanilla and strawberry. Just the fuel I needed to make it into Canandaigua.

The lake was beautiful! 

There were rows of boathouses along the pier as well. 

We walked down the rows looking at them, noting how distinct they were from each other and their quirkiness and charm. I think it was Patty that started chatting with a couple and they invited us in for a look. It's against the laws to actually live in the boathouses but they had two and were redoing one so it was a nice place for a meal and relaxing in between the boating. They also gave us a little background and history on the lake and the area. 

As we were looking out at a small island on the lake, the guy asked for a camera and said this would be a great shot of us. He was right! That's a fun memory of a fun day.

And we discovered that Kathi and I both like brightly colored running shoes!

Day 45 - Erie PA to Hamburg NY - 81 miles

We were all happy to be leaving Erie PA behind us! I can't really judge the whole town but the area we were staying in just seemed as though it was dying. There were hardly any people around and not a lot of businesses although we did have some great food. Stevo's Pizza on Sunday and Like My Thai on Monday - both excellent. I don't think anyone was sad to leave behind our accomodations either. So off we set on our way to New York!

It was only about twenty miles to the state line and shortly after this happy photo, it began to rain. And it got pretty intense pretty quickly including thunder and lightning. Some people might have stopped. Some people did stop. But Fiona was in the lead and she did not stop so I did what any good follower would do and followed. This was no gentle shower, it was a downpour. The rain started washing all the sweat from my hair and helmet down into my eyes. I couldn't keep my right eye open; it was just like a river running over it and there was water everywhere. Then I hear laughter from up ahead and Fiona starts singing. In the rain. Completely ridiculous and completely soaked we rode along singing at the top of our lungs and occasionally it transitioned into New York, New York which neither of us really knew. Fun times!

We stopped at a petrol station in Barcelona. Fiona got some coffee, I had a Pepsi, and we sat out under the overhang for a bit. Notice the spray kicked up behind the car. It was wet.

I had water dripping from my shorts I was so wet. Shoes, socks, jersey - all completely soaked. Fortunately the temperatures were pretty moderate so we weren't too freezing. The rain eased up and eventually stopped and once we'd been moving for a while we were doing ok. Since we'd gone to Niagara Falls the day before, we hadn't had a chance to go down to Lake Erie and see anything so when we passed the state park, I suggested a side trip. We rode down a short road and found the shore line. 

Alas, no swimming today.

The surroundings brought out Fiona's nautical background - and the moustache off the front of her bicycle.

She's just a goof. What can I say?

It was quite pretty and the largest body of water we'd seen since leaving the Pacific Ocean.

We passed quite a few vineyards. I wonder if they are a special type of grape to deal with all the water and cool weather and what sort of soil they have. I'm guessing it must drain pretty well or it would all be swampy.

We are still in farm country!

Second sag stop. Guess who had their tire (tyre) go flat at sag?

After some serious thought, we decided to stop for lunch at Tim Horton's in Dunkirk. Mary, who's parents live in nearby Fredonia, had alerted me to the fact that there was a Cold Stone in Tim Horton's. Due to the wetness and coolness of the day, we were a little iffy on the thoughts of ice cream but it was our first visit to a Tim Horton's and we thought we'd give it a shot. We ordered sandwiches and once they let us know that a doughnut was one of the options for a side, we were in. Fiona found a smiley face in her cappucino and tried her luck with a frothy moustache.

Not too bad...

but I had a powdered sugar raspberry filled doughnut.

I think my moustache turned out better and gave me a bit of a likeness to Gene, our mechanic. ;) Our sandwiches were great, as were the sides, and we continued on our way with happy stomachs.

Had to stop and grab this one for Mary - Fredonia!

We were not done with rain for the day and we rode on through another downpour. It's hard to read cue sheets written on paper during rain storms. Once we got to the point that we were riding through Hamburg and needing to negotiate turns, this slowed us down a bit. We ran into a few riders who had stopped during the storm and then caught up with us. The last two miles into the motel ended up being a sprint to keep up with Russ so we could follow him and not have to figure out the turns by ourselves. It was a nice challenge to end the day! Once again, we were so wet we couldn't get any wetter. 

So what's a little more water?

It wasn't the wet, it was the cold! The motel had towels out for us to try and dry off our bikes before wheeling them through the lobby to our rooms. We took a little time doing that and Fiona was always watching over her shoulder, waiting for me to retaliate. I had to bide my time but as I was wheeling my bike towards the door, behind her, the lid just happened to come off my water bottle and soak her from behind. Some of the staff saw it happening from inside and were laughing as I walked in. I let them know that I was provoked and Kathy said that for aggravated assault, she always sent both kids to their rooms. I told her I was totally fine with that! Once we were showered and clothed, we set out for our afternoon forage and Red Barry joined us. We walked a mile to Denny's and had shakes and a chicken quesadilla to tide us over until dinner. A very wet day but a very fun day!

That evening, Fiona introduced me to Morecambe and Wise, an English comedy team. They have a spoof on Gene Kelly's Singin' in the Rain dance number that was very amusing. Look it up on YouTube!

Day 44 - Erie, PA Rest Day

Hurray for rest days! I was ready for a day off the bike, a day to sleep in a bit, and a day not to pack up my suitcase! PC and Ingun were renting a car to drive to Niagara Falls and offered to take extra people to fill the car. Jeremy, Fiona, and I went with them. It was a little less than a two hour drive so not too bad but weird when you're used to biking all day. The falls were very impressive! We did some walking around, took a ride on The Maid of the Mist, and those with passports walked across Rainbow Bridge into Canada. Jeremy and I, not knowing we'd want passports on this trip, were unprepared and hung out at the gift shop and waited for them.

American Falls closest, Horseshoe Falls furthest. Look how small the boat looks!

I was a little challenged getting the rain poncho on.

Jeremy, Fiona, me, Ingun, PC

Drenched from the spray of the falls!

A look up the river before the falls

Looking down towards Rainbow Bridge

Does this mean I went to Canada??

Hanging out with famous people at the gift shop.

It was a pretty warm day and we enjoyed hanging out by the AC units in the gift shop. The drive back seemed forever of course but we survived and then found some Thai food in Erie to end our rest day.

A few words about the hotel we were staying in - it was once a grand hotel, now a bit past it's prime. It seems there have been some attempts at sprucing up the place, most of them not quite finished. For example, our bathroom looked like it had a fairly new vanity in it. With four long screws only partly screwed in and the face plate a bit askew. There was a hole cut in the ceiling. Not sure for what. The doorknob was loosely attached so if you closed the door and it actually latched, you'd be stuck inside. Fiona had to have me let her out twice. Our phone didn't work. No fridge or microwave. Although the staff did tell us that if we wanted to bring anything down to the front desk they'd microwave it for us. Other people couldn't get into their rooms or once they were there, couldn't get out. Some walls were partially collapsed between main room and bedroom. Toilets that didn't work. You get the picture. We walked in and our beds weren't made. When I went down to get my luggage I let the front desk know and they said they'd have someone take care of it when we went out.

Here's Fiona sitting on the bed, roughly as we found it although the pillows were  up at the top. So when we went out for our afternoon food foraging excursion, we let the front desk know. We came back and the beds were the same but there was a bottle of wine and some chocolates.

Sent by a friend of Fiona's. Cool. When we went down again, I mentioned to the front desk that the beds still weren't made. When we came back, everything was the same except now there were flowers as well.

Stage winners at the Tour de France get flowers and we'd just finished the fourth stage of our journey. Very thoughtful gift! Not sure why the flowers didn't show up the same time as the other stuff?? Again, I go to the front desk. The clerk says "Are you sure the beds aren't made? Can I come check?" Of course. So she walks in the room, pulls back what we had assumed was the mattress pad, assures us that there is a bottom sheet, a top sheet, and a duvet. Huh. Altogether about the same thickness as a mattress pad. And all white so it looks like a mattress pad as well. Fooled us! ;) It was not our favorite motel and we were pretty happy to cycle away from it on Tuesday morning! It did have two nice big elevators though.

Day 43 - Youngstown OH to Erie PA - 97 miles

Left Youngstown at 7:00 on our way to Pennsylvania! Felt pretty good and not as tired as some mornings. Happy to be up and going, excited about a new state, and excited about a rest day tomorrow! We rode up and down and around to get out of town and ended up on our favorite country roads where we can cruise along two abreast and enjoy the day. :)

Share the road!

Out for a leisurely cycle along lovely green roads! Well, the roads aren't green. The scenery is!

Not the best shot but was trying to show the size of the lawns these people have. Can you imagine trying to keep all that green in the West?

The first covered bridge we've encountered!

Our first sag stop was at 33 miles and we munched on cinnamon rolls and fruit and set off again. We were hoping for a place to stop for lunch but were told there probably wouldn't be anything until the next sag stop at 69 miles. They were right. I can't imagine cycling 36 miles in Colorado or Utah without even encountering a gas station but we did it in Ohio! It was pretty and a fairly easy day as far as that goes. We went along at a pretty good speed, sometimes riding with others and chatting for a while. FINALLY we got to Conneaut which is the last town in Ohio before getting to Pennsylvania. The sag stop was at Richardson's Rootbeer Stand and they are famous for their rootbeer floats so that's what we got! I also had a turkey sandwich plus some fruit from the van. At last fortified after our vigorous riding, we headed for the state line into Pennsylvania!

Hurray! And only 27 miles left for the day! After another 10 miles or so I was feeling pretty beat and just wanting to finish the day off and get to rest day. We kept pedaling and the miles kept going. We wound through some small towns and were finally in Erie, navigating our way towards the hotel. About three miles out, all of a sudden I heard a loud pop and some hissing and my bike started handling poorly. Blew my rear tire. Stopped and looked at it and I had a gash about an inch long in my back tire. I knew I would have to boot the tire - put something in it to keep the tube in - with a gash that size. I've never done it but I've read about it. They say a dollar bill or a Clif bar wrapper work great. So I got the back wheel off, got the tire off, got the tube out, new tube from my pack, was wondering exactly how you boot a tire when the support van showed up! Hurray! :) I borrowed a tire from them instead of booting mine, Michelle (staff) did most of the work getting the tube and tire installed, I got the wheel back on my bike and we set off again. Michelle was a little stressed because there were other things going on too but I was super happy to have her help! Marv also had a flat and he takes a special size tube and I think Aldo may have been lost again. So just a few more miles and a few more turns and we pulled up in front of the Hotel Avalon! More about that tomorrow. Shower and then time for food!

Conversation when they brought the pizza to the table.

Fiona (as she picks up a piece): It's hot!

Kettie: Really?

Fiona: I didn't think Americans were supposed to be sarcastic.

Fiona: I got a great shot of you just shoveling it in with both hands.

Kettie: Awesome.

I needed to be back at the hotel by 5 so I could swap out the borrowed tire for my extra spare so we took half the pizza back with us to the motel. By the way, it was amazing pizza. Stevo's on State Street in Erie PA. Highly recommended. The staff wasn't that friendly but the food spoke for itself. :) Dinner was at 6 and was pasta and chicken and not as amazing as the pizza. We made plans to hook up with PC, Ingun, and Jeremy the next day to go in a rental car to see Niagara Falls so we went to bed with that happy thought in our heads! I'll let you know about that tomorrow along with some more details about the Hotel Avalon. Not as highly recommended as the pizza. Just sayin'.

Day 42 - Wooster to Youngstown - 85 miles

Short day today! Believe me, 20 miles can make a difference!

Fiona packing all her stuff in one trip. I do prefer my suitcase but I end up making two trips.

It was a little nippy this morning to start out but it looked like our first day of no rain since Indianapolis and the forecast was for sun. Hurray! It actually seemed kind of weird to come out of the hotel into the sunshine this morning. We started out the day with some rolling hills way to early for my quads to be excited about it but eventually everything settled in and started working together. I felt pretty awake and ready to go for the day. We got out into the country a bit and things were still a bit misty and spread out before us looking very pretty.

The pictures never do it justice but that gives you an idea. It reminded me a bit of Colorado with the layers of trees in the distance but in Colorado those would be mountains.

Patty caught this shot of us pedaling away.

Going through the town of Canal Fulton, they had brick streets. Someone can explain the beauty of that to me. Not so fun on a bike! Why do that? Is it in some way more cost effective or are they thinking it's charming or what? Not a big fan. It makes me very sympathetic to the riders in the Tour de France when they go over the cobblestones.

First sag stop. Kids will be kids! A past rider of this trip who lives in the area showed up with treats and rode to the next sag stop with our group. There was road construction going on and he talked with the construction people to let us go through rather than making us detour around. He also premarked a lot of the route for us. Nice guy!

After the sag stop we were excited to move along to New Baltimore where there was an ice cream shop with a great reputation! They opened at 11 so we timed our ride carefully and arrived at 11:01. Only to find that they've changed their hours and now open at noon. Much despondency and pouting. A group of six of us showed up there, salivating and ready. The big issue was there was nothing else in this little town, not even a gas station (or petrol either) and we had been counting on calories from the ice cream to get us through. Bleh. So it was 15 miles on to the next sag stop. They did have fresh cherries and cinnamon rolls but it still seemed small compensation for our missed treat. Found out later that the two last riders to come through there found the store open and they declared it to be the best ice cream they'd ever had.

Between the closed ice cream store and second sag there were some horrible roads. We thought our teeth were going to fall out and I started wondering about retinas detaching. Apparently we rode through one of the poorest counties in Ohio and they don't allot much for road repair. It shows. Although Ohio is still beautiful and green! The extra rain this year has it looking greener than normal even.

After second sag we just wanted some lunch. It looked like 10 - 15 miles to the nearest food so we set off. As we came into Canton and were turning onto Broad Street we noticed someone waving at us. Vern was flagging us down for a DQ stop! Hurray! Pineapple mango fruit smoothie and a chicken sandwich, followed by a small caramel shake. Ahhh. :) And only 7 miles to the motel. While pedaling those 7 miles I wondered if the shake had been a good idea but it seemed to be ok after a while. We had spent quite a while off the bikes at DQ and it was around 3 when we got to the motel but our room wasn't ready. We sat around about an hour waiting to check in. Then a shower, laundry, route rap, dinner, blogging, and bed!

Tomorrow is our longest remaining mileage day of the tour and we are into single digit riding days. We will enter Pennsylvania tomorrow after about 70 miles of riding. Woohoo! Plus second sag is at a rootbeer float stand which is supposed to be the best ever and we are promised that it WILL be open by the time we get there. :)