Back to Fast Meet the Riders Bamacyclist Home

Day 28

MISSED IT BY THIS MUCH [----]

Yesterday Tomorrow

ROUTE: Warren OH to Dunkirk NY

DISTANCE: 137 Miles

TOTAL CLIMBING: 2200 Feet

DAILY REPORT: Nice and sunny at departure mid 50s. Winds SW at 10-15...Tailwinds!!!! Rain caught up with us at 95 miles for a short spell.

I'm glad I have a route sheet to look at because all the days are muddling together. I can't even remember where we were this morning! Where did Ohio go? I thought we rode through Pennsylvania? Oh...we did. It seems like a week ago we left warren after breakfast at Perkins but that was just this morning.

Today was the longest day we've had since Kirksville and one of our longest days on the ride. By now, this mileage is nothing to this group and it was made better by the weather. We had kicking tailwinds all day to offset the fact that the rain caught up with us at Erie. Yes the weather Gods smiled on us today...a great big windy smile! We started out with calm winds and mid 50s for temperature, but by mid morning everyone was shedding clothes as the sun popped out and the roads smoothed out. Several even said it was the best day so far...maybe, but if they were comparing it to our Kirksville day, they were right.

Our route started off to the north through quiet Ohio back country until getting to Lake Erie where we turned northeast along the shoreline to Dunkirk. We were on highway 5 for most of the afternoon, but it's bicycle friendly with nice smooth shoulders and plenty of great scenery to watch along the lake. We rode along the side of the lake off an on for several miles after getting into New York and you could always tell when you were near the water as the temperature would drop about 10 degrees for no apparent reason.

Our first SAG stop which was at an old decommissioned covered bridge that we use on all of our rides. It's a neat place to stop and I try to imagine what it was like in it's heyday when it spanned the small branch that runs beneath it's south end. Last year, the branch was a raging creek as the heavy rains of the night before had put a strain on the banks to contain the water, but his year it was beside a tame brook with crystal clear water babbling across the cobbles. The bridge stands on land owned by Mr Robert Benson who pulled Barbara out of a wet field 5 years ago with his trusty tractor. He wasn't home this year...sorry we missed him. We meet the nicest folks on the rides. We got to see another bridge on our route that was still in commission. There are several in the immediate area but most of them are on gravel roads so we usually don't go exploring.

Another of our favorite stops on this day is the White Turkey Drive-in about 1 mile short of the Pennsylvania State line. The White Turkey is an old time open air root beer stand that serves some mean hamburgers and has 60s tunes in the jukebox. All but Eric and Richard got there before it opened this year so we didn't get to have a root beer party on the road this year.

Today was our second "3 state" ride...Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. As I mentioned before, the first 60 miles of the ride today were on quiet, rural Ohio roads where the Amish influence was ever present. This being a Saturday, the traffic was almost non-existent as we left town and during the rural portions, the traffic is always light anyway. The afternoon found us entering New York; the state that has maybe the best roads overall on our trip. The last time I told riders that New York had great roads the DOT had scraped the first 20 or so miles of the highway to prepare for resurfacing...I thought everyone was going to lynch me.

Everyone was in by 4:00ish due to the favorable winds so we were able to get mechanics done fairly early and get to dinner shortly after. Everyone seems to be getting used to the routine of getting up early and riding all day...but it's coming to an end soon...too soon for some. We just have another 5 days before we'll be dipping our wheels in the Atlantic...the Pacific seems so far away now.

Tomorrow we tour the bicycle museum in Orchard Park. We'll eat late at 7:00 to be on the road in time to get there by 10:00 at the latest. It's 40 miles so we will have to hustle. I'm really looking forward to seeing it again...always learn something...see you then.

YOU DON'T SAY:

"We're running out of states."
"Yeah, what are you going to do?"
"I guess I'll just have to come back and ride another ride."

"No more talking...read the Q-sheet and ride"

"Didn't I just clean my bike last night?"

"Does it ever stop raining up here?"

"Frogs? There were frogs? Where? I didn't see any frogs"

"I was almost to town and then I had flatus maximus."

"Only 5 days left...that's scary...I've got to go back to the real world."

"Eric, if you turn your mirror around this way, you can see your own eye."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Well, you could test the theory whether or not you could see yourself blink. Kind of like a tree falling in the forest and no one heard it."
"That's too deep for me."

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
And I thought the beer I had last night was just a good micro-brew.	The boys indicated there was only 3 more states to go...or was it 3 more flats before town?
When England Mike saw this sign about an adopt-a-highway program, Ron had to explain how old a highway had to be before you should tell it that it is adopted.	Either someone stole the mall, or the same guy that designed this mall designed the Dairy Queen in Missouri we passed. At least they left the bathroom.
I hate I missed the sale on yellow paint.	There's still one frog left in Erie...that's eerie!