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JULY 20 "I LOVE NEW YORK"Joe said it again this morning. Every day as we leave the motel on our bikes, he says the same thing: "This is going to be the BEST BIKING DAY EVER"! He means it. We all laugh, but every day something really memorable happens. Today we showed the boys from Iowa, and California, and Indiana, etc. what Upstate New York is all about. We rode for 82 miles from Erie, PA to Hamburg, NY hugging the coastline of Lake Erie. We traveled mainly on routes 5 and 20 through the towns of Barcelona, Dunkirk, Silver Creek and Derby into Hamburg, NY, which is known for "being a half hour drive from Buffalo" according to my informed sources.
We departed from downtown Erie at 7:00 am and were at the NY State line in about an hour for the obligatory photos. We caught glimpses of Lake Erie from time to time as we rode, but it was not until we reached the town of Barcelona that we had our best lake view. There we stopped at the Daniel Reed Memorial Pier and marina which offered a great scenic overlook of the harbor, the boats, and this magnificent Great Lake. The boys from Iowa (and elsewhere) were impressed. I don't believe that any of us knew that this Western NY Lake Region was as big a grape growing area as it is. We passed numerous large vineyards and small wineries located on the slopes leading down to the lake. The transition from cornfields to vineyards was a pleasant change. The countryside, the weather, the excellent bike path on the highway, our revived energy level following a rest day, all made for a great ride day...just as Joe had said.
Big Dawg, our tug boat friend from Alaska and the first rider in every day, told us at breakfast this morning about a SPECIAL lunch treat he had planned for us. And indeed he did. His friend owns the Sunset Grill in Silver Creek and was offering "the Big Dawg Special," a $3.99 combo: foot long hot dog, curly fries, and drink. At least 25 "specials" were sold to our crew, as Big Dawg helped at the grill. Capped off with a big dish of ice cream, we had a great lunch.
After getting a new tire--called an "Armadillo" for its toughness--following a blowout of the tube and tire, we raced the last 20 miles to Hamburg. Not really a race, but we rode consistently at 22/23 mph on good, flat pavement. We, in fact, averaged 17+ mph for the day, which may be my quickest day's average. It was fun to "air it out" a bit today. We had 4 new people join us in Erie for the rest of the way: Rick (PA), Fred (NH), and a high school boy, Kevin (WA), traveling with his Aunt Robin (ME). They got off to a good start by having dinner with us in Erie last night at a terrific Irish Pub.
This weeks issue of The Sun newspaper in Hamburg has a nice article about Mason's bike ride for the Army Emergency Relief Fund entitled: Ride for a Cause...West Point Graduate Raising Money for AEF. It tells about our Cross Country Challenge ride and devotes some space to my ride for the ACS. As an old Up Stater, I can truly say "I Love New York" for all of us today! - Bill PS My thumb and hand are fine after a little incident on a wet road last Saturday. PPS Some stats: 43 days, 3225 miles, 10 centuries, 10 flat tires, 3 new tires, a few crashes ...now in the record book.
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