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I didn't feel much like riding today. I noticed this after the last rest day as well. There's only a week left, and I'm really going to miss it when it's over, but I'm really ready for it to be done. The ride itself was really quite nice, along the shore of Lake Erie, often within sight of the water. Some parts of it are built up, but it's mostly pretty rural still. There are a lot of vineyards here. New York is unfortunately not known for fine wines, but it produces some good cheap wines; I use New York wine for sangria. Normally, there would be two sag stops on a day of this length, but there was only one today, and it wasn't until mile 47, more than halfway. On the other hand, it was right next to a cheerleading camp for 9-12 year old girls. Let's just say they varied widely in their abilities. A couple (including the littlest) were very athletic, doing backflips, while others had trouble with cartwheels. Still, they were having fun, and we were having fun watching them. Although it was a bit disturbing seeing little girls doing bump-and-grind stuff. Lois rode today. Not only that, but she rode the whole way, albeit slower than usual. Just two days ago, she was on crutches. She's an amazing woman. Maybe not too bright, but amazing. We have three new riders. One of them, Paulo, had a series of flight delays, and didn't get to the hotel until 3AM. Furthermore, his bike was damaged in shipment. Bruce and Brantley spent the morning fixing it, and he didn't get on the road until 11:00. He's got a sense of humor, though, and a really positive attitude. He said, "Blessed are the flexible, for they will never get bent out of shape."
While we were at Niagra, it started drizzling, to the degree that I might have gotten wet if I'd stayed out in it for an hour. Back at the motel in Hamburg, it poured, to the extent that Dan reports seeing the motel maid get soaked to the skin crossing the parking lot. Of course, it had all stopped by the time we got back. |
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After the ride, most of us took a side trip up to Niagra Falls. I've
been there a couple times, but only on the American side. This time,
we were on the Canadian side, which has the more spectacular of the
two falls, and a better view of both falls. We had dinner in the
rotating restaurant on top of the Skylon (think Space Needle or CN
Tower), then went down for the close-up view. That's a lot of water.