Day 45: Erie Pennsylvania to Hamburg New York

Today’s Highlights:
We had another great day of cycling. Our route followed the Lake Erie shoreline for sixty miles of the eighty-two mile ride. There were many vineyards along the way, and wildflowers lined the roadside. The terrain was flat, with minor hills, varying only two hundred feet throughout the ride. The roads were also exceptionally smooth and the wind was generally in our favor. With the high humidity, I was quite wet, but that also kept me comfortably cool while moving. It was only a bit warm during stops, and I hardly stopped at all today. Overall, conditions were perfect for riding, and the scenery was quite pleasant.

At a few locations we were directly at the shore of Lake Erie and able to see the sandy shoreline and great expanse of blue fresh water melting into the blue sky. Most of the time, the road was far enough from the shore that we only got glimpses of the lake. However, between the road and the lake were nice vinyards, fields, woodlands or homes. The homes where generally modest, and there were only a small number of estates. I saw some vineyard being worked by tractors, and one man fixing grapevine posts. I stopped to chat with him a little. Otherwise, there was not much activity to be seen. The traffic was also very light on Route 5, which was nice.

I was moving along quickly today, starting out with both Kens. I also rode with Andy for a nice long run, and he kindly pulled me along at a faster pace until we reached the New York State boarder. I stopped there for a picture. For the next sixty miles in New York I rode alone, but saw a few riders at the SAG stop. One of them was George, who just joined us to ride the last segment of the tour.

We cross over several stream that feed the lake. The steam bottoms are layered sedimentary rock. Surprisingly, we crossed over a small canyon too. It was carved by the Eighteen Mile Creek. In the photo of that, you can see the layers.

It was nice to enter into New York State. Besides checking off another state on the tour, it certainly feels good to be close to home. Two of my children live close by and joined me for dinner tonight. John, Dalene and my three grandchildren came, and Stephanie and Tom too. We had an excellent dinner at the Waterstone Grill.

Pictures Of The Day:

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