Day 42 - Erie, PA to Buffalo, NY - 92 miles - 1,864 feet of climbing - 6:03 hours in the saddle
Grape Juice….Strawberry Shortcake….Rain….Puncture Epedemic
Today’s ride started under overcast skies with wind out of the north/northeast. And you guessed it, we were riding north/northeast. Lake Erie was on our left, but mostly obscured by homes and trees. On our right for miles and miles were vineyards. They looked generally un-manicured compared to what I have seen in Napa, Loire Valley or Tuscany. And not many wineries in sight. I was told that these vineyards all belonged to Welch’s, so used for grape juice or grape jelly, instead of wine. I was relieved! Also saw a cherry orchard.
We rode into our 12th state…New York!
Sag 1 (mile 40) was at Lake Erie State Park. It was strawberry shortcake day. Delicious! Since there was no jelly at breakfast this morning for the half PBJ that I take on the road, I slid some fresh strawberries into my PB to make a PBS.
As we were leaving SAG 1 there was discussion about rain jacket or no rain jacket. Most put them on and I am glad I did. It started raining shortly after leaving SAG 1. Not as hard as into Erie a few days ago, but hard enough the drench your socks, fill your shoes and put a muddy, gritty streak up your backside. The bikes that we had meticulously cleaned and lubed on Rest Day were now trashed. Not many pics as the phone got tucked away, but you can see how trashed my white shoes and green socks are!
It stopped raining before SAG 2 (mile 69), but not enough for me to dry off. SAG 2 was at Nick Charlap’s Ice Cream stand. Being wet and with a second round of rain showers looming, I passed on the ice cream and quickly left SAG 2.
The rain came down after SAG 2, drenching me for a second time today. Around mile 51 lots of riders starting getting flats (or punctures as our Brit friends call them). Over the next several miles, I saw 7 - 8 riders with flats. The flats appear to be caused by the recent repaving of the road, which left very small, sharp flint-like rocks that burrow into your tire. Most riders carry 2 tubes and replenish at SAG or at the end of the day. Simon got 3 punctures on the road and had to borrow another tube from Dave. David had flats on both his front and back tire at the same time and even had to replace one tire. Luckily I did not have any flats on the road.
A cleaning station was set up when we got to our hotel at 2:30. The rooms were not ready yet, so as riders came in they would clean their bike and lube their chain. While I was cleaning my bike on the stand, Tom noticed the soap on my front tire was bubbling in 4 - 5 places. Little rocks had also burrowed into my front tire. My 12th flat of the trip. It s much easier to change the flat in the comfort of the hotel with a pump than roadside with trucks roaring by and using a CO2 cartridge!
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