Riding with a newly-minted PE

Thursday, June 29. Angola, NY to Westfield, NY.

In case anyone missed it, Matthew found out yesterday that he passed the Professional Engineer's exam he took the day before we left Lawrenceville. He's been waiting almost 10 weeks for word on his exam, and today he is a happy man.

Today's ride hugged the shoreline of Lake Erie for the entire trip of about 35 miles. We stayed on Route 5 the entire day, which is a nicely-paved road with wide shoulders--in some spots it's wide enough and clean enough to ride side-by-side. We passed into Chautauqua County, and started seeing signs for wineries almost immediately. In my mind, the picture I have of today's ride is a landscape of green grapevines staked out in the sun, overlooking the multi-blue-hued waters of Lake Erie, set off by a red barn with white trim and fringed with orange daylilies. (Of course, you can't see the headwind, but you know it's there.)

Today's winds were 10-15mph, gusting to at least 25mph. One particular gust caught Matthew on a hill and momentarily sent him backwards! The route was rolling hills, and we spent as much energy pedalling downhill to gain momentum for the wind-blasted ride back up the hill. Good stuff.

We had stopped for breakfast at (yippee) a Tim Horton's in Irving when we saw a couple fly by in the other direction (tailwind). They looked older than us, but then again, we might now look older than we really are . . . We were inside, and they didn't stop, so I can speculate about their trip with abandon. Both of them had a BOB trailer and rear panniers, and he had front panniers and an ice chest on the rack between the rear panniers. If they started from the West Coast when we started from the East Coast, then they've had a tailwind the entire time! My guess is that they'll be in Bar Harbor, ME, before the sun sets today.

We stopped in Dunkirk at Frank's Bike Shop, looking for a new bolt for my saddle. It was working itself loose, and I'd have to tighten it down at least once a day. The problem is that I don't have a wrench the right size for it, so I've slowly been ruining the bolt. Well, maybe not so slowly--today I had to adjust it 3 times before lunch. Frank did indeed have a bolt that fits my wrench, so we changed it out. There was quite a bit of bike traffic at Franks, including a couple of neighborhood kids, a family looking for tires, and an older man just out running some errands. The shop has a lot of re-cycled bikes for sale along with new ones. The shop has a new storefront, but I'm guessing the interior hasn't changed much in the 30 years that it's been around. It's very much a neighborhood shop, altho Frank did say he sees a lot of touring cyclists. He says he's been working with bikes all his life, and I believe him, but I was amused that he and his assistant were both smoking cigarettes.

We got to the KOA Kampground around 4pm, and have set up our kampsite, taken showers and are now watching our laundry dry. Our tent is pitched next to a vineyard! We're so close to the grapes that I'll probably have to go see if there are any ready for tonight's dessert.

We're only about 30 miles from Erie, PA, and I hope to be able to upload some pix from the library there tomorrow. We stopped at the library in Dunkirk (after visiting Frank's), but they don't allow access to a USB port. And the Kampground's wireless internet is down tonight, so I'm just crossing my fingers for tomorrow in Erie.

We will be leaving NY for the 4th and final time tomorrow, on our way to PA and OH. We'll stay on the Lake Erie route until we cross into OH. Now that we're heading west, it really feels like a cross-country trip to me. I'm so used to pulling our gear that I don't even think about it anymore. When we leave the BOB's behind to ride to dinner or sightseeing, I overcorrect for the weight and it takes me a few minutes to get used to just me and a bike.

The 4th of July weekend is coming up, and we'll miss seeing all our friends and neighbors for breakfast (lunch, dinner and finally, fireworks). We'll be thinking about all of you, though--make sure somebody does waffles!