Life On A B-I7

Route

• Dunkirk to Buffalo

Metrics

• To Bike Shop
• Miles: 47
• Average Speed: 10.9 mph
• Moving Time: 2 hours 55 minutes

Metrics

• To Motel
• Miles: 9
• Average Speed: 10.5 mph
• Travel Time: 0 hours 49 minutes

Notes

• I love the perfect combination of grade, gear and grind (the three G’s) that make me feel like I’m flying, especially when I’m climbing.

Thought For The Day

• Be committed to those you’ve committed yourself to.

Today’s ride was spectacular. Perfect riding weather. It feels like I’ve turned the corner and the weather is going to start working in my favor. That should probably be classified as wishful thinking.

After riding into Buffalo and negotiating my way through downtown (not an easy feat). I went straight to a bike shop in East Buffalo that was recommended to me by Marc who runs a bike tour company in town. The shop took great care of me. They replaced the rear tire which was becoming worn and they put on a new chain. After the work was done I had a nice chat with a fellow who was riding by the shop. He ended up hanging out with me and chatting while I got the bike ready to roll.

After I left the bike shop, I headed northeast for 9 miles and ended up in Amherst. I checked into a motel there. (I wasn’t willing to pay $400 a night for a room in downtown Buffalo.) I’m going to spend tomorrow planning the remainder of my tour. I took a quick look at my maps and I got excited when I saw the next few days I will be traveling along the Erie Canal towpath through northeastern New York.

It isn’t easy writing every day. Especially because at the end of each day. I’m tired and all I really want to focus on is dinner, preparation for the next day and sleep. Speaking of sleep, two nights ago in Erie was probably my favorite night. That’s crazy I know. It was so cool having lightning and thunder breaking all around and being dry and warm at the same time. Nature putting on a show just for me. I opened this paragraph by saying that writing is not easy. That’s only partly true. I enjoy doing it and for me it’s a really big part of the whole experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about baseball. Fly balls don’t win baseball games. Line drives and grounders are the way to move base runners around. That’s not as glamorous as a home run, but when you string them together, they are effective. Getting to your day’s destination isn’t a question of when, It just comes down to doing it. Frequently when I’m riding, I think of my day as a process of stringing together base hits.

Campus Wheel Works in Buffalo. Time for another new rear tire. I’m putting on a 35 mm this time. I’m hoping it will do a better job of carrying the weight. (I’ve been running 32’s.) It’s time for a new chain too. The guys at the bike shop were funny. They said the bike looked too clean to have traveled across the country. I told them rain helps. Everyone that works on my bike is impressed. It’s custom-made specifically for touring and it’s built to my body’s dimensions. It has the best components that you can put into a build. That’s probably why it’s held together for three trips across the country. It’s a racehorse, even when it’s fully loaded. There’s really not much you can do about tires though.

Itinerary Maps