Day 44 (Tues, Aug 2nd) - Niagara Falls to Henrietta, NY (82 Miles)

For all of you still checking the blog site, let me first say thank you for following along.   For those of you who have offered comments, thank you for the kind notes of encouragement.   I also am getting some suggestions.   Judi tells me I have too much "corn" on the blog site.   She is probably right.  My riding partners think I am a farmer as I am constantly pointing out the crops (not always correctly).    I do come from a long line of North Dakota farmers, so this probably a fair observation.   I also hear that some would like less scenery and more people.   I would like more people too, but the scenery is more cooperative.    There is however, one item that has appeared more times in these blog entries than any other.   If you know what that is, send a note, and we will have a Chardonnay toast upon my return.  :-)

We are in the last week of cycling before we arrive in Rye, New Hampshire at Wallis Sand Beach on 8 August.   We are now in the final countdown.  Our day off in Niagara Falls yesterday was one of the highlights of the trip, especially the boat ride on the "Maid of the Mists" where we experienced the thunder of Niagara up close.   If you have not seen these Niagara pictures, scroll down for a quick look.   Ni-a-gara (thundering waters) is one of the seven wonders of the world, and the pics this weekend are among the best I have taken so far.

Now that we are in the last week, we are getting real serious about wrapping this journey up and finishing safely.   We are now in New York State.   The New York roads are for the most part very good, but the traffic is dense and the drivers are aggressive.   So we have been duly cautioned to take extra care this last week.   This week is going to be about the biking and getting this drip done.

Today we departed Niagara Falls at 7:00 am.   We had a flat, wind-aided right as we departed.   Eight of us rode in a pace line (Tour de France style) all the way to Henrietta.   We had two SAG stops along the way.  We averaged about 18 mph (the tour averages 26 mph).   This was fast for us and we pulled into our Day's Inn Hotel in Henrietta at 1:30 pm.   We were among the first riders in, which meant we got to unload the luggage van.  We spent the afternoon doing wash and cleaning bicycles and retired early for a 6:30 am start on Wednesday.

Here is today's route map starting in Niagara Falls to Henrietta (just south of Rochester:

Note that we are in Western New York in Henrietta (just south of Rochester).   Tomorrow, we will follow the Erie Canal, where we will traverse the top of the Finger Lakes that are just south of the canal and wind up in Liverpool, NY, just south of Syracuse.  

As an aside, we had a great trip to the Finger Lakes in May to the city of Ithaca for Erica's graduation at Cornell University.   The day before the graduation, Tony and I had a chance to ride around Lake Cayuga, the largest of the Finger Lakes, as part of my training.   So, here we are three months later back in Cayuga County, very close to Lake Cayuga.   However, this time we are content to stay on the Erie canal which is flat and has few hills.   At this point we are all saving our legs for the big hills of Vermont and New Hampshire, which will be soon enough (this Saturday and Sunday).   Six more days after today.   We're getting closer to home.

More later....
Love to All,
ME