Lake Erie

July 15, 2016

We slept surprisingly well, considering how many thousands of bikers (the Harley kind) were in Erie for the Roar on the Shore festival. They do like to roar. We were able to avoid busy traffic in the city of Erie by using a 6 mile bike trail along the lake. Our route today was entirely along the edge of Lake Erie, although our stoker's identified an alternate route that would save at least a hundred miles of cycling.

A helpful Ohio farmer identified the grains we encountered yesterday as oats. Now that I think of it, that is entirely logical. The grain was growing in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania is known for Quakers, and Quakers are known for oats. Today we passed miles and miles of grapes, a crop even we can ID.

Grapes growing next to Lake Erie. I guess they like snowy winters.

OK, we have identified the crop as grapes. But what do they do with the grapes? Let's go investigate!

The stoker's are busy investigating the fate of the grapes.

The captains were too busy resting up for the hills to investigate the grapes.

We had a terrific tail wind pushing us along all day, so we stopped for a leisurely lunch. As we were finishing lunch 3 cyclists passed by.

Cyclists heading the same way we are going. Of course they are. Who would want to ride into a headwind?

In a couple of miles we found ourselves riding along with the cyclists. They were part of a church group taking young riders on a trip from Cincinnati to Niagara. Hats off to them! Most of them had little cycling experience but they were persevering and were close to accomplishing a trip they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Young cyclists on their way from Cincinnati to Niagara.

Somewhere in the vineyards we passed from Pennsylvania into New York. We hope today was the last time we will stop at a convenience store that will not let customers use the bathroom. Surely that custom is unique to Pennsylvania. We ended up in Irving NY. There is a nice Italian restaurant and bakery across the street from our hotel. Dinner was delicious, we are too full to give a report on the desserts.

We hope indoor plumbing features prominently in this state.

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