Biking Out of Buffalo

Other than having another flat tire, it was a good 77 mile ride. I started at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, planning to take the bike path north and I promptly got lost. I just went north for 6-7 miles and then asked for directions. Turns out by then I was within a block of the bike path. I asked for directions once more to confirm that I was proceeding properly. Then I went north on Hwy 429 and west on Hwy 31. Hwy 31 is GREAT for biking. It was built with a four to eight foot shoulder designated for bikers. For biking, it’s designated as Route 5 and it has many little oval green signs with a bicycle and Route 5 on them. Every change in direction is shown with arrows. There’s quite a bit of traffic, but as I’ve said before, I’ll take a good shoulder on a busy rode over no shoulder on a lightly traveled rode.

This part of the route parallels the Eerie Canal, which I’ve never seen before. Obviously it’s quite flat. I had a nice tail wind all day. Unfortunately, about 7 miles out of camp, I had a flat tire. I replaced the tube and the second tube was defective. So I called Mary. I could have replaced the tube again and rode in, but by then I was too deflated and I couldn’t talk myself into it, so Mary drove me back to the camper. Tomorrow she will need to drive me back to the starting point. The culprit was a piece of wire that had embedded itself in the tire and worked its way through to the tube. I had just ridden 2 very rough miles where the asphalt had been ground down to cement in preparation of repaving. I think the extra bumping hastened the tube puncturing, but it would have happened eventually. There were quite a few nicks in the tire, so I replaced it too.

Mary’s friend Rosa wrote on her blog that she’s praying we finish strong. She’s right. There are twelve biking days left, six out east, five into Pella and one from Pella to Des Moines that I'll complete on some Saturday. I’m starting to think about our home and I’m very often thinking about work and church. I have responsibilities that are waiting for me. In fact some have been postponed. I’m eager to return to them. So today I prayed for perseverance. TodayI was delayed by a flat tire. Tomorrow there’s an eighty percent chance I’ll be delayed by thunder storms. I need to bike another 4-5 more good days and the Atlantic will be in sight. Then my friend Ron Z plans to bike the final Milwaukee to Pella section which will be very good.

Granite must be readily available here, probably from New Hampshire? Many towns have granite instead of cement curbs.