87 miles ridden – 1755 feet climbed.

Today was a glorious ride. No clouds in the sky, gentle crosswind, roads surfaces OK, lovely temperature around 28C/82F, and lots of trees for shade.

However, as we left Niagara we went through some neighbourhoods that showed the decline the city has suffered. The population has gradually dropped from over 100,000 to around 40,000 and the evidence in terms of boarded up houses, offices, factories and shops is quite striking.

After about 12 miles we were back in countryside and upstate New York is a truly beautiful place. Not as varied as Michigan and still mainly farmland but rather than solely dairy, corn or soya, we saw more fruit farms and mixed arable. Also more wild flowers along the roadside and in gardens. The age of the area is evident with narrower, twisting roads like we have in the UK and some of the old buildings.

Our first SAG stop was the parking area of a wildlife conservation area and we were able to bask in the mid-morning sunshine and listen to a local rock music station playing a wide variety of stuff including Stairway to Heaven – you simply can’t ask for more than that.

Our next stop was for lunch at the Byron Hotel and Tavern in Byron. Inside it was just like a pub at home whereas outside it looked a bit like something from the Aussie outback to one way or another we all felt at home as we sat on the veranda eating lunch. Very civilised.

From here it was a reasonably straight run into Rochester but we went through some really nice little lanes with generally considerate drivers. It’s difficult to gauge Rochester as we are staying out near the Interstate on an industrial park but if the number of new houses being built is any measure the city must be doing OK. On the way into Rochester we crossed I90 which we last saw when we rode on it thousands of miles ago in Idaho. Feels like that is a world away from today.

There seemed to be a lot more group riding today. Perhaps it is because we know our days together are numbered, perhaps after a rest day everyone needed a slower day to ‘warm up, or maybe it was because the weather was good and there was no need to rush, but 8 of us had lunch together in Byron and there was a large crowd at a restaurant nearer to the hotel. 

Tomorrow we ride to Liverpool – our last 90+ mile day. Weather looks promising and we ALL have smiles on our faces.