Ithica, NY -> Erie, PA

I left Allie's house after all of her housemates had gone off to work. Vet students are early risers. The first stop of the day was Collegetown Bagels (CTB in the local parlance). This place will make you as close to all manner of bagel sandwich as makes no difference. The madmen behind the counter will kindly pull you a pint from opening hours as well. After a breakfast sandwich and tea, I made my way out, nervously checking weather radar every 10 minutes or so. That was exhausting. I pulled over and threw my rain liners in. Temperatures had cooled to sane levels so it made no difference anyway. I pulled over in a small town in front of a biker bar to do the work. I took a moment to talk to a hiker who was waiting for his wife to pick him up after his morning hike. He was from Allentown and I mentioned that I was heading to Erie. "Eh, it's not inspiring."

I stopped for lunch in Bath New York. It was getting to be that time of day and the rainclouds were beginning to gather in my area. Perfect timing. I ate my hamburger vegetable soup and struck up a conversation with the man seated next to me at the counter. He was older than me and was disappointed with the nihilism and hopelessness that young people tend to express for the future these days. Our conversation ebbed and flowed until the rain stopped. Time to press on.

I stopped for gas not too far after and realized that I had made the error of not keeping an eye on the tread wear indicators on my tires. Memory served that they had lasted to my last oil change with some meat left over. Of course, this has been different riding than I typically do. I called a tire shop in Erie knowing that what I need is not a common size. Just like the oil change, we're heading in to the fourth of July weekend so everyone is slammed. I've booked tires to go on Tuesday in Michigan. I'll be a little overworn by then but what else can I do?

Google says things about Erie like "bad for crime" and "90th percentile for depression." While this is certainly true, this city is not all bad. Erie is not for the wealthy. Looking around, it is the largest city of only working-class people i have ever seen, there is something special about that. Erie has good hospitals, good music, and natural beauty. Let's start with the food, the beer and pizza is cheap and plentiful. There is a local creation called a pepperoni ball. It is a few slices of pepperoni folded in half and stuck in the middle of a ball of presumably pizza dough which is then fried. Delicious. This delicacy needs to be in more places. After my pepperoni ball, I went for a pint and dinner at a local pub. Friendly people all around. I left when a couple from Buffalo sat down next to me. She was hammered, eyeing me up and down, and trying very had to give me her phone number. I took my leave. I'm convinced that Buffalo is home to strange people. My understanding of Buffaloans have been limited to this couple, a girl I tried to sleep with, and Rick James. If you are normal and from Buffalo please let me know. 

Before bed I rode through Presque Isle, a long peninsula overlooking Erie the lake and Erie the city. Beautiful. I can see why people choose to live here.

Presque overlooking the city

Today's Distance: 232 Miles

Total Distance: 4537 Miles