Day 75 Back To America August 25, 2001

One block downhill. Cross the street and !'m on the bridge to USA. 0.3
miles in Canadia today. Then north through Niagara Falls, NY to take hwy. 18
east along the shore of Lake Ontario. ! was really moving in the morning.
This was the first real ride since ! zip tied the rack onto the B.O.B. W/ the
pannier weight all the way in the back instead of in the center the whole rig
felt really twitchy. After 12 miles ! noticed the rear quick release was
open. After tightening the handling got much better. Today ! saw 2 mountain
bikes and 7 recumbents. 3 of the 'bents were up ahead of ME quite a ways so
of course ! had to chase them down and pass them. 'Bents are aero and really
fast. They don't climb very well though. It was mostly flat there and !'m not
aero. ! have the trailer and wide panniers. And a head wind. It took a few
miles to catch them, but ! did. Of course. They were all unloaded. Just out
riding. ! had to keep going once ! got by so they would realize that ! always
go @ that pace and it would be futile for them to try to keep up. ! sure was
glad when they disappeared. There is almost nothing out here. Just a bunch of
farms and houses. ! got to the campground @ 4pm. ! didn't want to go onto the
next one. They say it was full anyway. $18.75 for a campsite. That's the most
!'ve ever paid. MY hostel last night was only $17.25 and that was Canadian
money. Today was like a miniature version of this 2nd tour. ! started in
Niagara County and ended in Orleans County. The real thing starts in Niagara
Falls and ends in New Orleans. Tomorrow ! plan to pass through Rochester, NY
and get a hotel on the other side. It looks like !'ll need to really hustle
out of NY before !'m bankrupt. First to Boston then NYC then PA, DC, and VA.
55 miles.