August 2 Niagara Falls to Henrietta, New York

I’m writing this on August 3rd because the internet service in our hotel in Henrietta was so poor that I couldn’t get on long enough to post anything.  Which reminds me of the only real gripe I have about this trip — the hotels are lousy.  (We’ll talk about food later). I expected rather bland chain motels.  After all, the point is not to stay in fancy places but rather to bike across the country.  However, some of our hotels have just been unpleasant and maybe even unhealthy.  By general agreement, yesterday’s was the worst — with torn carpeting, cracked walls, mold, dysfunctional plumbing, and crummy internet service.  So a word to prospective riders — check out the hotels first.  If the tour still includes the Day’s Inn in Henrietta, New York — don’t sign up.  That suggests that ABB management is not listening to its customers.

Apart from the hotel, everything went fine yesterday.  It was a pretty day, we had favorable winds, and we cruised through some very pretty, very rural areas of upper New York state.  We made very good time — only to arrive early at a motel we really didn’t like.

Kevin, Mimi, Jeff

The evening was the best part of the day.  Loco’s sister-in-law, Mimi lives with her family (husband Jeff and kids, Kevin and Kim) about 20 minutes away from Henrietta.  So, she invited us — Loco, me, Tucson Terry, and Columbus Dan — to come over for a home-cooked meal.  Boy, was that ever popular. (Daughter Kim is working for Loco’s wife, Ann, in Denver this summer.  We met her when Ann and she came to visit on our rest day in Casper. Unfortunately, Kim was thrown out of the bar — but that’s a different story).  We sat on a lovely deck, overlooking a forest scene, and cooked thick steaks on a grill.  We also sampled some of the many micro-

Loco likes Pork Slap

brews from the local area.  Apparently, northern New York has one of the largest concentrations of micro-breweries in the country.  I think our favorite was Pork Slap Pale Ale.   We had a very early start this morning so we couldn’t stay late but we enjoyed every bit of the break from our routine.

Day’s distance: 82.3 miles (132.4 km)
Average speed: 17.5 mph (28.2 kph)
Day’s climb: 1,550 feet (472.4 meters)
Total distance: 3,254.6 miles (5,237.8km)

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3 Responses to August 2 Niagara Falls to Henrietta, New York

  1. Gail Berthe says:

    One of the best parts of the trip from Georgia was meeting you and you lived up to my every expectation. A real gentleman. Steve does know how to pick nice friends. A bit of a geography lesson for the uninitiated…you have been touring WESTERN NEW YORK, not northern of upstate. It is a whole other world of nice people ‘just like Oklahomans’ only they talk differently. Truly, Buffalo was and is a great place to live and the snow really wasn’t all that bad. and Wegman’s is a Northeastern US phenomena. Best grocery store I ever shopped and I’ve shopped all over this great country. Check Steve’s blog and you will find reference to Anderson’s Frozen Custard and Ted’s Hot Dogs. Buffalo never changes and I was heart sick all your group saw was the worst part of Niagara Falls—which is also very lovely and important to the industrial growth of the US. Glad you met Mimi and her family–loved the picture because it has been a long time since we’ve seen them. Great people. Thanks for all the good memories in Niagara Falls. GB

  2. Alison Eichten says:

    Travis,
    I have to say I was completely worried something happened to you yesterday. I look forward to your posts each day, and when one didn’t come I though you had injured yourself or something. Glad to know you are OK or zero killed and it was only a crappy hotel that kept you from your usual educational and hilarious posts. Good luck with the rest of the trip and I look forward to seeing you when you return.

  3. Travis says:

    Hi Alison —
    Sorry to scare you yesterday but I’m glad that everything turned out alright. Thanks for getting me in shape to do this ride. I can’t wait to see you back in Denver.
    Cheers,
    Travis

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