We Will Paddle with them on the Beaches

Today we have reached our Dunkirk. Dunkirk, NY that is. Yes, after a 50-mile ride from Erie PA, we are back in the State in which we started our trip, though we still have a way to go.

We must begin by thanking Chris from the lovely B&B where we stayed last night in Erie: The George Carroll House. We had a lovely chat with Chris over breakfast during which she printed out some details of a nearby beach for us so that we could go and dip our toes in Lake Erie, and also made a generous donation to MS. Thanks Chris.

And then we were on our way in the heat of the day, but blissfully with the wind on our backs. After a quick detour down to the beach, a paddle in Lake Erie, and a bit of skimming stones on the lake, we were back on the road again and crossing the state line into New York… a very strange feeling.

The last part of the day was a bit of an adventure. We had decided to leave it to the Gamines to plot our last few miles of the day, guiding us from the ACA route to our hotel. They did quite well to start off with, taking us down a lovely long straight road with minimal traffic and a bridge over the Interstate. Good work ladies! Then into a quiet residential neighbourhood and over a bridge… ah, a bridge that is closed!! With our usual disregard for such signs, and seeing that there was actually some sort of a structure there spanning the river, albeit one that had obviously only just been covered with concrete and where sprinklers were in operation to prevent the concrete drying out too quickly, we decided to risk it. We’re hoping that we didn’t leave 2 sets of footprints and a couple of tyre marks (actually, we know we didn’t as the concrete was already fully set but we naughtily chuckled at the thought) and we reached the other side without incident. Still, we’re not sure the workers would have been very pleased had they seen us.

Next, the Gamines took us right through the middle of the University. Laughing at how Margaret and GaGa were probably looking around saying “Young maaan, oooh young man”, we pedalled on, feeling very out of place, but grateful for the lack of traffic and interesting surroundings.

We reached our hotel in good time and resigned ourselves to dining in the Applebee’s next door… a bit different to last night’s extravaganza. Buffalo tomorrow.

Us x