Last night I settled on a burger, chips, and a beer at a bar near the hostel in downtown Buffalo. This was after trying to buy Mexican food at a fast food place where the staff seemed indifferent to in-store customers. I was tempted to order a second round of food and beer after the day’s effort but decided to head back to my room to avoid getting caught in another downpour.

My hostel room had beds for 14. There were two people in it, both of us bike tourists. My roommate was starting his tour tomorrow, going to New York City via Albany.

In the morning I took off about 7:30 in search of breakfast. Downtown Buffalo doesn’t wake up until 8 so it was a while before my tummy was taken care of.

I rode south through downtrodden Lackawanna. As I proceeded into Orchard Park the houses became nicer and the business went from tattoo parlors and bars to medical practices and chain retail stores.

I looked and looked for a diner until my tummy forced me to eat breakfast at McDonalds. It’s actually good, inexpensive, and fast so I can’t deny that it was a good choice.

After Orchard Park came some more suburban riding, now in the rain, until I reached the town of Hamburg. The rain stopped so I did some shopping. I hit a grocery store for on-bike food and a bike shop for some chamois cream (to protect my bum).

After blowing an hour in Hamburg I took the very pleasant Pleasant Avenue to Old Lake Shore Drive along the south shore of Lake Erie.

The riding all day was nearly hill-free but as the day went on the winds, headwinds, increased.

Near the town of Derby I checked out a Frank Lloyd Wright house called Graycliff. I tried to get a look at the house from the parking area but it was deliberately screened from view by a tall hedge. Not wanting to spent a bunch of time and money checking out a house I’d never heard of I went back to the business of riding.

In Lake Erie Beach I went to the grill at a public golf course. The cook was playing golf so no lunch for me.

Riding along the shore is frustrating because so much of it is in private hands. Many of the lakeside estates were decades old making me think that this area was a summer escape for railroad barons and industrialists.

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I traversed the Cattarragus Resevation where cigs, weed, and gasoline are a bargain.

In Silver Creek I stopped for a late lunch: a massive burger, fries, and iced tea.

After eating I researched hotel choices near Dunkirk, about ten miles away. There were several that were relatively inexpensive but some of the reviews were nasty. I decided to choose the only hotel that was in my line of travel.

It turned out to be a much nicer place than the reviews had indicated. Unfortunately, getting to the hotel involved a 13-mile slog into a 20-mph headwind. At least it wasn’t raining.

Fortunately, the hotel had a restaurant which allowed me to avoid a walk into town. This is important because it started to rain again.

There’s another bike tourist in the hotel. He’s headed to Chicago from Boston.

Time for some sleep. Next stop Erie, PA or beyond.