Dunkirk

July 7, 2021

Easiest fifty mile ride ever. We’ll, 48 miles actually, but close enough. Everything about it is a cinch - but especially the navigation. Two blocks from leaving our hotel we look down at the navigation instructions on our Garmins and see ‘End of ride 48 miles’. We’re on the same road the entire way, even to the hotel at the other end.

And, there’s the terrain. I’m surprised to see that we cleared 1,300’ of climbing by the time we hit Dunkirk, because it sure didn’t feel like it. The rollers were all low and gradual, and short enough that our momentum from descending the previous one nearly carried us to the top of the next.

Best of all though is the weather. We’re riding in a gap between fronts, and a 10-15 mph tailwind shoves us through a dry window as we race northeast along the shore of Lake Erie. Easy, easy, easy.

East of Erie, we bike through grape country for about ten miles. We’re looking north here, toward Lake Erie. I understand these are primarily Concord grapes, grown for both wine and grape juice.

Sixth state! And we’re in Ripley, believe it or not.

We’re no longer on Z Route, which was so Pennsylvania. This is New York bike route 517, but you’d hardly know the difference.

And north again, with Lake Erie out there again. Are you getting the pattern yet?

The big picture: that stone wall is the base of the Barcelona Light, originally known as the Portland Harbor Light. Built in 1829, this was the first lighthouse in the world to be powered by natural gas.

Barcelona Harbor, formerly known as Portland Harbor. I have no idea why the name was changed.

A welcome wind blew us effortlessly through western New York today. If this keeps up we’re really going to like this state.

We arrived in Dunkirk at about 12:30, with plenty still left in the tank. If we’d planned ahead and known we’d have these conditions we could have kept going, pulled a near-century, and biked all the way to Buffalo. Which might have been a good idea considering how terrible tomorrow’s weather looks.

Our room’s not ready yet of course, so we roll the bikes a block to the waterfront to find a spot to hang out for the next 90 minutes. I find a window that sells a hefty pizza by the slice, and a relaxing chair in the shade.

Rachael finds Rich, the director of Spoke Folk, a community bicycle project, and sits in the sun in animated conversation with him for what must be a full half hour. It takes me awhile to work my way through my huge, thick crust pepperoni and mushroom slice; and after that I’m hesitant to interrupt the ongoing conversation. Finally I drag myself out of the chair and saunter over to join in.

Rich is a pretty remarkable, very inspirational character. He’s passionate about bicycles - he arrived today on a Brompton, has a Bike Friday or two at home, and has travelled pretty much everywhere - Japan, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria. So there’s a lot to talk about on that front. He’s also passionate about service though, and established Spoke Folk as a vehicle to make a variety of contributions to his community here. He works with youth, helping them to learn about bikes and bike maintenance; and runs a ‘meals on two wheels’ program to deliver hot meals to residents who can’t cook for themselves.

Finally the conversation wraps up. Rachael heads off to the store and I head to a cafe to buy a beer to sip in the shade, which Rich insists on picking up the tab for. We chat a bit more, and he tells me about a local bus service that will take us and our bikes to Buffalo tomorrow if the weather is too dreadful. He doesn’t remember its name, but after he wheels off on his Brompton I do some research. I’m just staring at the website of Coach USA when Rich bikes up again. Coach USA, he says. Look up their schedule. Quite a guy, Rich. Dunkirk is lucky to have him.

Rachael and Rich, rapt in conversation for about a half hour while we waited for our motel room to free up.

Rich and his Brompton. Rich maintains a fleet of bikes, including a Bike Friday Ticket and a tandem Bike Friday.

For dinner we walk to Demitri’s, a Greek restaurant (recommended to us by Rich, of course) and feast on plates of moussaka (S) and fish fillet with feta cheese, spinach and tomatoes (R) before then walking a mile and a half over to check out the Dunkirk lighthouse. As we walk back the sky is graying over quickly. Before we turn in for the night we’ll be hearing the crashing of thunder and the pavement outside will be pounding with rain.

The Dunkirk Lighthouse. This is as close as we could get - after walking a mile and a half to get there, we discovered that its grounds are only open from 10 to 4.

Look at those flies! I’m so glad I’m not a groundhog.

So why are they all facing east? Both the sun and the wind are behind them. Which are they avoiding?

Heart

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Ride stats today: 48 miles, 1,300’; for the tour: 1,485 miles, 38,600’

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 1,485 miles (2,390 km)

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Kelly IniguezOver on that other site, did you ever follow two recumbent riders, male nurses, who rode at night? Partly to beat the heat, partly because they both worked night shift and that was their preference. Their bicycles had enough lights to be in a parade. They normally rolled into town at 10 AM or so. I wrote and asked them how they got into their rooms so early, did they pay for an extra night to have the room waiting for them? The answer was no, that they tended to travel remote areas where the motels were never full and had nice mom and pop owners who let them in.

I've found if I call ahead the night before and say I plan to arrive early, could my room be at the top of the list (provided the previous occupants get out early), that's been helpful.

Twice we've paid for a second night when we didn't sleep there - both nights were in very cheap motels and we wanted one more ride (and shower) before going home.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kelly IniguezNo, we never followed them - I don’t remember noting them there at all. Occasionally we will call or check in ahead of time if we know we’ll be arriving early, but mostly we just show up when we arrive and hope for the best. We don’t tend to get that early a start anyway, so more often than not a room is available when we arrive.
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3 years ago