Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Fairport to Batavia NY

August 4, 2005
Distance 44.7 Miles

Well, this morning we woke up at our Bed and Breakfast, without the breakfast. The bed was very comfortable and we had cable TV, but no remote control. We loaded up the bikes and the nice woman who owned the B+B, with her husband, got up and saw us off, at 6:30am. We rode back into Fairport, to Riki's Café, where we had a really good and reasonably priced breakfast. We started pedaling under moderate cloud cover and with a breeze in our faces. We took our first break at a gas station after about 9 miles because you can only hold that coffee for so long. It was a much needed bathroom break. Our second break was in West Henrietta, at another gas station. Scott and Barbara drank Gatorades and Jim and Mary Kay split an ice cream bar. We turned onto 33A and stayed on this road until we reached Bergen, NY. Where we found a restaurant that served up a pretty mean fruit pie. Mary Kay, Barbara and Jim had raspberry and Scott had Apple. The waitress was really fast. We got back on the bikes and rode about 12 more miles, right into Batavia. The last 12 miles were the hardest because the wind picked up and was 10 to 20 mph in our faces. We stopped at a Bank to get some cash and tried to put a plan together. Because we aren't so organized, it took awhile. We made some phone calls, and then rode our bikes to an area near the interstate that has about 6 or 7 hotels. Scott was feeling really hot and really wanted a hotel with a pool. So, we made some more calls, talked to the people at the Quality Inn, and then went to Bob Evans for lunch. We all ordered the half sandwich and salad combo, with different sandwiches. We returned to the hotel to check in and were given second floor rooms and our bikes are locked in a conference room. Scott and Barb's room was still being cleaned, so we all went to Jim and Mary Kay's room and changed into swim suits. We went to the pool and played in the water for a little while. After cleaning up and having some quality down time, we all reconvened in Jim and Mary Kay's room. Scott secretly went to the mini mart and bought everyone treats, which he handed out. We are now debating our dinner restaurant selections. The local news is reporting rain in the Buffalo area tonight and tomorrow morning. We are really hoping for widely scattered showers, in someone else's area, of course. Scott's GPS computer reports us climbing about 1400 feet today, which does not count going down the hills. We are all really glad today was a much shorter day than yesterday.

UPDATE: We went to Alex's Place for dinner. Mary Kay had fish (no surprise there), Jim had ribs (again, no surprise), Barbara had shrimp and Scott had chicken. The meals were pretty big and reasonably priced. On the way back, we stopped at the mini mart for root beer and chocolate milk, not to be drank together. Overall, it was a pretty good day.