2 On a Tandem: Day 57 - Sun, Jul 20, Hamburg, NY to Niagara Fall, ONT

DAY 57 - SUN, JUL 20 -HAMBURG, NY TO NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

39.1 mi
3.10.05 st
12.3 avg
TTD-2917.61

When it finally looked like it was going to be dry for a while, we got dressed and started packing up. Only a few items inside the tent got wet.

Because they were wet, we just rolled up the tent, fly and groundcloth and put them on top of BOB instead of inside as usual.

We left the bottle of catsup with Tom to thank him for his kindness to us. It was also good to jettison the weight. (Yes, Kevin, we -who have been so conscious of weight - actually carried a bottle of Henry's Catsup with us from Milwaukee! We had intended to give it to a Warmshowers host but haven't been able to stay with one since Moorhead.)

We left at 9:45 riding up hwy 20 to Blasdell, into Buffalo, following the AC route. The route was easy to follow, but we were glad we decided to do it on Sunday and not tomorrow because the traffic was very minimal.

We rode through some 'marginal' areas of town before coming to the Naval Park and on around to The Peace Bridge to customs.

Customs was easy; the agent just looked at Gerry’s passport, asked him why we were coming in and just waved mine aside.

On the other side, we almost made a wrong turn which would’ve put us in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. We stopped to look at the map and a gal came walking by and quite gregariously explained to us the correct way.

So off we went on the Niagara River Parkway for 16 miles – very pleasant riding all the way right along the Niagara River. We did manage to get rained on when a good little storm came through, but it wasn’t so bad because it cooled us off. We saw a motorcyclist who had gone down (probably from the wet pavement). His cycle was lying on its side and there were several people gathered around him; they had him covered with blankets already. As we kept riding, it was 15 minutes before we saw the police heading that way.

Coming closer to the falls, we could see the mist rising up from a good mile back. As we got closer and closer we started feeling it and the crowds started getting more dense. We finally had to walk the bike because of the people. It was interesting to look around at all the many nationalities and hear all the different languages.

We asked one older gentleman to take our picture and he said, “Here, let the expert do it.” And he pointed to one of the little Indonesian boys with him. The little boy very seriously took our camera and lined us up, stepping back until he got it just right. The other little boy held our umbrella. The man talked with Gerry for a few minutes about living and biking in Borneo. He said he moved there about 16 years ago and that biking in Borneo is good.

As we walked along, it was interesting to hear people say, “Wow, look at that bike!” or “Wow, look at that!”. Sometimes I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it sure seemed to be along those lines.

As we were riding earlier today, I was thinking, “I wonder if these falls will be a disappointment to me, if they won’t be as spectacular as they’re made out to be.” (Kind of like the Grand Canyon was to me a couple years ago.) I’m happy to say that they truly are spectacular and beautiful! I won’t say "awesome" because that belongs to God, but they are very grand.

We were finally able to resume riding on the street, so we continued on River Road looking for a place to stay. About two miles up the road we found the Riverview Motel - $55. Now we’re talking! The owner said they’re full on weekends but not during the week, and it seems everyone has cleared out for the week.

He gave us some old towels for cleaning rags and I cleaned the bike and BOB. I didn’t like seeing the rust on the chain (from being in the rain all night), the first time ever on this bike. I got all the mud and grease cleaned off and everything lubed and even gave BOB a bath.

After showering, we went to the laundromat. Can you believe we went the wrong way? Gerry thought I was listening to the directions given us and I thought he was listening, so neither of us got the whole picture. We finally asked at a tourist information shop on the corner. This guy tried for 15 minutes to sell us a touring package for tomorrow.

We eventually found the laundromat and enjoyed talking with the attendant there, a middle-aged lady who was very friendly. The walk back to the motel was much shorter than the walk there – go figure!

Gerry fixed dinner while I hung out some still damp clothes and got water bottles filled and put in the fridge. (This is the tent drying out.)

We’re both pretty tired after only about four hours of sleep last night. We need to decide tonight if we’re going to take tomorrow off and just hang around here or ride out to Lockport. If we go to the fireworks and light show at the falls tonight, we’ll most likely stay tomorrow. We’re leaning that way because this room is actually quite nice and very clean.

Gerry said he didn’t really enjoy the ride today, probably because of being tired, riding in the rain and riding across the windy Peace Bridge. However, I enjoyed the ride once we got through Buffalo and customs as easily as we did. The ride along the Niagara River Parkway Recreation Trail was nice, especially not having to worry about traffic. Susan, I think you would have enjoyed this section of the day.

We rested most of the evening while still working at getting the tent, clothes, shoes and other items dried out. A little after 9:00 we started walking back toward the Falls for the lights and fireworks.

There were thousands of people walking around, all nationalities, sizes, shapes, families, young, old. We found a spot on the wall and sat to wait until 10:00. It was fun to just watch people.