Day 59: NY State Bike Route #17 to Maysville, NY

After a big English breakfast, I left the B&B around 09:15. You may notice my departure times slipping from 07:00 – 07:30 at the beginning of the ride to 08:30 – 09:15 at this point. I’m not more tired, just more relaxed about the ride. So I headed out NE along Lake Erie and pretty quickly it became moderately hilly. And I was working like a dog to get up those hills! I checked my tires and they were properly inflated. I was thinking maybe I do need a rest day for my legs. I checked the wheels and they were turning freely… but I could hardly make it up some of the hills. Then I looked carefully at my rear wheel while riding and noticed it was very eccentric with a significant wobble. I rode another 10 very hard miles to Lake Country Bikes in North East, PA  and those guys stopped what they were doing to look after my bike. They replaced two broken spokes, trued up the wheel and gave me a mini tuneup while I ate lunch next door. Another fantastic experience with a local bike shop. The bike worked great when I pedaled out of there! I rode another 15 or 20 miles to Westfield, NY (state #12!) and then left the Northern Tier route and headed east on NY State Bike Route #17!  I am really on the final leg now. Just after turning onto BR #17, I had a 1,500′ climb onto the Erie escarpment (and I was so grateful my bike was functioning normally). The climb was no problem at all with two good wheels… I am at a WS house tonight and my host, Mark, made us a great spaghetti dinner. He gave me a serving bowl to use for my salad and said “I’ve heard how you guys eat- don’t be shy!” So I had a huge salad followed by two huge helpings of spaghetti (in a serving bowl) with Italian sausage. Now I’m going to watch Monday Night Football! Daily mileage: 60, Trip  miles: 3,251.

Some pretty old homes in Girard, PA: 

I rode Pennsylvania Bike Route Z most of the way to Westfield, NY:

There were lots of grapes- going south into the mountains and north up to Lake Erie: 

This will have to suffice for the obligatory Welcome to New York sign:

Finally, I’m on New York State Bike Route #17:

Route  17 is a pretty road with nice shoulders:

The final hill to climb going to my WS house:

My WS host, Tom, with his two labs: