Saturday, July 15th

We set off together in the morning, but soon parted ways. I needed to attend to some SAG duties. I did meet up with one of my partners at the PM rest stop at the Mabee Farm. This is a small group of buildings dedicated to recognizing the part farmers played in the development of the Erie Canal and detailing the way they lived. My husband is related by marriage to the owners of this farm, so I recognized it from pictures I had seen.

I had a relaxing finish to my ride into Scotia. Again one of my partners in crime had saved us tent spots. We joined together and visited an ice cream shop, where I had a root beer float. We then visited the local library, where one person stayed to check his email and we moved on to a drug store, where I purchased wet wipes- there are no showers at the end of the ride tomorrow, and I will be traveling on a bus. We then landed ourselves at a nice local bar, which had a surprisingly good selection of tap beer.

I had researched the possibilities for my return trip to Buffalo. Two women from Canada were going to rent a minivan, but not leave until Monday. This would have entailed my share of the vehicle, tolls, gas, an overnight stay in a hotel, plus a dinner and breakfast; too much money. The Amtrak train with a baggage car was sold out. Amtrak stinks- you can only bring your bike on certain trains, and they can only be removed at certain stations. I settled on going back by bus, about which I had major trepidations.

I hung out in tent city, talking to people and watching the bike repair guy do his stuff. By the time I was ready for a shower, it had started to pour. Oh, the irony of it all. Unwilling to move from under the shelter of the information tent (not alone), I waited it out for almost 45 minutes. By that time, my phone was beeping and one of my partners was paging me for dinner company. Showering had to wait until after dinner. Later in the evening, there was a goodbye celebration, with awards for the most flats in a day and for the whole trip. I must admit that it is odd to recognize frequent flat tires, for to me it indicates something embedded in the tire or incorrect tire inflation, but who am I to judge?

The mosquitoes were voracious, making people hide in their tents in the early evening.