Pulaski, NY

We're seven days and 500 miles down since we started on the East Coast. Since crossing back into the US at Niagara Falls, we've been riding in the eastward direction across New York State, which offers surprisingly nice back country roads and plenty of small, biker-friendly towns along the way. Rochester was the only big, industrial town we had to deal with so far. But it is easy to avoid for bikers who follow the Erie Canalway as it takes you smoothly in and out of that busy town.

We spent most of Wednesday and Thursday riding along Erie Canal. We did over 100 miles along this smooth, packed-stone-dust road with no hills, intersections or any motorized vehicles to slow us down. Along the way, we passed wild cherry trees, lone country houses, locks and bridges and occasional other bikers. Some of the bridge operators have bathroom and shower facilities and allow the campers to spend the night right on the canal. We did so on Wednesday night. We pitched the tent right on the waterway, next to another lady who was also touring on a bike and a family who was traveling in a boat. We grabbed some local stout in the town pub and went to sleep. The next morning, we got up at 6 am and rode for 105 miles - our longest day so far on this trip.

We left the canal behind us two days ago and continued east. The road is gradually getting hillier, which is quite nice after a full week of completely flat surface. We're re-learning how to climb and some of us are getting some bike maintenance experience (Jeremy got his fifth flat in the last four days!). We continue to meet interesting people every day. In Macedon, NY, we met John, the owner of a small book/coffee shop, who sheltered us from the storm, gave us coffee and cake and helped us find some good books. We also continue to get some not-so-affectionate remarks and honks from drivers in bigger towns. We are still trying to understand what exactly it is that bothers them so much. Perhaps they don't like to be reminded of the fact that they're riding cars that are too big to fit on regular roads.

In any case, I'll write my emails, Jeremy will change his punctured tube, Tomas will finish reading yet another book and we will get on the road again. It's been just over an hour but I already feel the urge to clip back into my pedals. So long!