Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON to Buffalo, NY
June 12, 2023
0 miles
Tour total: 1492 miles; Personal miles achieved: 1409 miles
It was strange to get up and know that the bike riding on the tour was over.
No bike riding on our day of departure. However, we all knew we had a tight,
early morning schedule to keep. As usual, our tour guides had figured out all
the logistics for the day ... for getting everyone where they needed to go to get
started on their journeys home ... airport, train station, etc. Luggage and bikes
needed to be at our assigned vans by 7AM and loaded up in time to leave the
hotel by 8AM.
In my case, I needed to get back to Buffalo to a hotel I had booked months ago
that was near the train station. The train I wanted to take wouldn't leave until
the next morning and could accommodate my bike as is (without having to disassemble
it to fit in a bike box). I was assigned to ride in the van with Jacquie and
Claudine, who would be dropped off at the train station after I was dropped off at my hotel.
As my tour sisters and I gathered to say our goodbyes in the lobby, the rain
that nature seemed to have held onto throughout the entire tour finally arrived
and continued throughout the day until late afternoon. At times the rain came
in torrents. We had been incredibly fortunate with good weather each day for
over a month. Sometimes hotter than we wished ... sometimes colder than we wished,
but we acknowledged that it was better than riding in the rain. Now that we were
all leaving each other, this is when the rain arrived. Was this just another form
of trail magic? Who's to say?
Speaking of trail magic ... A few nights ago when we were in Hamburg, NY, my tour
sister Linda invited her friend, Siri (yes ... her name is really Siri ... like the
name of the iPhone's virtual assistant!!!) to come and play cards with us after
dinner. She's from Buffalo and was someone who Linda met years ago while cycling
on the Erie Canal in New York. I took a chance (reaching out of my comfort zone
because I don't like to impose) and asked her if she could give me a ride to the
train station at 6:30 AM on the morning of June 13th. Immediately, she said "Of
course!" This was the final piece of the overall adventure of the bike trip that
had not been fully worked out ... getting my luggage and my bike to the train station
that was two miles away from the hotel. We exchanged phone numbers and that was that!
A couple of nights ago, I reached out to Siri one more time to send her the
address of my hotel in Buffalo. She replied by offering to take me out to
dinner and showing me around Buffalo. It was a lovely tour that began by driving
down to and then walking around the waterfront where the Buffalo River, Lake Erie
and the Niagara River all converge. As we got back in the car to drive to a
delightful little Thai fusion restaurant, I learned that Buffalo is a city that
is working on revitalizing itself as it continues to recover from its loss of
industry a few decades ago. As part of that process the city planners have made
bicycle access throughout the city a major priority. The dinner was delicious,
and I insisted on paying as a thank-you for all her kindness.
One thing I've learned is that bike people take care of each other. Siri didn't
hesitate for a second when I took a chance and asked for this favor from someone I
had met only an hour or two earlier. She had no idea what a huge relief it was to
know that I wouldn't have to rely on trying to find an Uber or Lyft that could
accommodate a bicycle so early in the morning.
