Day 26
Ashtabula, OH to Hamburg, NY ~125-130 Miles My biggest day in my entire life!

I was creeped out by this campground plus I wanted to make it super far today so I packed up and got the heck out of dodge hitting the road at 6:52am. While packing up in my tent, I started packing my sleeping bag into my pannier when this spider crawled out of the bag. All the sudden the entire twenty something square feet of tent was full of complete chaos and flailing appendages as I frantically searched for a shoe, a flip flop, anything to execute this 8 legged beast (sorry Vegan friends). After chucking my gear to and fro, I eventually found my cycling shoe and with every smash to the ground towards the spider I seemed to hit the turkey right in the recessed cleat hole of my biking shoe and he miraculously escaped death! One more smash and I picked up the shoe and he was gone. Not dead. Gone. Like nowhere to be found. I got the hell out of the tent, did a little shake it off dance outside the vestibule to ensure he hadn’t gotten tangled up in my clothes, my hair, my anything. Dah!!! Feeling a bit like a freak for being so panic stricken over a 1” spider (that dimension included his legs!). I usually prefer the spider relocation program while camping and merely relocate them to the exterior of my tent but I had no cup, I certainly wasn’t using my hands and I just got a little carried away in the moment. I ever so gingerly packed up my belongings shaking every article before placing them in the now spider sterilized pannier. Another jumpstart to another day. Who needs coffee when you have spiders and thunderstorms??

I really, really, really, didn’t feel like riding today. Seriously. It was one of two days that I just wanted to be done. Almost all other days were fun but today I just wanted to be done. I felt weathered and a bit torn apart by the consistent wind I was pedaling against. It was a 15-20 MPH headwind that went on for eternity. A force that I couldn’t seem to get away from. Pedal uphill, pedal downhill, pedal on the flats, can’t stop pedaling with the wind. To add to this, today was filled with rain. ALMOST ALL DAY LONG. Rain, rain and…rain. Wind, rain, wind, rain…then more wind and rain. The rain lightened up as I was crossing the border from Ohio into Pennsylvania. Enough for a quick photoshoot. 

While I was taking a photo, a crazy old man in a minivan swerved off the road veering straight for me, hit the brakes, put it in park and rolled down his window. I just stared at him with my WTF look. He yelled out the window that he saw me down the road and wondered what I was doing. We chatted for a bit and he wasn’t as crazy as I had previously anticipated, just curious. But for sure a crazy driver. I went about my business taking my routine photos at the state signs and kept going down the road. I was running out of steam (not that I had any when I started my day). All the campgrounds were closed because none of the state campgrounds in PA or NY seem to open before May so I pedaled having no idea where I’d stay tonight. I rolled into Erie and had to stop at a bike shop to have them look at my bike. I had videotaped a weird noise I was hearing (because the last shop couldn’t hear the noise). Now I had video proof it existed and I wasn’t nuts. I rolled into Competitive Gear in Erie, PA. They were AWESOME!!!! They totally took a million parts (ok not a million) off my bike, checked things out, tightened things up. They were the first shop willing to ride my bike fully loaded to hear the sound and finally they heard the sound! We figured out what it was, determined it wasn’t a hazard and I made the executive decision due to time, that I needed to ignore the sound and keep pedaling. They spent a lot of time working on my bike and didn’t charge me. I chucked some money in their beer fund hat, so appreciative for the time/care they took. The owner’s wife even happened to bring in brownies while I was there and I had the most decadent brownie ever! I was so beat down and didn’t even want to ride anymore when I got there but just visiting them and a super power brownie motivated me to keep going! Everyone here was super! I want the brownie recipe!! (If y’all are reading this…uh, I seriously want to make those brownies, please send the recipe)

I rode through lots of vineyards on my way into New York.

In the rain. And the wind. And the cold. And more rain! 

By the time I got to the New York state crossing there indeed was a sign but it was so cold out that I couldn’t stop. Stopping would make me an all new level of chilled and I couldn’t let myself get any colder so I opted to skip the New York sign and just keep pedaling trying to take a ride by photo of the sign. 

Riding into New York made me super happy! I was so close!!! I kept pedaling and pedaling and pedaling. 

And eventually, about 130 miles from my departure this morning…I reached Hamburg! I wasn’t sure I could actually reach Hamburg but that was my ideal destination since I am so far over my budget moneywise and reaching Hamburg would mean one less night in a hotel, since all the campgrounds are closed. I stayed in a Motel 6. I met two super awesome guys at the hotel. One was working the front desk and the other was his buddy that had stopped by. They were in awe I could pedal that far in a day (frankly, ME TOOOOO!!!). I think their jaw dropped when I told them where I started my day and where I started my trip. They were super helpful and we talked for a long time about places to go in Buffalo and also things to not miss at Niagara. They were fun and a good way to end this ever exhausting, never ending day of pedaling in the rain and wind. Toughest day yet but on the flippin’ home stretch!!!!