The rain in Dunkirk falls mainly on the cyclists

07/17/09 - Well, the streak is dead. We awoke to the pitter-patter of rain on the tent this morning. It was soothing and my sleeping bag was cozy so I didn’t want to get up. I read for a little while as Sleeping Beauty slumbered. Eventually the thought of hot coffee and the fullness of my bladder conspired to drive me out into the weather. The rain was light and intermittent, at least for a while. But ultimately we had to break down and get a room tonight. What a beaut it is, too. The Dunkirk Motel in Dunkirk NY. I may sleep in my sleeping bag anyway, just to protect myself from the linens. I can’t find anywhere to plug my computer in because none of the outlets are equipped for three prong plugs. I hope we don’t have an electric fire tonight. The bathroom is pretty wet right now because the shower cannot be contained by the shower curtain, despite the half pound or so of miscellaneous hardware (nuts, bolts, plumbing parts) wired to the bottom of it. I have to take a photo of this thing. We rode 65 or so miles today, entering back into the US this morning and continuing along the Lake Eerie shoreline. Much of the day was spent riding in a torrential downpour. Not that much fun but at least it washed most of the dust off of our bikes from the canal trail. And now we have a roof over our head and out stuff is drying out, and we have a whole pile of pizza to eat because we were so hungry when we ordered it that we ordered way too much. Oh, and we have a guest, J.D. the French Canadian cyclist that we met yesterday. We were stopped on the side of the road just outside Buffalo talking to two other cross country cyclists on their way to Maine from Washington. Josh and Zack, maybe? Anyway we had just asked them if they had passed J.D. and they said no, and at that instant, J.D. rolled up. He was heading the same way we were so we rode together and he decided to go in on a room and some pizza with us. My experience with French Canadian cyclists has primarily been in racing situations and always terrifying. But J.D. did a fine job today of not crashing us or acting generally erratic. We may even keep him around for a few more days. Crazy Canadian told me that in over 300 days of bike touring this is the first time he has stayed in a motel room. Hard. Core.

Tomorrow we will finally be leaving the giant state of New York and moving into Pennsylvania. We are in PA for just a short time, but we probably will have to spend the night there. The weather for tomorrow doesn’t look so good. Rain showers and highs in the low 60’s. Crazy weather for the middle of July. We have decided that riding in the cold rain isn’t so bad, it’s only when you have to stop for the night or to eat that it gets really unpleasant. As long as you can keep moving, you can stay warm and dry enough. Setting up camp in the rain is another matter, and it extends into the next day because it takes extra time to try and dry things out or pack them up all wet. I suggested that we just keep riding until the rain stops, even if it means riding through the night. No one even responded to my suggestion. I thought it was reasonable but no one listens to anything I say. I’m just trying to be helpful.