Day 79 - NY RT5 Bicycle Route - August 29th

Ripley, NY to Buffalo, NY

I awoke to a beautiful but windy morning, so making coffee/breakfast was quite challenging. The windbreak on my little stove wasn't able to prevent the flame from dying, so I resorted to preparing coffee and breakfast in the shower building before anyone else was awake. The next challenge was rolling up and packing my tent and bedding. Once there was sufficient light, I was able to find shelter from the wind between two RVs.

While I was breaking up camp, a fellow camper came over to invite me to have coffee with him and his wife. They realized that making coffee would be a challenge in these windy conditions. As I was about to leave, another camper came over to warn me that heavy rains were predicted for the lake area in the afternoon. He wanted to make sure that I was aware of the forecast.

Just after lunch I stopped at a pharmacy to replenish my Body Armor hydration drink when a fellow cyclist came over to ask whether I was aware that I had a flat rear tire. I hadn't been aware; turns out I had a slow leak that wasn't easy to detect. At this point the heavens opened up. I couldn't fix the wheel in the car park, but managed to get the wheel inflated, and rode about half a mile down the road to a car tire dealership. They let me use space in their workshop to fix the puncture.

I was hoping the rain would stop while I fixed the puncture, but no such luck. The rain only stopped as I reached the outskirts of Buffalo. This was fortunate, as it can be problematic finding accommodation when you are drenched.

All in all a good day, made so by the kindness of strangers!