It had rained heavily yesterday evening and most of the night. We woke early to drying roads, but low cloud and mist. It felt oddly creepy to be riding through the centre of the normally packed casino and amusement district, just after dawn, when the streets were deserted. Then we turned onto the Rainbow Bridge over the Niagara Gorge. The view upstream to both falls was stunning – everything was in shades of grey, sheathed in mist and spray, with the harsh vertical lines of the high rise hotels emerging from the gloom. Not one for a photographer of my limited ability.

We had allowed time for passport control at the American end of the bridge. But, compared to Seattle airport, this was very easy. Just a quick scan of the passport while the bloke read our shirts and wanted to chat about the ride, and his female colleague quietly admired our legs. No problem. 

We set off upstream right beside the grade 6 rapids that lead to the brink of the American Falls. These were nearly as impressive as the falls themselves. There was one huge ‘stopper’ that was 20 feet deep. The bike path ran right along the edge of the water that was travelling close to 20mph, with no railing. Not a place to fall off your bike.
  
After about 15 miles we turned, reluctantly, from the river bank into Tonawanda. I had enjoyed travelling across and alongside 2 of the Great Lakes, and their connecting waterways. Here we met New York accents for the first time as we had ‘cworffee’ and breakfast in another of these community diners, this time full of single elderly men having breakfast and chat. 

A succession of pleasant bike paths allowed us to avoid the rush hour traffic in Tonawanda, and then in the outskirts of Buffalo. Then a rail trail took us out of town altogether, through increasingly affluent suburbs. Some of these houses were enormous, with huge grounds and swimming pools. 

For the rest of the day we followed highway 5 east. This had a broad shoulder, a good surface, light traffic (because our old friend the I90 runs parallel) and, best of all, a tail wind. And the sun began to come through. This was fantastic after 6 days of calm or contrary winds and terrible roads. It was so good to be back to making fast, easy progress.

Lunch in Avon was the biggest Julienne salad yet. A big dinner plate mounded 3 inches high in the middle. But we still had room to stop at an ice cream parlour about an hour later for the biggest ice cream (but certainly not the best) I have ever eaten. 

We had finished our 100 miles by 3pm at a lodge just outside of Canandaigua, near the tip of the lake of the same name. This is one of the ‘Finger Lakes’. Tomorrow’s ride is designed to take in two more of them.