July 7th – July 10th Buffalo NY to Erie PA

DAY 1: Wednesday 7th July 2021 – Buffalo NY to Evangola State Park NY
Distance: 66km
Elevation gain: 270m
Accomodation: Evangola SP CG

Our ride got underway through some slightly dicey looking areas of western Buffalo. As time went on things became much more suburban and affluent. When we stopped outside a diner to eat a peanut butter sandwich, the owner invited us in and gave us a free breakfast – maybe a sign of how exhausted we looked 20km into the trip? Later we joined NY route 5 which would take us along the shore of Lake Erie for the next few days and made our way to Evangola State Park – our most expensive camping of the trip since they insisted on us paying for a 2 night minimum even though we were only staying for 1 night and then charged us an extra $10 for not being NY residents – thankfully the only time we came across this scam in the many state parks that we camped in!

A 10km round trip to the local shop, but essential supplies were needed

DAY 2: Thursday 8th July 2021 – Evangola State Park NY to Westfield NY
Distance: 60km
Elevation gain: 300m
Accomodation: Thruway Motel

Not a lot to say about this day! We continued cycling through some very rich suberbs on the shore of Lake Erie. Lots of big houses with gardens the size of football pitches. And it rained – a lot! We gave up any plans for camping and hid away from the rain in a Tim Hortons coffee shop, using their wifi to book a very optimistically priced motel on the NY thruway interstate – not quite what we had in mind.

DAY 3: Friday 9th July 2021 – Westfield NY to Erie PA
Distance: 57km
Elevation gain: 276m
Accomodation: Sara’s Campground

More of the same scenery and weather today. We crossed our first state line from NY into PA and took the first of what would become our traditional state line crossing photos. Despite the weather, a motel in Erie was well beyond our budget but today our luck was in and the sun came out as we arrived. On arriving at the campground we were told that it was full but just as we were about to leave they found the last free pitch on the site for us at just $15 dollars per night so decided to have an extra day here. The amazing burgers and hot dogs at the on-site diner may also have played a part in this decision.

DAY 4: Saturday 10th July 2021 – Rest Day in Erie PA
Distance: 23km
Elevation gain: 30m
Accomodation: Sara’s Campground

Since it seemed a little early in the trip for a proper rest day, we took the time to do a 20km circuit around the beautiful Presque Isle State Park next to the campsite as well as eating more of Sara’s burgers and hot dogs. And today the weather was glorious!