My goal for today was to reach Lake Erie. Along the way, I had to cross a large orangish blob on my maps labeled “Buffalo”. As cities go, this wasn’t too difficult as my mapping programs do a reasonable job in picking a combination of small roads and trails. There was more traffic outbound along the shore.

Somehow the number of “Tim Hortons” outnumbers the “Dunkin” in this area. I always think of Tim Hortons as being a Canadian thing but we’re not far from Ontario here, so they’ve expanded to at least upstate New York. It was again nice to get out early, though it was 54F starting out.

Firewood, $5/bundle. Whether asparagus or firewood, roadside business does well here.

I cycled inbound on NY 33 which started with nice shoulders. Every few miles the shoulder became narrower and narrower until there was barely a 6″ shoulder left. Traffic picked up later in the commute but fortunately, was well behaved in watching and waiting to pass. It wasn’t the most pleasant riding and at 12 miles I was happy to see this turnoff and a four mile long rail trail.

Ok, still trying to figure this “town” vs. “village” thing out. The curious thing is I saw both signs in Lancaster. This one says “town” and goes to less populated areas.

This one says village and goes to more populated areas.

Another short stretch of trail.

Hooray, I’ve made it to the city limits of Buffalo. It wasn’t different from other towns. I did pass by a memorial to victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407 which crashed in 2019 killing 49 people.

Residential street on my route. Looks like it is trash day.

A little over five miles on NY 62 past the Botanical Gardens. Signs said South Buffalo. There were bike lanes along much of this route.

Our Lady of Victory, National Shrine and Basilica.

At 36 miles I reached Lake Erie. Hooray! Stopped for lunch here.

Fresh Air Mission along the lake.

Display about plastic and how it doesn’t degrade.

I am now along a route designated as the Great Lakes Seaway trail. This doesn’t seem particular to a bicycle route, but instead is more about telling you about attractions along the lake. The last 14 miles was a somewhat busy road with two lanes each way. Today the easiest riding was ironically the middle parts of that orange Buffalo blob. The busiest parts were furthest from the city.

Strava says: 50.16 miles in 5:18:31 for 9.4 miles/hour. A total of 837 feet climbed and 3397 calories burned.