Campus Wheel Works had been super-helpful through email as Nancy was spec’ing out the bike she wanted for her portion of the trip. We headed down there to get outfitted and take a test ride through the city.
Nancy’s bike had just been shipped back from someone who’d ridden the whole Erie Canal trail, so we got to chat with Ethan and Alex, the shop owners, while they put it together and set it up. Ethan has recently returned to school as a non-traditionally-aged student, so we got to chat about his journey and about some of my Bike Lab work.
In Croatia I’d had the experience that my now-vintage handlebar bag, designed for a quill stem, doesn’t fit on modern handlebars. There, I’d hacked up a solution using Eastern European zip ties, which unfortunately were too cheaply made because they broke the first time I went over a big bump (nearly causing an ugly crash). Here, I had good old American zip ties, but I still doubled them up.
Once we were set up, we headed up to North Buffalo to visit my dad’s facility (McAuley Residence), then rode over to Bert’s Bikes because Nancy wanted another pair of bike shorts. We got to Bert’s just before it closed, and, after accomplishing our mission, had the good fortune to be escorted back to central Buffalo by Mike, one of the employees who happened to be heading that way.
Buffalo is not particularly well set up for cycling. There are long stretches where you can ride on quiet, residential streets, but sometimes they dead end, or end at a road crossing of a major arterial without traffic controls. It was nice to have someone who knew the best routes to lead us through, alleycat-style.
We got the bikes home and started loading up the bags; ready to roll!
Gear geek corner (Tom’s stuff)
| Bike | Momentum UX 1×9 |
| Panniers | Arkel Commuter (c2008 model) |
| Frame bag | Specialized (c2005 model) |
| Handlebar bag | Madden by Adventure Cycling (c2001 model) |
| Seat wedge | Jandd Mountain Wedge 3 |
| Tent | Big Agnes C Bar 2 |
| Sleeping bag | Zooobelives Ultralite Backpacking Down 32F |
| Sleeping pad | KLYMIT Static V2 |
| Pillow | NEMO Fillo Elite |
| Towel (2) | Nomadix Ultralight |
| Stove | MSR PocketRocket 2 |
| Camera | Canon PowerShot M6 II mirrorless |
