The Big Bike Tour route wasn’t quite a straight line East. The plan was to head up to Niagara (I’ve always wanted to go) then back down through Northern Pennsylvania. As it happens, Niagara was the most disappointing part of the whole trip. I blame the TV for only showing ultra wide angle views shot from below.
Not only are the falls a bit smaller than you think (ask me at the right time and I’d be happy to try the riding them in a barrel) but you never see the town of Niagara right next door (I think I was thinking of Victoria falls in the middle of rugged countryside). Not only is it a but more built up than you’d expect but the town of Niagara is a bit like Las Vegas only without the subtlety and style. Plan A was to spend several hours there but 45 mins pretty much covered it. The best bit is watching all the visitors dressed in bright green plastic jumpsuits swarming around the boats and viewpoints like radioactive ants.
One of the moments I remember most clearly from that part of the trip (2.5 days in total) was following the signs that said “Bridge to Canada” and wondering if I wasn’t slightly crazy (no comments required on that debate, thank you).
The worst bit was discovering that a large chunk of the roads in Northern Pennsylvania had been recently recovered. If you have never ridden a motorbike on gravel then you want to keep things that way.