Today was the day to get a new rear tire for my R80RT as well as an oil change and valve adjustment plus 350 miles on the road. I left the Hachenski's around 7:15am to avoid/bypass traffic on the 45 mile ride to the BMW shop in Troy. I got back on the road at 12:45 and busted towards western NY to try to make up time and found a place to crash in Wellsville, NY around 8pm. 
Those are 1976 BMW R900's parked in front of the shop I went to. The bikes are eight years older than mine so I had talk to the gentleman, who turned out to be as equally mature, who had parked them there. Mike and Tim were from Massachusetts and were just returning home from the Blue Grass Festival in Telluride, CO. They were going to get home today but on a whim decided to stop and test ride some new dual sport BMW's just for the hell of it. 
On the road for several hours I stopped to contemplate the rest of the plan for today and where it might lead me the next day. I was enjoying some homemade granola that Shelley had baked for me last night. Very tasty. Thanks Shelley!!
I compromised one of my riding guidelines today by spending about 200 miles on Interstate 87, 90 and 88 after leaving the BMW shop. I knew I wanted to try to get at least 250 miles in today and the absence of fairly direct US or State highways heading my direction led me to having just a bit of my soul sucked away for those 200 miles. The traffic was light and the scenery interesting which minimizes the amount of sucking. 
My route happened to take me near Elmira, NY, the Sailplane Capital of the US. As a kid I loved airplanes and built and flew radio controlled planes. I had planes with engines but I think I loved flying my sailplanes more than anything. And devouring all of the RC hobbyist magazines they always talked about how great Elmira, NY was for sailplaning and where they would even have RC sailplane competitions. I had to stop and visit. 
They also had the National Soaring Museum co-located with the glider port on Harris Hill. 
I got to watch about a half dozen sailplane tows and landings within 30 minute. Late in the day the rising hot air currents called thermals were gone and the rising wind currents pushing up Harris Hill were pretty light so not much slope soaring to extend the flights beyond about 15 minutes. 
And this is the view to the west from the end of the runway. Facing prevailing winds made Harris Hill a natural center for sailplanes. Also a great spot just to enjoy the sunset which was coming fast!!
As part of my compromise to riding the Interstate today I bargained with myself that I would not sleep along the Interstate but rather get on a two lane road and ride until I found a small town and a old highway motel to crash in. And I found them both in Wellsville, NY just 10 miles north of Pennsylvania and about 90 miles east of the far western tip of New York. 
300 miles after getting my new tire I've rubbed off all of the shiny surfaces and she's ready to be counted on for normal traction now. 
As it was late after I checked in and I was tired, I was just going to skip dinner and eat some nuts and an apple I had in my bag but my room was pretty depressing so I used food as my excuse to visit Texas Hot in Wellsville. It was a nice, old style diner that did a good business, famous for their chili on hamburgers. 
I went a different way and chowed on the old faithful Coney Dog. 
And now my bike and I both get some rest for tomorrow we'll ride through the Allegheny National Forest in NW Pennsylvania and end our day somewhere in Ohio. 💤💤💤
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