July 31
Tuesday, July 31 Rochester, NY to Syracuse, NY 89 miles
I turned an 83 mile
ride into just under 89 miles. I missed
a road near the end of the ride.
Looking at my computer, the road wasn’t where the cure sheet indicated
it would be. After rolling on for another
mile or more I saw my roommate, Nancy, coming up behind me. We stopped and tried to figure out where we
were. She too had passed up that turn. We rode on some more and decided we were
really lost and started looking for someone to ask. No sign of life anywhere until we passed the village of Amory and
I saw a lady at a picnic table in a way side park. She was a local school bus driver so she directed us on an
alternate route.
This Holiday Inn we
are staying at is out in the middle of nowhere, by some Industrial Park. The nearest stores and restaurants to have
some lunch are another two miles away.
The motel restaurant is opening
up pretty soon to serve some food, I’ll
try that.
My ride today was
just great. I had lots of energy and I
felt really fresh with energy. The New
York roads we were on all day today were just the best yet. A very wide shoulder of about 8 feet made it
so easy.
Leaving Rochester this morning at 6:15,
the traffic got heavy right away. Only
one spot was a little tricky due to construction. The road narrowed to just one lane between orange barrels. No room for me to move to the right. So I
just took the lane by moving into the middle.
That way no car or truck could even attempt to pass me. All the vehicles had to follow me through
the mile of construction. I was keeping
up a 20 mph speed but I know those following were not happy with the slow
biker.
Here in New York it is getting more hilly
each day. Just getting us warmed up for
the really steep stuff a few days ahead.
The roads were either going up or down all day. It was a fun ride. For many miles we biked along in the area of the Erie Canal. We were on Route 31 for 75 miles. I have to give the NY roads an A+.
Didn’t see too much road kill today. One belly up bull frog. Also saw one bicycle seat in the road. That’s a first. I hope who ever was on the bike didn’t try to sit down after the
saddle came off. It did look like a
very hard uncomfortable saddle, maybe the cyclist got fed up with the
pain-in-the-rear and threw it away. Only other odd piece of road kill was one
single brand-new black Keds tennis shoe. How does it happen that a shoe gets
lost on the shoulder of the road? I’ve
seen this several times on this cross country journey. Just one shoe lying out there on the road.
It is a mystery to me. How does this happen?
Do little kids get bored riding in those car seats and roll down the window and throw out a shoe for the
fun of it?
Last night I was in
bed and sleeping a little after 8:00. I
bet all those hours of rest gave me the big boost of energy today. I’ll have to do that again tonight.
Keep on praying for
us these final days that we arrive safely in Portsmouth, NH this weekend!
Quite a few in our group have done a
cross country one or two times previous to this time. I’ve been asking them if they had any trouble re-entering “normal”
life and routines after getting back home.
Everyone I have talked to has said yes.
They have experienced some depression, let down and generally a sense of
being a little tired. It is a long time,
seven weeks, of eat , ride, sleep, repeat.
To suddenly switch to a new life and routine must take some adjustment
mentally and physically.
A short day
tomorrow, about 64 miles. That is if I
don’t miss any cues!