Off we went, leaving Rochester, Tom suggested I make a stop at the Wegman's flagship store. Thankfully, my GPS route went right past the store. All I have to say is WOW. For those of you not familiar with Wegman's - it is a grocery store - but, not just any grocery store - Whole Foods is a Wegman's wanna be - really!
Traveling through this part of New York finds you on hilly, tree lined country roads and small farms. Really fun.
Our resting (motel) spot for tonight is in the town of Fulton, right along the Oswego River, a port town near Lake Ontario. We chose this spot just for our good friend Peter Fulton! Interesting--his wife Mavis has a tire shop in the same town??
PS - we really enjoy reading your comments on our blog - they are funny and entertaining - thanks!
Notes from Tom:
Riding in New York. Of course we're not in New York City, where there's terrible traffic, lots of drivers who would not be happy with cyclists on the road, and narrow and pot-holed roads. However, I've been really impressed so far with the roads and drivers in NY. The roads are some of the best we've ridden--wide shoulders, very few bumps, and no rumble strips, and the drivers seem to generally give us plenty of room.
Today we started in Rochester on the Erie Canal trail and rode it to Palmyra, but since it rained hard last night there was some mud and puddles. My bike and I weigh considerably more than Jerry and his bike, and my tires are skinnier than his, so the mud and sketchy places give me more trouble, but we made it to Palmyra with no problems. There are always picturesque sights along the canal, such as Fairport in the picture below.
Riding through the country side on good two lane roads and virtually no traffiic was really nice. Today we rode through rural areas that could have been in the UP of Michigan as easily as rural NY. Who knew? See Jerry's comments below for his theory on hills.
Stats up date. We're in our 8th state, plus one province, with only VT, NH, and ME left. Tomorrow we'll pass the 3000 mile milestone, and right now I'm estimating the total mileage will be 3450. I've had 3 flat tires--another one today. I've retired 4 tires, and barring damage from a something on the road, the tires I have on now should easily make it to Portland.
We still have some "mountains" to cross. Coming from Colorado I'm kind of a mountain snob when it comes to riding a bike--if it isn't an 8% grade for 10 miles that climbs to 10,000 foot elevation, then it's not really a mountain ride. I know we have some climbs to negotiate, so we'll see how long and steep they really are.
Notes from Jerry: We dropped Gwen off at the Rochester Airport this morning and as Patty said she will be missed - especially by me! She really enjoyed the best part of the trip - the Niagara on the Lake Wine country and the Falls of course, and I have to give my thanks to Tom from doing some amazing on-the-fly rerouting and replanning to carve out an extra rest day on top of the already planned rest day. This was on a no float schedule! Gwen and I really had fun and I know that on top of her great visit with Karen and Jim in New Haven she had an action packed vacation. I was especially glad that she was able to be part of the team effort to help make this happen - it is a little hard to understand what is involved in doing this ride, so I'm glad she got to participate.
Well Patty and Tom are going to start calling me Pig Pen pretty soon. I seem to be the only guy who can ride for a few miles and get either guu or grit on both legs in a matter of miles. Today we were eating our second breakfast in a great diner and I put my hands on my knees under the table. GRIT! From the wet (from rain) crushed rock Erie Canal Tow Path. I told Tom, " feel your knees". He did and nothing! When we went back outside it looked like I had been sandblasted from gray grit from the knees on down! The only thing I could come up with is that my tires are slightly bigger at 25cm than the standard at 23cm that Tom has. This means that there is barely any clearance for the crushed rock that gets stuck on the tire to pass between the tire and frame. I think the wet grit comes up, hits the front fork at the top and then sprays right and left onto my legs!
Yesterday I felt that my shoes were a little loose so after our lunch picnic I really cinched up the velchro straps. Bad move - I succeeded in pulling the leather shoe away from the plastic bottom. (In April I asked Tom if he thought I should get new shoes because they were starting to separate - I ignored his advice and had the shoe re-glued at a shoe repair shop.) The picture below shows how creative I can be with duct tape when required. Tom's is now totally embarassed to be seen with me - trailer trash icon, I have duct tape on the left shoe where I cut off the bothersome tab on the left side of my achilles, and now the total toe of the right shoe is duct taped. Notice the vent I cut out! Coool!
My theory on hills is this: The upper USA appears to have troughs or valleys that are oriented east / west. When traveling east/ west you are paralleling these valleys either in the valleys or on the ridges separating them. Going north/ south you are crossing these valleys and constantly going up and down, like a washboard. That's my theory and I'm sticky to it, because every time we go north/ south we encounter sucky hills, and every time we go east/ west it is relatively flat.
I know what Jerry going to want for his birthday... new bike shoes!
ReplyDeleteme, Lynne... Gwen's sister