It was mild this morning (65 degrees) as we loaded after breakfast.  A storm went through last night and seemed to clear out the skies, but it left a pretty brisk wind from our right all day.  I can take these forecasts that call for thunder showers but only rain after we get through with the day.  It was nice all day until the very end when Karen and I were finishing our day around 4:30.  We got a couple of sprinkles, but that’s about it.

It was a day to take it easy but the pesky winds made everyone work a little harder than we'd hoped.  It's also a time to savor the finish of the adventure.  I told the riders that the last two days would be a real test...long distances and lots of climbing would await them before they got to the beach.  Today was supposed to be a 125 mile rest day...when did you ever think you'd hear that.  These riders look at a hundred miles much differently than they did a couple weeks ago.  Now they see they can ride monumental distances even in unfavorable wind and still feel good while doing it.  The terrain today was not flat even with the most loose definition but it would be nothing they would see before ride's end.

I spent the day in the van working the ride in the morning and then swapping with Jim in the afternoon.  This late in the ride I start to drag myself...I'm not used to riding everyday and when I ride I usually ride much harder than I should.  Tonight my legs feel pretty toasted...the wind made it pretty hard for me today...I'm so impressed with the riders as they seem to be oblivious to the tough conditions.

New York is beautiful especially around the finger lakes region where we rode today.   I think it surprises most people to see how much of NY is farm land.  Not the kind of farm land we saw in Illinois which was flat and platted out in perfect squares surrounded by quiet country roads.  But much more intimate...not at all what I thought the first time I came through here.  When I think of New York I see NY City with all the concrete and people.  But when you get away from the city, large rolling hills dominate the landscape and the pungent odor of corn silage in the fall and manure being spread on the fields in the spring will fill your nostrils as you pass by the small dairy farms that dot the landscape...the only skyscrapers you see out here are silos behind big red barns.  And I think there is more corn in New York than in the corn belt.

We also passed through several small and very old towns today to include:  Leroy, Caledonia, Avon, Lima, Bloomfield, and Geneva all before lunch.  Many of these towns have been around since the mid to late 1700s and everywhere you look you'll see plaques that tell of colonial times and the stories of the famous people who made history developing this country into what it is today.  People like Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton all were from this area and all were instrumental in the ground work for the freedom we share today.  Other places of note include Seneca Falls, the birthplace of women's rights and Waterloo which is the birthplace of Memorial Day.  The final treat today was riding along the Erie Canal just outside of town.  It's neat to ride along places you've read about as a kid in history class.  Much of the canal is still as it was years ago and you can almost see the mule teams pulling the boats along the canal.

Well, so much for the good things about the day.  We had an unfortunate incident about 10 miles short of our first SAG today.   A lady pulled out of a side road and struck one of our riders...Chris Cullum.  I took the title photo of him above about 2 miles before the accident.  He took quite a jolt and his bike was pretty much destroyed.  He spent the day at the Strong Memorial Center in Rochester getting checked out.  Everything seemed to be fine but in order to get a release for him to ride tomorrow, it required an MRI.  It showed a cracked C5 so his ride will stop here.  We are so glad he will be OK in time, but we are sorry to see his trip come to an end.  Our thoughts will be with him as he spends time with family in the area.  The ride goes on, we will miss him at the beach.

As we close another day in our our journal, we have only 3 more days until we dip our wheels in the Atlantic and while I think several riders will welcome the finish, I think most of them will hate to see it end.  They've endured a lot on this ride, but they just keep turning those pedals and inching their way toward Amesbury, but the events of the day will remind them to reamain vigilant in their focus to get there safely.  They are definitely a family now...they have their goal in sight, but they still have more journey to experience.  That's the important part of this ride...the journey, not the destination.  Tune in again tomorrow as we try to navigate our way out of Syracuse...it ought to be worth the price of admission.