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Day 30

WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING?

Yesterday Tomorrow

ROUTE: Batavia to Liverpool NY

DISTANCE: 125 Miles

TOTAL CLIMBING: 4200 Feet

DAILY REPORT: Sunny, high mid 50s. Windy, quartering headwinds most of the day.

It was cool this morning (a mere 35 degrees), but the sunshine and fast warm up (but only to mid 50s) really lifted everyone's spirits as they pedaled their way across the New York countryside. 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 Karen 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.

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.

It was pretty much an uneventful day...most rode well within themselves to be prepared for Wednesday and Thursday. 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. 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.

YOU DON'T SAY:

"Are we there yet?"
"No, you are here."
"Well, how do you define 'here?'"
"It's anyplace not there."
"Well, what's there?"
"Dunno, haven't seen there yet."
"How do you get there?"
"I guess just go anyplace but here."
It's been a long ride and the discussions are now being lowered to the least common denominator.

"We've gone 3000 miles already."

ANOTHER DEEP DISCUSSION AT THE SAG:

"You know that everyday we ride half way to somewhere."
"I think we're always half way to somewhere."
"And I guess, we are always half way back too."

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
This bike riding is nothing, Mike decided to hike to Liverpool today.	At least Tom got his socks on the correct appendages today...but his hands were a bit cold.
Sometimes flats are expensive.	Or you could ride with us and get them for free!
Lighthouses protect everything along the shores of Erie...this lighthouse has protected this house for 30 years. Not one sea going vessel has rammed into this house...not one. The fact that it sits 20 miles inland and 600 feet above the water may also have something to do with it. A boat ramming into this house would require a slight miscalculation in navigation and a lot of speed! But the lighthouse helps.	Tom's riding mates kept hearing sloshing as Tom rode down the highway. At the SAG we took out his seatpost and drained about a cup of water out of his frame. Ron made the observation that now they knew why he never stopped to use the bathroom...hmmmmm...tricky.