Today’s ride was routed for 95 miles and 5000 feet of
climb. The route took the riders around
the Finger Lakes. However I did not ride this route. I took a short cut up hwy 39 to hwy 20 and
followed hwy 20 straight in to Seneca Falls.
Along with myself as route cutters were Auzzie Bob, Graeme, Ron and the
token America Ken. The British brother
and sister also took the short cut, although they didn’t ride with us. They generally come in dead last but rumour
is they are just a couple miles out which will put them in well in the top
quartile of riders.
The forecast for the day sounded ominous with 80% chance of
rain with hail and heavy wind warnings out for most of the area. As we left our
camp this morning it was looking pretty black and rain was threatening but it held
off. There were a couple of kind of
steep climbs but nothing terrible and they were all pretty short. The further we got north the lower and less
steep the hills. It looked like we were headed
in the right direction as the sky was much lighter to the north. We could see nothing but black to the south which
is where the route went.
At about mile 10 I got a flat which is only my second flat
this trip. The first flat being at mile 14 of day one. Of course the Continental tire was a beast to
get on but my new tire tool Ray sent me worked like a charm. Three clicks and the tire was mounted. I went to pump my tire and to my horror the
retaining ferrule on the head of the connector where it hooks to the valve stem
was gone. Somewhere in the last 3000
miles of rough roads it had fallen off. Luckily Ken was there with his pump and we got
the tire pumped. Great! No pump and so
close to the end of the ride.
At mile 12 we turned east on highway 20. Huge 15 foot wide shoulder with not a bump in
it anywhere. Wow! This is deluxe. At mile 17 we stopped for coffee and the
waitress told us about her home made chocolate cake the place served. It was absolutely heavenly. What a great
treat to get a huge chunk of chocolate cake.
After coffee the sky has lightened considerably and the
hills are easy long rollers. There is
hardly any traffic and what there is way over.
The shoulder continues to be spectacular and there is just a hint of a
tail wind. Just a beautiful ride.
It doesn’t take long and we are in Geneva which is only 10
miles from Seneca Falls and where we intersect the scheduled route. We roll in
to a local diner. Burgers and root beer
for lunch. As we are having lunch the
much forecast rain opens up. We finish
and head to the bike shop which is right next door. Geneva Bike Works. Ron finds a great rain jacket on the sale
rack for $20. The owner digs though her
parts bins and comes up with a new ferrule to fit my pump. No charge it was in the junk bin. Unbelievable luck as I now don’t have to buy
a new pump.
It is still dripping and the road is nothing but puddles so
into the local bar where we enjoy a local wheat beer.
We get out on the road and within a mile Ken gets a
flat. I get to work and again use the tire
mounting tool. This time I have
experience with the tire mounting tool and one click the tire is mounted.
I had originally called the day at 63 miles and 1725 feet of
climb based on the Google route. My
odometer made it 63.05 miles and 1760 feet of climb. Probably more luck than anything.
Missed the rain had a nice easy day down a very nice road
and had fun with some good friends. It just doesn’t get any better.
Terry hot biker
Sounds like you made a good route call Terry - great day for the team!
ReplyDeleteWow, you're almost there! (Again!) Hey since you're camping how do you charge your devices? Befriend the bartender at the local bar? Bribe somebody? Enquiring minds want to know. :)
ReplyDeleteAs Earnie always says; sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart!! I have a section of old inner tube over my pump head to keep it clean, but also no parts will fall off.
ReplyDeleteSecond flat of the trip is impressive. Superior tire management!!
Keep up the good work.
Canada Ken C.
Well done Terry!
ReplyDeleteHow could I know yesterday how today will be for you? Must be intuition...
Enjoy the remaining days. The end is coming soon.
2 flats in 4299 miles! Question: how many flats will you have in a 1250 mile tour???
Surprise, I cycled today 63.1 miles !!! with 2700 feet of climb and just made it into a coffee shop at half time when it started pooring with rain. After 1 hrs it was over. Looks like quite a similar day as you had!
Jürg
Great job. Where do you plan to be on Fri and Sun? Sandy
ReplyDeletesounds like you are getting very good at changing flat tires. Career change?
ReplyDelete