Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Geneseo to Seneca Falls NY August 9, 2022





Geneseo to Seneca Falls NY

August 9, 2022

Last night we had two down pours, one about 10:00 Pm which lasted about 30 minutes and then one at about 3:30 which lasted about 5 minutes.  After the down pours the rain would taper off to a light rain.  I was kind of worried that would continue throughout the day as there is a lot of humidity in the system and the forecast was for rain throughout the day.   

The official route was for 95 miles with 5000 feet of climb.  However, there was a short cut which, we had done in 2018 that cut the distance down to 60 miles and 1500 feet of climb. So I quickly did a Garmin route.  It didn’t take long before there was quite a group who were looking to take the short cut. 

I had trouble finding the start point on the Garmin and I had to look on Google to get oriented and then when I looked down I see that my cycling computer had quit.  So therwere a few miles of riding along hoping that we were on the right track.  Just as we found the track Ken T had a flat so four of us stopped and four continued on.  It wasn’t but 5 miles further on that I had a flat.  As I put my spare tube in I realized that the valve stem was too short.  Fortunately, one of the other riders had a tube with a longer stem and he had shallow rims, so we traded tube.  Talk about lucky I have been riding around with this spare tube for at least three weeks.

Once we turned east on Hwy 20 which would take us all the way into Seneca Falls we had a fabulous tail wind.   You could drift along at between 15-18 mph soft pedaling the bike. 

At the 35-mile mark we stopped for coffee and there were the other four who had gone ahead.  One of them had talked to owner and she remembered us from 2014m and brought out a large bowl of fresh peaches for us.  They were so ripe and sweet. They were just perfect.

After coffee sailing along was so much fun. The day was heavily overcast but there wasn’t a drop of rain and the tail wind made the ride totally effortless.

We stopped and had lunch in Geneva, and I went into a bike shop and got a long-stemmed tube. Lunch was in this really quaint old-time diner, which was just 6 miles from the finish line.  On the way In Tom R found a little fellow and put him on my bike trunk.  I think he looks quite cute.

We rolled in first and were rewarded with the opportunity to help unload luggage.

What a great day!.  It was so relaxing. It was like a day off.

Terry 



 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a perfect day. You are getting very experienced at finding alternative routes. Cycle America should hire you.
I continue you be in awe of your daily feats!!!
Chris

Unknown said...

Dear Terry, I agree with Chris. You are quite experienced at finding alternative routes. Perhaps CA (or whoever takes over from Greg,if that, sadly, is to happen, should reach out to you for assistance. Clearly you’d rather ride than staff, however. As it is, you’re providing quite a service to other cyclists on the ride with your blog and your routing).
I have been following along on your high spirited blog as much as possible since having to depart the tour in Jackson Hole and have enjoyed hearing about the ride from your perspective. Having done the entire coast to coast in 2003 and not wanting the ride to end then, I can appreciate the highs and lows and the sincere friendship that grows among all of you. I miss all of you guys.
I will have to tell Greg Walsh and Vickie LaBelle today that I will not be returning and joining you for the last week as hoped. Instead, I’ll be joining family on the gulf coast for a reunion.
Godspeed to you and to all of you as you finish the 2022 tour. I will look forward to hearing all about it.
Thank you for your great spirit on the road, for taking all the pictures! (I saw the fun board you put together!), and for the blog.
Dianna Hand, dhand117@gmail.com, 206-953-6221 (friend of Lynne Hewitt, on the ride and doing great)

Anonymous said...

Great pictures and shortcut. Happy Birthday Agnes, from Colorado.
Jim and Sandra