Calm Compared to Yesterday

Things were much quieter today, and makes the ride leader much happer. I believe there were a couple of mishaps, but nothing that required more than a bandage and a little mechanical work.

The word today was HOT, HOT, HOT. My bike computer said 103 degrees coming into Little Falls, today's overnight. Of course, that is a little skewed but is relevant on the bike since the heat from the pavement is a factor when riding. My feet really tend to get hot during the day, especially at the cleat of the shoe; and eventually the legs begin to feel it too.

I was in by 1:00 this afternoon, which helped avoid some of the heat. This morning's newscast officially declared a heat wave, defining it as two consecutive days of 90 degree weather! We've also picked up a fair share of humidity. Tomorrow's forecast is similar with 60% chance of rain.

The route today was 79 miles, with the first 10 navigating the streets of Syracuse. The route also went through Utica, Canastota, Whitesboro and Herkimer.

I pretty much rode alone today, moving forward and back through the group as we rode. I ate lunch after checking in, so walked down the street to Subway. There's a laundromat across the street from the motel, so I also walked over to do some laundry. I didn't want to pass up a perfect opportunity to have unlimited access to washers and dryers.

We're seeing more and more produce farms, as opposed to grain. Blueberries are ripe, so you see many U-Pick type operations. Local farmer's markets don't seem to be prevalent here, as many producers appear to have their own buildings right on the farm to offer fresh produce for sale on-site.

There was more climbing today in most recent days. It sounds like we'll see more tomorrow, even with being back on the bike path. Tomorrow's route will have its fair share of path riding into Troy, New York -- our last night in New York.

We continue to see towns and villages that remind me of something from the movies, typically very quaint and well maintained. It's interesting, though, that the overnight towns have appeared to be economically depressed.

We're told the population of Little Falls has declined from 20,000 to 6,000 residents. The downtown area has some life, but also has many boarded storefronts. This scenario has been prevelant in most of the towns we've stayed in this trip.

We continue to see the Erie Canal from time to time, although we are not consistently riding next to it like yesterday. We also hear or see the periodic train, mostly freight. Although, I did see a short Amtrak train yesterday while on the bike path.

We are in a Best Western this evening. The hotel staff has really but in the effort to make sure we have everything we need, including a wine and cheese reception before dinner tonight, which everyone really seemed to enjoy and appreciate.

They need to do a little infrastructure work on their WiFi connectivity, though, as we're only able to get connected from the lobby. So, I sit in the lobby with four other people who are also blogging and checking e-mail, some of the normal post-ride chores everyone takes care of.

The most intersting feature of the hotel, is the two screen cinema on the property. Pretty cool! Show times are 7 and 9. I'm not sure many of the bike group will be able to take advantage, given everyone in the group is usually in bed fairly early.

Tomorrow's ride will also be 80 miles. Breakfast will be at 6:00 with load at 6:29. Mike said we've had breakfast at 6 and load at 6:45 for the past two days and have had accidents the last two days, so he changed the schedule for tomorrow. We'll see.

~ Lisa