Wayne Goes Cycling

Another day to catch up on things that need catching up on.  Gail has gone back home and there is only one more week to go.

To Lake Placid
(72 miles and __ feet of climbing)

I awoke to the alarm clock this morning.  We had slept in a guest cabin and there were not going to be any of the usual sounds to get us going in the morning so an alarm clock was needed.  I didn’t want to get up because I’ve been dreading the thought of getting into the mountains again.  I’ve gotten used to flat lands with only a few rolling hills to contend with.  Now it was climbing again.  The early reports were that there would be five climbs to get to the Town of Lake Placid.

John said that he had stayed at this same campus some years ago on a cross state ride.  He was delighted to hear loons calling off in the distance. 

After packing up the things we had brought into the cabin and consolidating them in our normal luggage it was time for breakfast.  Just like last night, there was a little window in the cafeteria where we could get our food served to us.  Our choices were oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, French toast and bacon plus juice and coffee.  Again we were a bit on the late side for breakfast and the early riders were already departing.

This morning was a little harder to get going because there was the added checking out the new wheel parts that John had brought with him.   He seemed satisfied that the rear hub he brought (135 mm) would fit without any need to spread the rear fork (the difference between a typical road bike’s 130 mm hub and a mountain bike135 mm hub is just over 3/16th of an inch).  We will see what happens when it is all put back together again.
 
The road went out to Route 3 and we turned right to head in the direction of the Adirondacks.  The trip went along pretty smoothly and there were some up-hills as well as some downhills to enjoy.  Some of these were true rollers and with some effort on the downhill, and some effort on the uphill, you could crest the next hill without too much of a struggle.  The shoulder was pretty wide and there were mostly only cars on the road.  Occasionally there would be an RV, but not too often. 

After a while, we had gone 20 miles and there was a CycleAmerica water stop.  While we were there, a family with two kids that were under 6 (I guess) were asking what we were doing, so I stopped over to talk with them.  They said that they saw lots of bike rides and that this spot seemed to be a favorite for water stops. They were impressed with our group for having cycled from Seattle in eight weeks.   The kids waved bye-bye as we started to ride again.  I was hoping that we had done at least one of the five climbs that we were told about.  I wasn’t sure whether I had already done two of them … or … none of them yet.

The route continued to go up and down.  Some of the downhills were really steep and fast.  That was the good news … the bad news was that the uphills were also long and pretty steep.  When I get back into the training mode this winter, I will think about using a “stair stepper” exercise machine to increase my stamina on the climbs since the mechanics and muscles used are pretty similar.  I typically rode ahead of both John and Gail as he was working on offering suggestions on improved techniques for her biking.  He had worked with both of us on technique and theory of serious pedaling and I had absorbed as much as I could (or as much as I would until experience showed my, once again, that he was right).  Gail was still open to his positive criticism and comments. 

Picnic was at a park in the town of Tupper Lake.  As we had come into town I kept looking for the picnic stop.  Because I was still on a loaner bike, I did not have an odometer and didn’t know how much further it was.  By this time the traffic had picked up considerably and it was not too much fun to ride through the town’s main street because of the parked cars at the curb that could open their driver-side doors to our right and the constant traffic that moved quickly from behind on our left. 

The picnic stop was at a lovely spot on the lake.  It was cool and the wind and was pretty much a tail wind. There was a lot of watermelon and they had run out of regular bread so I had a ham a cheese sandwich on a tortilla and later I had a peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla.  I don’t think I ever had a PB&J burrito before.   In the field next to the road were a bunch of young men (and women?) doing some training exercises.  John listened and determined that they were Marines-to-be and that they were getting ready for basic training … something like remedial coursework for Marines in school as far as I could see.

After picnic, it was back onto the road and out of town.  And more traffic.  Because it was early afternoon, there was more traffic, but the roads were still good to ride on.  The forest was now all coniferous with some pine plantations and evergreens growing everywhere.  I especially liked going by the lakes and rivers because it was so picturesque. 

At Saranac Lake, we turned onto Route 86 and stopped at an ice cream stand for extra fuel. We weren’t the only CycleAmerica folks there and Peter from the UK was just finishing up.  We sat in the back and the ducks were not only in the pond, they were walking up to us looking for handouts.  Once we got going again, I got a rude surprise.  As I was pedaling along, I heard some funny sounds and then I checked and I had a flat on the rear tire.  I stopped and  began to fix it.  John and I found the two ’snakebite’ holes indicating that I hit a stone or pothole when I had low tire pressure.  ‘Snakebites’ are usually a sign of another puncture, somewhere, that made the tire soft in the first place.  We found the tine piece of glass and patched the associated hole.  Then we were on the road again.  

Route 86 was a pain to ride on.  It had a narrow shoulder and lots of traffic.  There were some uphills the cars were too close for my comfort level.  I was relieved when I saw the arrows to turn off this road. 

I was relieved even though the next thing I saw on the road was a steep uphill with a turn so it was not possible to see where the crest of the hill was.  Fortunately, it wasn’t too big a hill and then it was quite level.  The road continued for a while as we approached the town of Lake Placid.  I saw a sign for a tourist Rail Road and took a detour to see what the train was all about (http://adirondackrr.com/ ).  After arriving at the North Elba campground, I set up the tent and changed as we began to figure out a plan for the evening.  There was a lot of activity at the fairgrounds as there was a lacrosse tournament this weekend. 

We took one of the free shuttles into town and ate at a tiny Italian restaurant with a balcony that allowed us to look out over the lake.  Pasta is still good … even on a Saturday night.  We wandered around the downtown area doing some window shopping and then caught the trolley for the return trip.  However, we picked it up in the same direction as we had gotten off of it and the circuitous route back to the fairgrounds took a long time.  In the meantime, we accumulated another half dozen CycleAmerica riders. 

Before heading to bed for the night we went away from the lights and saw the stars.  There was still quite a bit of light pollution and it was hard to see stars along the horizon.  We were pleasantly surprised to see a number of shooting stars due to the Perseid meteor shower.  I saw a spectacular one that lasted across a quarter of the sky.  Sunday night / Monday morning is supposed to be the best. 

To

(  miles and __ feet of climbing)

Lots of Optional Routes
(x miles and __ feet of climbing)

Another Broken Wheel
(77 miles and __ feet of climbing)

To be completed later 

This was going to be a great day.  The weather was for it to be cool and there was a tail wind. 

To Sodus
(x miles and __ feet of climbing)

The alarm had gone off at 5:30 and I had turned it off and we finally got up at 6:25 as the sounds of other nearby tents being packed up and other talking became too loud to ignore.  The lower sides of the tent were wet because of a heavy dew.  Additionally, it was pretty foggy and it was time to break out the flashing rear lights.

Breakfast was at the school cafeteria and was again put on by the drama and choral clubs in the school.  The egg dish was something like a sheet-cake like quiche (that was pretty dry).  There was fruit, potatoes and oatmeal.  I’m beginning to like oatmeal in the morning these days.  But … I was glad that there was something left since we got there really late this morning. 

Once everything was packed and loaded on the truck it was time to hit the road.  The fog had substantially lifted and visibility was good.  We headed northward out of town toward Lake Ontario.   It was a pleasant trip through a rural suburban area.  There were lots of little fruit stands that were unattended and empty at 7:30 in the morning.

As we approached the lake, we were routed onto the Lakeshore Parkway.  This was a limited access highway that did not allow commercial vehicles and had a lane for bicycles.  The bike lane was in fact a wide shoulder.  Gail and I enjoyed the ride.  There were virtually no cars on the road for the first hours or so.  We were to take this about 30 miles into Rochester.  From time to time you could see Lake Ontario to the north and sometimes it was hard to tell if it was the lake that you were seeing or a fog bank.    It was only if there was a clear horizon line dividing the water from the sky could we be sure.

To the south, it was trees, forest, a few agricultural fields and occasional ponds.  Before reaching Rochester, the parkway had cross roads and not entrance ramps.  One of them was to Lighthouse Road and we took it to see what was there.  There was no lighthouse visible at the end of the road, but a neighbor told us to go down the side road.  We did and saw the old lighthouse.  We also noted that the area was called Bogus Park and there was a carved wooded statue of Commodore Bogus.  I wonder if this has anything to do with our word ‘bogus’ and the war of 1812 that seems so prominently remembered in this area.

Continuing into town, I passed a road sign with a hawk perched on it surveying ‘his’ road.  I stopped to take a picture, but this disturbed him and he flew off.  Drat!

Once we were in Rochester, a coffee shop beckoned to us and we stopped.  As we arrived, two other comrades from our group were leaving.  It was a real nice shop and we stayed longer than we should have.  The picnic stop was only about 15 minutes from here (but they don’t have coffee beverages at picnic).  Once we found picnic, I made the mistake of riding my bike across the field and barely avoided catastrophe as I just missed a grass-hidden pit in the mowed lawn area.  The picnic specialty was shrimp gumbo and it was so good I had three bowls.   Michelle had made a lot and there was enough for the last of us to feast on. 

After picnic, the route took us though parts of Rochester on the way back to the shore of Lake Ontario on the east side of the inlet.  As we were riding a local bike commuter was curious about our ride and we chatted as we rode through the streets.  He apparently does triathlon events and commutes year round on his bike.  His commute is ten miles and he has a place to wash salt off the bike in the winter he said.  He told me about the New York “Quadzilla” ride (four hundred miles with time limits) and suggested I should look into it.

After traveling through the streets there was a long fast drop as we headed back to lake levels.  Soon after, we took the longer route option that would first go to Point Sodus before going to the school in Sodus.  This was a pleasant option and there were some rolling hills that were not very difficult.  They were neither steep nor very long so I could power my way up them all.  It was nice with fruit stands and orchards everywhere.  At one point I was surprised to see state police cars traveling and then parked.  They were not looking for speeders.  Then I saw a large industrial building and thought that it might be the Ginna nuclear power plant.  It was and there were a couple of signs that confirmed this. 

Looking in my rear view mirror, the sky was getting pretty dark behind us.  We had been warned about thunder storms or possible “downpours.”  I had been keeping track of houses with large porches or other shelters.  Then it happened.  We had just passed a fresh fruit stand when the winds became violent and then there were rain drops.  By the time we turned around and tried to ride into the wind to the fruit stand it became a downpour.  We were inside about a half hour visiting with the woman who was managing the stand.  She talked about how difficult it was to make a living growing fruit.  Prices are about 1970 levels and costs are much, much higher.  Competition from global markets including China are keeping prices down.  She said that many of the neighboring farms are selling to developers because the land is more valuable than the crops.  She lamented the probable disbanding of her family’s century farm when her father and uncle are no longer willing or able to farm it. All her siblings have chosen careers off the farm. She is a special-ed teacher with one more semester for her master’s degree. 

Once the downpour ended, we began to head to the school.  It was too late to continue to Point Sodus.  Then we ran into one of the CycleAmerica vans who had been looking for us.  We were told that dinner was at Pappa Joe’s in Port Sodus and than we changed our plans again so that we would join them at dinner without getting cleaned up first.

It was about another six miles to dinner and there were some nice rolling hills.  It started raining again and by the time we got to dinner, we had decided to take the van back to the school instead of riding our bikes.  This was the first time my bike was on the roof of the van.  The day’s ride was supposed to be 77 miles, but this longer optional route had already given me 92 miles so I felt like it was OK to SAG back. 

Dinner was pasta, scalloped potatoes, barbecued beef and baked chicken plus a salad at the table.  A couple of beers from the bar made it a perfect meal. 

Once at the school, I saw all of the tents out in the rain and decided to sleep in the gym.  Which we did and we were glad.

Goodbye Niagara Falls and Hello New York
 (x miles and __ feet of climbing)

[This posting will be finished someday]

Getting up and packing at Princess Margaret School.

Breakfast at the Minolta Towers

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge into the USA.
Goat Island and the other three little islands  on the American side

The whirlpool

The Robert Moses plant

The terrible parkway trip

Gail’s first flat and help offers.  PTSD  “Laura Ingrams”

Lake Ontario and the state park.

Gail’s Second Flat

Picnic Stop on the lake (getting there late)

Continuing on.  More road and lots of private roads with cottages along the shore. 

The new york barge canal (erie canal) and the school in Albion

Dinner was roast beef sandwiches, potatoes and corn on the cob.  This time dinner was hosted by the Drama and Choral Clubs and as a treat, we were treated to live piano jazz music.

Another rest day trying to catch up on things that need catching up on.

To Niagara Falls
( miles and  feet of climbing)

It was another day to roll out of the sleeping bag and roll up the tent.  It was another day where we were among the last to get off to breakfast.  When we got to the Grace United Church hall, almost everyone was still there.  However, the crowd began dispersing quickly.  Breakfast was two kinds of oatmeal, the regular kind and another kind that was made with other grains and had a red tint to it.  I stuck with the classic oatmeal plus several helpings of cereal and fruit.

Once we were on the road again, there was an optional route that would take us along the shore of Lake Erie and we decided to take this more scenic route.  It was truly delightful.  We went along a tiny rocky river to the lake and then started riding along it.  There were stretches where there were only a few trees between us and a view of the lake and other times there were lots of cottages and even trailer parks.  Because this was the start of a three day weekend for Canadians, the campgrounds were packed and most of the cottages had activity around them.

After about 20 miles, we were getting ready for a break and we found a little general store / restaurant that looked inviting.  As we approached the store, there was a sign inviting folks to say “Happy Birthday Janie!” to the co-owner.  We got coffee and a lemon pound cake.  I had asked for a muffin, but she said that nobody had asked for a muffin before, but that they had pound cake.  Before we left, we both wished Janie a happy birthday.  She wanted to know why everyone was wishing her a happy birthday and asked if there was a sign.  Mum was the word.

The roads wandered around the coast and there were many times the view of the shoreline was great.  Sometimes the beaches were sandy and sometimes they were rocky.  Sometimes there were lots of birds and most times there were none.   The route along the shore ended and we were on the main route again.

We followed the road along and eventually we came to the picnic stop.  We were among the last to arrive and that was OK.  A woman who was doing a solo cross country had been invited to join us  at a few of our stops and it was interesting to hear her talk about her trip.  She said the thing she hated the most was being asked … in front of a group of others … if she was traveling alone.  She hated this because it was broadcasting that “single woman fleeing town on bicycle … can only ravel at 9 MPH … easy target!” So far there were no problems with this mode of travel for her.  The Picnic Stop was next to the town library and a number of people went in to check personal e-mail.  While Gail was in the library, I added about six extra miles. 

As we approached the outskirts of Niagara Falls, ther was river (or canal) that we needed to cross.  There was a tiny ferry there for pedestrians and cyclists and it was FREE.  This ferry was no more than a pontoon boat with a big engine and a captain.  Gail and I crossed with our bikes and on the other side were two cyclists from Scandinavia waiting for a trip to the side we had just come from.
Once we were on the roads again, it was very rural for quite a while and then we began to approach the commercial area around Niagara Falls.  .  We turned on Lundy’s Lane and were immediately thrust into heavy city traffic (two lanes of traffic in each direction … bumper to bumper between frequent red lights … relatively slow speeds so it was not unreasonable for us to “grab a lane” while riding).  We went like this for a mile or so and then turned on quiet side streets until we came to the Princess Margaret elementary school. 

Once there it was time to set up the tent.  Because I had wanted to get some more miles in (to make it another 100 mile day) Gail and I decided to try to travel out to the bike path along the Niagara River gorge.  After some unproductive time walking around some building complexes near downtown, we figured out how to get down to the road along the gorge.  Then we had to deal with traffic and we couldn’t find the bike path.  When I was getting discouraged, I saw a bike rental shop.  I got some maps and directions to the bike path.  It was a good path that provided some good views and little traffic.  There were a number of annoying times when we had to cross and re-cross the main road so our speed wasn’t very fast.  We saw the whirlpool and the Sir Adam Beck power plant (and the Robert Moses power plant on the other side).  We went until the Niagara Escarpment ended and instead of going down and having to climb back up again, we turned around. 

The return trip to the school was interesting and included traveling up Victoria Avenue and then through the heart of the tourist district and then up Lundy’s Lane from the other direction.  City riding is a different type of riding than country road riding.  All in all I did over 100 miles today.

Once we were back at the school, it was time to take a shower and change clothes. Drats cold showers again!  The next school problem was that due to renovations, the only electricity in the building was the overhead lights in the Gym, hallways and bathrooms plus two large fans in the gym.  No outlets to charge phones, cameras or computers

For dinner we walked down Lundy’s Lane (no more biking it today) and found an Italian restaurant.  Then it was time to waddle home after eating too much again and go to sleep.

To Port Dover
( miles and  feet of climbing)

After crashing so soundly the previous evening, it was easy to get up and to try to get going.  However, the best laid plans are always on the lookout for Murphy’s Law and it seems to take forever to get going.  Breakfast was in the cafeteria and today there was a bacon, egg and tomato McMuffin type sandwich for breakfast.  Oatmeal was my friend this morning.  Gail had misplaced her glasses and they had ended up on the neighboring table on their way to the lost and found bin. 

There school had a number of murals on the wall.  They ranges from scenes from Lord of the Rings … to Shrek in a Canadian school … images with achievement messages to memorials for students that have died.  When asked about the murals, we were told that they were painted over every five or so years (when the students don’t know the previous artist) and a new one was painted over it.  The only exceptions to this are the memorial murals.

Once we got going, it was miles and miles of mostly flat roads going through fields.  Along the way we saw a wind farm that kept going on and on.  There was windmill after windmill and … these were large ones. Most of them were gracefully spinning even though the wind was not that strong.  The wind may have just been strong enough to get the windmills turning, but not for generating much electricity. 

It was a nice ride but it was getting hot.  I made a joke about it being cool enough except when we stopped.  While we were riding, we kept the windows on the bike rolled down and that kept us cool.

The Picnic Stop was on the shores of Lake Erie at a public beach.  After eating, Gail and I joined others who had gone into the lake.  It was cool not cold and the water was difficult to get in over the knees.  It was this shallow at the beach.  I sat down and made sure I got nice and cool before getting going again.  The worst part was getting the sand off my feet before the socks went on.  The soles of my feet were sore enough without the extra irritation of sand in my socks … to boot!

We continued to ride and eventually it was time to make an emergency ice cream stop.  The route sheet said that ice cream was available in the town and we eventually found out where it was.  The ice cream place was air conditioned and when I signed the guest book, I saw that we were only the tail end of a long of CycleAmerica rider that had stopped in on this hot day. 

Then it was time to get back on the road again.  The route took us through more far land and wooded areas where the roads began to curve instead of being straight east / west or north / south.  There were hills too!

There were some pretty steep hills that we needed to get up.  I completely misjudged the steepness of one of the hills and I couldn’t make it up standing on the pedals in the gear I had selected.  About the time I realized that I was in trouble, it hit a steep section and I needed to quickly step onto the ground to recover.  Whew!   We hadn’t seen many hills like this in the recent past.  The hills out west were rarely this steep and I was better at anticipating them then.  These took me by surprise.

After arriving in Port Dover at just past 5:00, we passed a few folks who were walking to dinner at the Grace United Church.  It took us a while to get our tent set up and ourselves ready for a trip to dinner. 

Dinner was really pretty good and consisted of meat or vegetarian lasagna with salad and bread.  For desert there was home made vanilla ice cream with either chocolate of caramel sauce.  On the way back to school, we tried to size up the town for an evening out.  We were not at the hospitality side of the town, however. 

Back at the school was the weekly awards night event.  The rider of the week went to Craig from Ontario.  There were other recountings of trip events over the last week and real and imagined prizes and thanks were offered.   After the review of the next day’s ride, it was time to head out for a bar with others in the group.  A group of six of us landed at the Norfolk Tavern.  It appears that the other half of the group ended up at a place closer to the beach.

Then it was time to head back to the school and go to bed.