Day 54: To Sodus
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.