Hello everyone,

Sorry about cramming 4 days of rides into  post but the internet and my Garmin have not been cooperating. Even though the rides every day are beautiful and I have had no problems, it is sometimes hard to come up with things to write about. I’m having a good time and enjoying the other riders and staff.

Hamburg NY 79 miles

After the state line, I pretty much put the hammer down and rode hard to the hotel. There was a lot of scenes of lake Erie and vineyards along the route. We have been riding a lot on 5E and 20E. The shoulders in NY have been iffy with some being really good, but the Hamburg day was bouncy as they have deteriorated from my last ride. I remember seeing Jan from the staff in the SAG and she looked really pale and said she wasn’t riding anymore that day. At that time it was pretty cool.

Since we passed another state line, there was the ritual sand tossing as well .  Two years ago some of us hammered to the hotel so that we could go to Niagara Falls which was memorable. I don’t think anyone wanted o go there this year though.

Canandaigua NY 94 miles

Another beautiful day of riding and we got our first glimpses of the Finger Lakes. Since it was a long day of riding, we had 2 SAGS. There was also 4600 feet of climbing with some quite challenging. Early on, I feel behind the fast group of riders and nice the shoulder was bumpy and rough, I didn’t press. I rode a spell with a local rider who was about a third my age and could ride fast. He was from Houston but moved to the little town because of a job offer post grad school. Late on before the first SAG, I caught u with Jan who seemed much better than the day before and rode with her to the SAG.

After SAG 1, I caught up with Barb and Mary Clare and rode with them the rest of the way. They are very fast riders when they want to hammer and have a great sense of humor so I enjoyed their company. The second SAG was at a fire station in Avon NY and it was starting to get pretty hot by then. They had some excellent sandwiches and other food. We met an alumni rider who came down to ride with us and mingle. Some of the locals also came over to talk wth us give encouragement.

The final 28 miles were hilly but fun. I was somewhat tucked out and slept through Route Rap and dinner. I must have needed the rest though.

Syracuse NY 68 miles

I started out riding with group in the morning and we had a tough climb (for me) right off the bat. I feel behind but quickly caught up and started t feel my legs come back. It was a large group of maybe 8 riders or so. I think they stopped to take photos but I kept going and put the hammer down as I was starting to feel pretty good.I was out in the country with some good climbs and pretty scenery and started to catch the riders who left earlier in the day.

The SAG was in a little park and the weather was starting to get really hot so I didn’t linger too long. I Guess that I am used to conditions that get hot and humid later in the day as it seemed to catch a few of the riders unaware.  Many complained the hard day later on. I pedaled hard to get in ahead of the heat and set my goal as 12:30 and I think I missed it by a little bit. We also started an hour later.

Once in Syracuse, I met up with Rick the mechanic and rode to the hotel with him. We beat the truck to the hotel so the luggage wasn’t there and the rooms were not ready. I didn’t care as I just sat in the shade with some cranberry juice and water and cooled own. When my room was ready, the staff invited e to lunch with them. It was Rick, Tom and Mac and it was a nice treat. Tracy actually volunteered to take my cloths out of the washer and put them in the dryer so I could go with the group.

Dinner was at A Sport’s Bar and the food was good, Howard gave me a jersey commemorating fallen English soldiers. I have not worn it yet but was certainly moved by the kind gesture. I told him that I would give him a clean “Honor the Fallen” jersey that I get quite a few compliments on.

Herkimer NY 70 miles

We had to take a detour today and it added about 3 miles to the route. Again, we left an hour later because of the shorter distance but it was getting hot and humid when we left. Leaving Syracuse was kind of hectic with traffic, but once we got into the country, the ride was nice and there were areas we could really hammer. I should note that  three of Jim’s friends met him in Syracuse with 2 of them riding and 1 driving. I think they will be with us until at least Brattleboro. Both of the riders are strong from initial impressions.

At mile 23.3, I stopped to sprinkle sanding take a few photos of the site where John F crashed in 2012. Some of the readers may recall that John spent a month in the hospital and many more e recuperating. He came back in 2013 and did ride that portion again. I was riding with 6 other riders and they all rode back to me when I stopped. I was very appreciative of that gesture and their questions about the crash in 2012.

Most of the riders were at the SAG at mile 33 and we probably lingered a little long for the temperature. We did have a little cloud cover so that cooled it down a tad. After that the ride sped up quite a bit and it was hard to hang on. Some of the faster riders formed a pace line and since I don’t do pace lines (or draft) I had work really hard to stay in contact. I managed to get close as we pulled into town but missed were they went fro lunch so I would up going and getting a double root beer float and something to eat at a NY chain that I think is called Stewart’s.

Dinner was at our last Applebee’s which is not this groups favorite place since the service was slow at most. Today the service was faster but the food not as good. I walked over with Mary Clare and Barb instead of taking the van and it was good to get atet extra bit of non-cycling exercise.

Tonight at Route Rap, Tracy face us the talk about how riders deal with the time after the ride. I can attest that it is a let down when it is over and you immediately miss all your new friends and the camaraderie of the group. Also we tend to keep eating at the same pace and volume. I think my weight is getting closer to where I want it so I have been trying to cut back on the food early.

Only 3 more days of full riding and this adventure will be over except for a final day ride of 17 miles. It is funny in that I am both a rider and part of the group but also an observer since I know how things go. It is fun to see how the people react and deal with this bitter sweet time.

Thanks for reading!

~Chuck