Day 32...paydirt! Today was hardly about the ride or the bike...it was about friends and the beach and in that order. But before we got there, there were a few tough climbs that seemed entirely gratuitous...I mean really, couldn't we just finish this thing without another one? hahaha. We were met out on 2A by Eric Cohen, Dave Schatz, and our injured companion, John Whisnant. John's first day on the bike and he's out seeing the group on it's final ride. I'm sure it was a bittersweet moment, given that he is one of the strongest riders you'll ever find, has a lot of new found friends on the trip, and only a freak accident kept him from being there with us. Eric and Dave were great...looking very fresh and eager to hear the riding stories. Thanks for the advance motorcade. And the group of strangers, now friends...or more like family it seemed...cruising into Boston after so many days. And finally...what a beautiful feeling to see that ocean, get off the bike, and find a wonderful welcoming committee. It honestly felt like a hero's welcome, with the obvious contradiction that presents, but great fun to see Julie, Ginny (from CT!), Mary, Tommy, and a great group of HMC'ers. Now, naturally, I'm suspicious of the HMC'ers motives...probably need the weekend to clean-up the office after a month long p.a.r.t.y...you know? "What ever you do, keep him busy and make sure he's not in on Friday."..hahahaha. And I don't know who to thank for the balloons on the driveway...so thank you too. Seriously, what a wonderful adventure and so thoroughly supported by friends and family...thank you all. So, here are some final photos. (I don't have a photo of Ray at the beach, but will try to get on up soon) And, no, I'm not going to write a work blog with photos of letters and me falling asleep after a heavy lunch and all.




- posted by Tom @ 5:54 PM

 
Day 31 Amsterdam to Greenfield, MA in 115 miles. This ride had a little bit of everything. First, it's very beautiful...the Berkshire mountains are gorgeous; very lush, the streams clear and full, nice roads. We went through Williamstown, too, where Tommy goes to school...so it's familiar territory which adds to the feeling of being close to home. In addition, there is a lot of climbing and the climbs are pretty aggressive. The climb out of North Adams, for example is about 6 miles, gains about 1700 feet and hits a 10% grade...so it's a bonafide climb. And today, as a special treat, it was very cold and expecially at the top of the climb (about 40 degrees) where we were in the clouds, meaning it was misty/drizzly. Adding to the weather was a nice and stiff head wind...stiff enough that *pedaling* down the backside of the North Adams climb, we'd hit 17 mph. And the mist/fog made it hard to see very well so there was some excitement of sorts. Finally, we're in Massachusetts...so it feels like we're very close to the goal of dipping our front wheels into the Atlantic Ocean.

It seemed like everyone was fired up today to give the climbs (4 in all) their best shot. When you've been on the road as long as we have, somehow the climbs were anticipated rather than worried about. It wasn't an easy ride, but with the end in sight, it was pretty easy to just go. Ray did great. His best quote of today...after climb #3 and before the North Adams big climb..."I know I won't die of a heart attack on this climb since it would have already happened on the last one." What a guy. I had a pretty good go of all the climbs and found the legs willing and able today. I can smell the barn, I'm thinking.

Our final Road Rap was tonight. Hard to believe that after tomorrow, we can sleep in and decide if we want to ride or not. That will be different for sure.





- posted by Tom @ 7:37 PM

 
Day 30 Syracuse to Amsterdam NY in 127 miles. These last few days are longer mileage days so we'll all remember the challenge part of the ride, no doubt. It was another wet start...very cold (mid 50's) and drizzling...so we were again assured of more than the usual number of flats and another chance to wash our bikes at the end of the day. And to think that we didn't see a cloud for the first week of this trip. Anyway, this part of NY was kind of lacklustre to me. I guess that's because there are so many places that seem shabby...sandwiched between some beautiful rural NY countryside. It's hard to ignore the Erie canal and how really filthy any water is in that thing; or the creeks and rivers...albeit swollen from so much rain, but very dirty looking; the large number of trailer homes and pre-fab houses; the over-the-hill manufacturing towns; the fact that you're often seeming in traffic...you get the idea. The rural places were very nice, but shorter cycles of beautiful fields than we saw as recently as Ohio and, as you'll see in a photo, some were a little scruffy.

The ride part of today turned out to be very nice. We were all a little gun-shy about how much to wear after yesterday's cold surprise, so I know I wore an extra layer and that worked great. The weather warmed up at about noon and we had a nice tail wind for the day. A nice treat. Ray looked better than he has in a week...riding very strong and going really well today. I think he finished in the first third...perhaps he's sensing the home stretch, but however it happened, it was great. Somehow I've got sore quads today...surprising since I didn't think I was able to push hard enough to make them sore, but I guess so. Yesterday I hoofed it right along by myself, so that must have done it. They still "worked" but let me know what I was asking of them. I'll double up on the massage stick tonight and wish I had some arnica gel. It's not too bad, though, and if we weren't suffering in some way, what fun would that be?

We're getting right up to the home stretch...a day in the Berkshires and a day to Boston. Wow... One day at a time, though...and tomorrow is calling for more rain and a long day with lots of climbs. I'm really looking forward to it since the berkshires are really pretty, and in general, climbing doesn't affect me as much as it does others...it should be great.

Here's a photo of a beautiful NY field, a mfg facility on the road, and a "scruffy" field.




- posted by Tom @ 5:00 PM

 
Day 29...Batavia to Syracuse, NY in 115...er, make that 124 miles. Well, most of today's story is about the ride. We started out with wet roads from a soaking rain during the night, but hopeful to beat the thundershowers forecast for the early afternoon. As we were leaving, it was clear that a storm was building right then and moving in on top of us. At one of the first turns..."Go straight, follow 33 to the left" had us confused, so a quick call confirmed the follow 33 to the left. Well, we figured we had a chance to outrun the storm, so we put our heads down and hi-tailed it out only to be caught about 8 miles up the road. 10 of us eventually sought shelter in a house under construction while it crashed and poured. After a bit, it was clear that it was going to rain for quite awhile, so we again headed off. About 16 miles along we realized that, while we didn't need to turn, the landmarks weren't matching and yes, we were off course. Go straight was the correct answer, not follow 33 to the left. Some research had us head up the road and find 36 south to our course route of 5 east and we were back on track. It was *very* cold at this point though and quite a challenge. Everyone was a little raw and not feeling particularly good, so this won't go down as a favorite moment for many of us. However...when we got back on course, it cleared up and was actually a beautiful day for almost enough time...more on that later. Well, there were flats and mechanical problems like no other day. I only had one flat, so I feel like I got off scott free. Ray blew a spoke, Shane had 3 flats, Steve had 4, someone lost a dura-ace derailleur...hardly anyone made it straight through. And, to top it off, a bunch got caught in the severe storm at the end of the day as well. Eddie reported that he could smell the ozone on one strike and everyone hit the first garage they saw. And that with a mere 4 miles to go. I made it in...my good fortune for not seeing the lunch sag and deciding to keep going.

So...that was the ride, and how about New York. This part of the state is very beautiful. We passed through very rural NY and then by the finger lakes. You can't see Canandagua from 5, but Seneca Lake is right on the highway and it's big and beautiful. I have a few photos to put up.

Finally, it's Eddie Mahoney's 50th today. He was imagining he'd escape notice, but had a surprise piece of cake for breakfast. Now this was a birthday to remember.


THE RAY UPDATE: When we got back on course, I saw Ray get in the van to warm up. I hear the full story now. Mike "Ray, get in the Van." Ray, "No, I'm going on." Mike, "Ray, get in the Van." Ray, "No, I'm going on." Repeat a few more times. Mike, "Ray, I'm not going to Sag you, but you're not going on until you can stop shaking." So, Ray get's in and Mike has him undress, get wrapped in blankets until he stops shaking and gives him warm clothes. This Mike, is really, really good. Anyway, that was before the two flats, the new front time, the the blown spoke. A tough day for Ray, but he met the challenge and has ridden every mile.



- posted by Tom @ 2:08 PM

 
Day 28...Dunkirk to Batavia, NY in 85 miles. Well somehow this felt like a very long 85 as hard as that is to believe. The day started out with a huge thunderstorm that ran from about 3:30 until 7:30 or so. Boy, it really dumped some rain. Our ride started on the soaked streets without much new rain, but we were all pretty quickly gritty again for what seems like a lot of days in a row. For the first 70 miles we were either in the built up Lake Erie part of the world or within the Buffalo orbit. What that means is that things are very built up...convenience store, seneca indian smoke shop, commercial area one after another with nails, dry cleaners, gyms, restaurants, gas stations, karate studio, tattoo parlor, oil change, law office...bill boards for personal injury lawyers, dui warnings, car dealers and so on.

We broke up this scenery with a stop at the pedal museum...where some guy has collected a hundred or so old bicycles of every possible vintage and arranged them chronologically to show the development of the bike. While the tour rhetoric was way over the top..."so...we have roads because of the bicycle;" or "so, we have steel tubing because of the bicycle;" it was still pretty interesting. I was amazed at how beautifully this guy named Pope, who started columbia bicycles, machined chain links 140 years ago. And the first bike computers were beautifully machined contraptions. Unfortunately, we all got very cold standing around in our wet clothes in an extraordinarily well air conditioned museum for over an hour. Uncharacteristically, I didn't ask any questions for fear that would prolong the time in the cooler and perhaps risk hypothermia.

The last 45 miles were pretty hilly and the winds shifted to be pretty head on. That said, once we were out of the Buffalo orbit, things became very rural and beautiful again. We were happy to get in, though, and are hoping for a break in the weather.

I saw Ray at the museum and he'd just split the sidewall of his tire, which is hard to do since it's a gatorskin ultra tire and made to resist sidewall breaks. I'm sure that was a complete pain in the neck, so we'll hope he has better tire luck with the new one he put on.

Tomorrow we're off to Syracuse in 115 miles...it should be great.

The first photo is from last night's hotel restaurant...looking out over the marina and lake, then the Dunkirk beach with a nice view of the local power plant, Pope manufacturing's chain from long ago, some slick planetary gears on a bike, a bike that would really control the peloton...Ok, I dare you to pass me, and finally outside of Buffalo's orbit it's back to rural beauty.







- posted by Tom @ 1:45 PM