Day 46--Liverpool NY to Little Falls NY--August 5th

August 06, 2010

Day 46--Liverpool NY to Little Falls NY--August 5th

Miles Ridden 79.5
Avg. Speed 16.1
Climbing 1600 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 3319
Miles To Go 310

Today was one of those days that made me question this whole effort.....at least for a while. We left Liverpool under gray and threatening skies which were supposed to produce rain later in the morning. I stupidly thought we could outride the storms and didn't bring a rain jacket or pack my stuff (camera, phone and wallet) in waterproof bags. We hadn't gone ten miles when the skies opened up. It wasn't a thunderstorm, just straight, hard rain. Within minutes I was soaked with water sloshing around in my shoes.

I usually try to avoid riding in the rain and, if possible, on this trip I have waited in a dry place for the rain to at least let up a bit. By the time the rain came today, we were in an area with no shelter so I had to keep going. Riding in the rain is dangerous in a number of ways. Drivers can't see riders well as they concentrate on seeing the road and oncoming traffic in the rain. As the rain started I noticed the batteries in my flashing red light were dead. Bicycle brakes don't work in the rain unless you squeeze them enough to produce enough heat to dry them. When you finally get the brakes to work you realize the extremely thin, completely slick tires we ride will skid almost immediately. Any quick motion of the steering to avoid a road hazard which you saw at the last moment because your glasses are covered with water will also produce a skid and a fall. All of these factors caused me to pedal along under great stress

All this stress caused me to start replaying my number one bike fear as each car passed me. It goes like this; a newly minted sixteen year old driver approaches me from the rear on a two lane road while dialing/texting. She looks up from her phone, sees me at the last minute and steers away into the oncoming lane just in time to see a car coming at her so she pulls back, right into me. I'm not sure what to call this irrational fear but it was preying on my mind for about twenty miles.

At about the halfway point, the day's route took us just north of Oneida. I made a short diversion from the route and stopped off at Charly and Carol Cleary's house. (see previous day's post). When I arrived there I was treated to coffee, towels to dry off, fresh baked muffins and new batteries for my light. We had a great conversation about their Bourbon Tour in Kentucky and within half an hour I felt much better. By then the rain was stopping. Even though the road was still wet, the riding was much better. A little later the sun came out and things started to dry(except for my shoes). The last half of the ride was fine. I found out later that the people who pressed on managed to ride with the rain for the whole trip.

We arrived in the old canal and manufacturing town of Little Falls. There are lots of interesting buildings from the town's heyday but not much is left economically. We were told the population has gone from 15,000 fifty years ago to 5,000 today. Little Falls is home to one of my favorite childhood treats, Junket, which I didn't know was still made.

Little Falls is the closest tour stop to my parents home in Hamilton NY. They drove the hour up to visit and take me out to dinner. It was great to see them. They heard good things about the Canal Side Inn and it lived up to it's billing. We had a superb French meal in an old building near the canal. It would have to be a great restaurant to be successful in as depressed a place as Little Falls.

Tomorrow we finish our trip down the Erie Canal in Latham, NY near Albany.