Day 47--Little Falls NY to Latham NY--August 6th
Miles Ridden 74.5
Avg. Speed 17.0
Climbing 2100 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 3402
Miles To Go 227
Today's ride started in perfect conditions and it stayed that way the whole day. We left Little Falls and took Route 5S which parallels the Mohawk River and Erie Canal in the low hills that run south of the river. The views were great although the air was too hazy to get any good pictures. A strong wind blowing out of the northwest pushed us along quickly. Everybody thought this was about as fine a morning as we had experienced. Then reality struck.
I was entering the town of Canajoharie and as I went around a curve I saw a rider on the road motionless with another rider standing over with a bike on the ground about ten feet away. A few of us blocked the traffic while others helped the rider. After a few minutes she was able to move and sat down on some nearby stairs. She was able to relate that a car had pulled out from a stop sign without seeing her as she approached the intersection. To avoid hitting the car she had veered to the right, hit a curb and then crashed in the middle of the street. Everything seemed to work out in the end as she seemed to only be suffering from cuts and bruises, although it certainly appeared to me she was knocked out for a few minutes. Anyone who arrived on the scene and saw her on the ground was badly shaken and a lot of the exhilaration of the day was lost as we all silently prayed that we get through the last few days safely.
The last thirty miles of the ride was back on sections of the Erie Canal Trail. Most of it was freshly paved and easy riding. As my roommate Mark and I pulled into the last rest stop, we were filmed by a TV cameraman on the trail. Mark went to school at RPI in Troy and the school was putting on a reception for him tonight and had notified the TV station he would be passing by. He was interviewed and hopefully ended up on the evening news.
I couldn't attend his reception because my sister Cathleen, who lives about an hour away in Medusa NY, took me home for a great meal with her family. The dinner tasted all the better because I knew the rest of the tour was having another evening at the Old Country Buffet, my nominee for worst food on the planet. In addition to the cooking, she had to drive me back to Latham over dark, winding deer-infested roads. Thanks.
Tomorrow has been described as a very tough climbing day with as much altitude gain as we had out west as we cross the Green Mountains in Vermont on the way to Brattleboro.
Avg. Speed 17.0
Climbing 2100 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 3402
Miles To Go 227
Today's ride started in perfect conditions and it stayed that way the whole day. We left Little Falls and took Route 5S which parallels the Mohawk River and Erie Canal in the low hills that run south of the river. The views were great although the air was too hazy to get any good pictures. A strong wind blowing out of the northwest pushed us along quickly. Everybody thought this was about as fine a morning as we had experienced. Then reality struck.
I was entering the town of Canajoharie and as I went around a curve I saw a rider on the road motionless with another rider standing over with a bike on the ground about ten feet away. A few of us blocked the traffic while others helped the rider. After a few minutes she was able to move and sat down on some nearby stairs. She was able to relate that a car had pulled out from a stop sign without seeing her as she approached the intersection. To avoid hitting the car she had veered to the right, hit a curb and then crashed in the middle of the street. Everything seemed to work out in the end as she seemed to only be suffering from cuts and bruises, although it certainly appeared to me she was knocked out for a few minutes. Anyone who arrived on the scene and saw her on the ground was badly shaken and a lot of the exhilaration of the day was lost as we all silently prayed that we get through the last few days safely.
The last thirty miles of the ride was back on sections of the Erie Canal Trail. Most of it was freshly paved and easy riding. As my roommate Mark and I pulled into the last rest stop, we were filmed by a TV cameraman on the trail. Mark went to school at RPI in Troy and the school was putting on a reception for him tonight and had notified the TV station he would be passing by. He was interviewed and hopefully ended up on the evening news.
I couldn't attend his reception because my sister Cathleen, who lives about an hour away in Medusa NY, took me home for a great meal with her family. The dinner tasted all the better because I knew the rest of the tour was having another evening at the Old Country Buffet, my nominee for worst food on the planet. In addition to the cooking, she had to drive me back to Latham over dark, winding deer-infested roads. Thanks.
Tomorrow has been described as a very tough climbing day with as much altitude gain as we had out west as we cross the Green Mountains in Vermont on the way to Brattleboro.
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| Leaving Little Falls |
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| Church from 1787 near Fort Plain |
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| Abandoned Lock from the Old Erie Canal near Rotterdam Junction |
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| Lock #8 near Scotia (last canal picture) |
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| Everyone stopped at Jumpin' Jacks on the river for a greasy lunch |
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| The white bike is welded to the bottom one and is where the rider sits |
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| This (including hammock) is a one person bike. Both riders said they were going to Toronto. I'd bet they won't make it |
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| My sister Cathleen, husband Rick, Caroline and Kevin |
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