Journey with Jeff

August 1, 2018

Day 45 – Rochester to Liverpool, NY – 92 miles, 1,950 feet vertical

Mmmm.  I got such a good night’s sleep last night. 

I woke up this morning feeling really good.  I stretched … and slowly opened my eyes.  As I lay there, slowly regaining consciousness and awareness, I saw the morning sun streaming in through the window.  The sun had been up for awhile and it was a beautiful day outside and … WAIT! … WHAT??!? … THE SUN IS UP ALREADY????  Sunrise was at 6am and I had set the alarm for 5:30.  Wait!  What time is it? 

HOLY SH*#%@$%*!!  It’s 7:13!!  Load and go is at 7:30!!! 

I spent about a minute – a minute that I didn’t have – pondering my options.  I finally decided to suck it up, cupcake –  and go for it.  I plugged in the coffee machine and made a cup while I jumped in the shower.  Most of my clothing was already packed, because I had done a wash the night before.  Focus!  I multi-tasked and packed my laptop and electronics while simultaneously zipping my luggage.  I shoved all of my charging cables into their ziploc bag, packed up my toothbrush and such and got dressed.  Shorts, heart-rate monitor, jersey, socks, gloves, do-rag, cycling shoes, helmet.  Fill the water bottles, turn on Garmin, load today’s navigation.  Stuff back pockets with phone, camera, extra camera battery, lip balm, gel blocks, money, credit cards. Sunglasses are filthy, but no time to clean now – will have to wait.  Tires seem hard enough – will check air pressure later.  Pack extra bag with sneakers and rain jacket – this bag goes in the BAT van.  Double-check the room. Twice.  Got everything? Good.  Head clumsily out to the elevator.  Press down button.  

Do I have time to look at my watch? 

Do I dare look at my watch? 

Oh, come on – be brave.

7:32.  I’m late.  

A minute later, I’m downstairs.  Most people have left already.  There are a few left, but they’re saddling up and heading out.  I haven’t had breakfast yet.  

I loaded my luggage and signed in (dead last).  Karen was riding sweep, so I asked her if she could just wait a few minutes.  I hustled inside and had a quick bowl of cereal.  Later Robin would tell me he was having a good laugh watching me eat.  (Robin is easily amused.)  I grabbed a banana, headed outside and off I went.  Alone.  

I turned on my speaker and decided to listen to the morning news.  I made it to the bike path, took a deep breath and decided to just ride steady.  I felt a lot better once I was cycling and even had time to stop and take a few pics.  I basically chased for about 20 miles before catching up with the gang at Lock 30 on the Erie Canal.  Emergency, over. 

At Lock 30, we watched the canal locks in action as three kayakers paddled along to the gate at the upper level.  The lock operator signaled them into the lock and closed the gates behind them.  He then opened the water sluices and the entire volume of water inside the gate drained out, lowering the kayakers with it.  Finally, with the water level equalized at the lowered level, he opened the downstream gate and our happy kayakers paddled away, waving at all the bikers.  Pretty cool. 

Other than all that, we had a great day.  SAG 1 at 34 miles was at Bee-Tee’s Ice Cream stand.  Oh, what the hell – I had a vanilla milkshake.  Yum.  All in all, 92 miles and we celebrated our LAST 90-plus mile ride!   Yeah!! 

On a temporarily sad note, we said goodbye tonight to our dear friend Tom Gjelten who is putting a very large bookmark in his cross-country journey.  Tom is taking a timeout to attend a family wedding this weekend, in Charlottesville. (Yes, that Charlottesville.)  He’s ridden this far and he just can’t quit, so he’s coming back to resume the ride on Monday (at the same time we hope to be doing our wheel dip in the Atlantic).  He’ll follow the same route (more or less) and finish four days later.  I have confidence that he’ll finish, but he’s going to sorely miss Arlene’s eternal optimism, Audrey’s funny sarcasm and my jokes and entertaining repartee.  Oh, and shhh, … we also allocate a few minutes each morning to share our Outrage of the Day (current events).  

Go, Tom!! 

Please enjoy these photos from the day including Lock 30 in action.  Watch the dwindling red dots at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com  Keep those cards and letters coming, and thanks for following.  

…Jeff

July 31, 2018

Day 44 – Niagara Falls to Rochester, NY – 103 miles,  1,690 feet vertical

It was our last century ride of the tour, and both the sun and the wind cooperated to make it a very pleasant ride.  Either that, or we’ve just gotten used to riding like this every day.  Everyone is stronger today than they were back in Oregon.  Everyone.  Pretty soon, we won’t even need the “early rollers” start!

We’re in Rochester tonight as we continue our eastward trek across upstate New York.  I’ve been to Rochester a number of times to visit my daughter Samantha when she was an undergraduate at University of Rochester.  And so, it brings back wonderful memories of dropping her off, visiting her multiple times and finally, packing her up and bringing her home.  I was also flown up here for a job interview with Xerox when I was 20 (yes, 20).  Back then, there were two major corporations here: Xerox (XRX) and Kodak (KDK) and their  stock prices were prominently displayed on the front page of local papers. 

We started out riding north along the Niagara River gorge before turning toward the east along the Lake Ontario lakefront.  It was quite beautiful and the homes were lovely, including serene hammocks and poolside deck chairs staring out over the blue expanse.   Brad Campbell and I were so engrossed in our conversation that we missed the turnoff into the park for SAG 2.  So, if the ride wasn’t long enough already, we added a little over two miles more.  No biggie.

The other notable event was a recommended stop at Perri’s Pizza at the 87.3 mile mark (or 89.4 for me).  The pizza slices were advertised as HUGE (yes, in all CAPS).  They were NOT kidding.  (Please see photographic evidence, and I swear, these were not photoshopped.)  Holy Moley. 

We finished with about seven miles on the Erie Canal Trailway alongside a canal with a series of locks.  We didn’t see any actual activity today,  but it was still rather impressive.  

I do want to thank everyone who weighed in (either here or on Facebook) on yesterday’s melancholic post in which I whined about the impending end of this journey.  Thank you for smacking me out of it.  We still have 400 miles to go and I have been instructed to live in the here and now – the עַכשָׁיו (ach-shav) in Hebrew.

Please enjoy these photos from the day including the HUGE pizza slices.  (Hint: it wasn’t thin crust, either.). Watch the dwindling red dots at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com  Keep those cards and letters coming, and thanks for following.  

…Jeff

July 30, 2018

Day 43 – Final Rest Day in Niagara Falls, NY, USA

I really, really like rest days.  I am not alone.  But this is different from the others.  

Before we get to that, just a quick sketch of a terrific day.  After a lazy start, several folks attended Reid’s stretching seminar this morning.  I don’t know how so many folks made the 7:30 session, but I went to the 8:30 rerun.   After breakfast, some folks took a boat trip on the Maid of the Mist and some toured wineries.  Tami and I decided to go for a leisurely bike ride on the nearby bike path and along the rim of the Niagara River.  No need for spandex or cycling shoes today.   

The river rapids downstream of the falls were a brilliant aqua blue and white.  Some tens of thousands of years ago, the current falls were seven miles downstream from their current location.  Erosion rates vary, but are averaging somewhere around four feet per year.   All along the rim, we encountered more beautiful scenery and vistas.  All told, we had a leisurely 10-mile round trip.  I spent about an hour this afternoon working on my bike, cleaning it up and getting ready for tomorrow.  

We had a great group dinner at a nearby restaurant, Wine on Third, and finished it off with ice cream at Twist of the Mist (a play on all the other touristy “mist” offerings.) 

Tomorrow we begin our final leg of the journey starting with a 104-mile ride to Rochester, NY.  And there will be some killer climbs as we bike over mountains to get across Vermont and New Hampshire on our way to the Atlantic Ocean.  

But it is not the biking.  

It is a feeling of the impending melancholy that the challenge, the effort, the joy of riding our bikes every day will soon be coming to an end.  Sound crazy?  Yes, it is a bit of that. 

We have formed bonds of friendship, of the shared challenge, of the aches and pains, and to be sure, of the many many laughs and good times.  It will be hard to replace that.  When this is all over and we have said our probably tearful goodbyes, we will return to our daily lives.  Some will return to their offices and daily grind.   

We are already starting to talk about where and when we should have a “reunion ride”.   And … we’re not even done with this one yet. 

Please enjoy a few photos of our leisure time in Niagara Falls and thank you so much for following along at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com. Please keep those cards and letters coming.  Really appreciated!  

… Jeff 

 

July 29, 2018

Day 42 – Brantford, Ontario, CA to Niagara Falls, NY, USA – 74 miles, 1,070 feet vertical (still flat, though a bit lumpy in parts.)

Cumulative totals to date:  3,121 miles traveled, with 101,960 feet of vertical climb and our eighth US state.

After three wonderful days of cycling in Ontario over beautiful rolling and lush farmland, we spent some quality time on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls before finally crossing the Rainbow Bridge and arriving back in New York.   

It was another easy-peasy day of cycling and we took full advantage of it in anticipation of our final rest day in Niagara Falls.  There were more crops, more wind turbines, more sunny miles and more funny smiles. 

Niagara Falls in Canada was pretty crowded, not the least of which was because we arrived on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  We did our best to elbow our way in to the edge (using our bicycles as both offensive and defensive weapons) so we could get our requisite photos by the falls.  After relaxing at an outdoor cafe for an hour or so, we bit the bullet and headed for the bridge.  

The bridge was packed, with wall-to-wall cars from Canada to the US.  We had been instructed to get in the car lane and “act like a car” – meaning wait your turn like everyone else.  This would have been considered cruel and unusual punishment and taken over an hour and so, when a bridge employee told us we could skinny our way up alongside the cars, we jumped on it.  After a few perfunctory questions at Immigration, we were through.  Elapsed time, about 20 minutes.  Thank you, Tiffany (perhaps not her real name.)

We are all just thrilled to have a day off tomorrow and multiple activity choices abound, but mine will start with not setting the alarm.  We resume our final leg on Tuesday with our final 100+ mile ride.  

Please enjoy our photos of the day and thank you so much for following along at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com. Please keep those cards and letters coming.  Really appreciated!  

… Jeff

 

July 28, 2018

Day 41 – London to Brantford, Ontario, CA – 69 miles, 970 feet vertical (flat, flat, flat).  

Cumulative totals to date:  3,047 miles traveled, with 100,890 feet of vertical climb.  How about them apples?

Our routine for the past few days has been: wake up in the morning, have breakfast, go for a bike ride.  Wake up in the morning, have breakfast, go for a bike ride.  

These last several days have been just so wonderful and relaxing.  With relatively low mileage, flat farmland, sunny skies and mild temps, we finally have the opportunity to relax and just enjoy ourselves.  Today was another one of those days.  For those concerned that we haven’t done a century ride in a while, I should point out that today qualified as a little over a metric century (that’s 100 kilometers).  Still, it was a light day, especially compared to what we’ve already covered.  

And so, we had time today to go easy, take in the sights, chat with the locals, stop at a fruit stand to buy fresh fruit, corn and pies and spend some quality time crawling around in a giant field of straw bales.  Climbing up onto those beasts is not as easy as it looks and we had some, er, … embarrassing moments that will forever stay in the “members only” section.  Hey, you try it in cycling shoes!

The other incentive to loll around is that our hotel rooms are often not ready if we get to our destination too early.  So why rush?  I was proof of this (again) today, so I just changed into a bathing suit and headed for the hot tub.  Great and efficient way to spend the time, rather than standing there bugging the hotel clerk.  

As I noted above, the milestone for today is that we passed the 3,000 mile mark and for tomorrow, we finish our little shortcut through Canada, head back into the USA and reach our fifth and final rest day in Niagara Falls.  Honestly, none of us can believe it.  Honestly. 

Please enjoy our straw bales photos of the day and thank you so much for following along at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com. Please keep those cards and letters coming.  Really appreciated!  

… Jeff