We needed a good nights rest to recoup from not only the previous day's ride, but to settle our nerves from the closest call I have had the entire trip. The day before we were riding along the Erie Canal trail and had to be routed up on the road as the trail switched banks. As Brian and I were crossing the road, a driver coming out of opposite side cross street, accelerates into our lane directly at Brian. A slam of the breaks and evasive maneuver by Brian avoided any contact, but it was certainly unnerving. After of check of pulses and apologies from the driver, we got out of the road and continued on our way. The adrenaline rush pushed us on to our destination.
The early part of this day's ride we return to the Erie Canal trail for a repeat of the previous riding style for about the first 20 miles. After that we are back on the country roads that are now small farms and orchards of apples, peaches and pears. We stop at several roadside stands along the way to sample the enticing fruit, along with delicious maple coated peanuts. At one particular stop, an intimidating but beautiful Great Dane kept a loud barking vigilant watch over us until we departed. We are grateful he was obedient to the invisible fence because he could have overtaken us in two gallops. The second stand we stopped at the owner must have thought we looked haggard and just simply gave us the fruit to eat. These stops are a favorite part of my day.
We had grown accustomed to the flat route by the canal and had to mentally and physically adjust our cycling style to manage the 2400 feet of climbing.
By the time we stop for lunch, we don't want to venture far from the route to save the miles, so we eat at a small, sparse marina diner near Sodus Point for lunch. As is typical, people often strike up conversations about the journey. Two of men who are fishing a weeklong tournament hold our conversation as we devour our sandwiches. As it turns out, they have been fishing this tournament for 18 years and the previous day was the first time they had large fish of the day. A 28lb King Salmon that earned them $500 for the day. Our destination for the night is a one room, primitive cabin at the Sterling Campground. It has a nice porch that we enjoy just relaxing after the ride. That is typically priority number one, relax and recover. We crank up the JetBoil for some Raman noodles, soup and leftover sandwiches from lunch.
Deb, who runs the park has literally left the light on for us so we know what cabin to use. She has worked all day and has a birthday party for her 80 year old mom that evening. She mentioned earlier that she would be around about 8:30 to settle up. Indeed her cart eases up in front of the cabin and we step outside to pay. We talk about the ride, the adventure and that I am raising money for AFI. We talk about AFI for a few minutes, she gets out of her cart and generously hands us back the money for the cabin and tells us to make it a donation. What an incredible gesture. She is amazing.
We turn in for the evening and prepare for Brian's last day.
Moose Search: Nada
Song in my head: Joe Cocker; a little help from my friends.
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