We're in Cooperstown!
Tuesday, August 29th
We made it to Cooperstown! I'll make a more comprehensive update later, but the library here won't let me put on the photos and there's a time limit. Sam and I put in two 65 milers on Saturday and Sunday, leaving us pretty well exhausted, particularly at the end of Sunday, when we'd ridden south to Ithaca. Time on the bike was 6.5 hours, 2 of which were in a downpour, and the whole time against a rather fierce headwind. With our big baggage, we're not exactly aerodynamic :)
The ride along Erie Canal Saturday was nice and flat, I got a new wheel, and we met up with a friend of mine from Ride For World Health, Chris Dangler for a delicious lunch at a Mediterranean place in Pittsford called "Aladdin's Natural Eatery" (a step up from PB & J). Finally got to Lyons, our goal, around 7:15 and decided to look for a yard to crash. Picked the home with a Jesus fish decal on their car, and Abe & Debbie, residents of the house, were so kind and let us pitch our tent out back. Had us in the next morning to brush our teeth and freshen up a bit before getting on the road in the rain. We cruised down to Seneca Falls, hub of the Women's Rights Movement, and warmed up with some hot cocoa and soup before getting back on the bikes and heading along the shore of Cayuga Lake, passing beautiful wineries, rolling hills of corn with big red barns overlooking the lake. Had a couple pretty challenging climbs, and rolled into Ithaca around dusk. A stop at the Green Star Cooperative Market, which had been recommended to us by Paul Glover, inspired us to see if we could find a place to get a warm shower that night, and our "Will smile and/or work for shower and/or shelter" sign did the trick; the 2nd woman to come out the door walked past and doubled back to ask if we were "the bikers from Toronto?" - the cashier at the register inside had mentioned us in passing, and this lovely lady, Tara, offered to put us up for the night. She even took our heavy baggage in the back of her van so that we didn't have to bike with it, and it was a welcome reprieve, as the road to her house was a 1.5 mile steeply graded (maybe 8-11%) hill! But what a dear dear soul she was. Both Sam and I were delighted to get to know her, as well as her 5 cats, and the hot shower and futon were a huge treat after a day of hard and cold riding.
We spent Monday afternoon waking around Ithaca and interviewing people about their opinions of the healthcare system, and finally made it to the Ithaca Free Clinic, our primary inspiration for detouring so far south. The folks working and volunteering there are AWESOME, and they told us about how the clinic works, showed us around, and showered us with their fantastic smiles and warmth. We left feeling really excited about the day's content.
More to come! Time's up!
We made it to Cooperstown! I'll make a more comprehensive update later, but the library here won't let me put on the photos and there's a time limit. Sam and I put in two 65 milers on Saturday and Sunday, leaving us pretty well exhausted, particularly at the end of Sunday, when we'd ridden south to Ithaca. Time on the bike was 6.5 hours, 2 of which were in a downpour, and the whole time against a rather fierce headwind. With our big baggage, we're not exactly aerodynamic :)
The ride along Erie Canal Saturday was nice and flat, I got a new wheel, and we met up with a friend of mine from Ride For World Health, Chris Dangler for a delicious lunch at a Mediterranean place in Pittsford called "Aladdin's Natural Eatery" (a step up from PB & J). Finally got to Lyons, our goal, around 7:15 and decided to look for a yard to crash. Picked the home with a Jesus fish decal on their car, and Abe & Debbie, residents of the house, were so kind and let us pitch our tent out back. Had us in the next morning to brush our teeth and freshen up a bit before getting on the road in the rain. We cruised down to Seneca Falls, hub of the Women's Rights Movement, and warmed up with some hot cocoa and soup before getting back on the bikes and heading along the shore of Cayuga Lake, passing beautiful wineries, rolling hills of corn with big red barns overlooking the lake. Had a couple pretty challenging climbs, and rolled into Ithaca around dusk. A stop at the Green Star Cooperative Market, which had been recommended to us by Paul Glover, inspired us to see if we could find a place to get a warm shower that night, and our "Will smile and/or work for shower and/or shelter" sign did the trick; the 2nd woman to come out the door walked past and doubled back to ask if we were "the bikers from Toronto?" - the cashier at the register inside had mentioned us in passing, and this lovely lady, Tara, offered to put us up for the night. She even took our heavy baggage in the back of her van so that we didn't have to bike with it, and it was a welcome reprieve, as the road to her house was a 1.5 mile steeply graded (maybe 8-11%) hill! But what a dear dear soul she was. Both Sam and I were delighted to get to know her, as well as her 5 cats, and the hot shower and futon were a huge treat after a day of hard and cold riding.
We spent Monday afternoon waking around Ithaca and interviewing people about their opinions of the healthcare system, and finally made it to the Ithaca Free Clinic, our primary inspiration for detouring so far south. The folks working and volunteering there are AWESOME, and they told us about how the clinic works, showed us around, and showered us with their fantastic smiles and warmth. We left feeling really excited about the day's content.
More to come! Time's up!
posted by Libby at 11:39 AM
1 Comments:
WOOOHOO!
...and your box is in the mail, Libby!
Lots of love, Ladies!
Andrew
P.S. Reading your post re-inspired my desire to make the changes I want to see in the world a reality this evening. Cheers to that, Mates!
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