Miles to date: 3,550.1
Thanks to a bridge outage and a long detour through Utica, we ended the day with 87.3 miles. Once again the weather was great (though 42 degrees to start was very chilly) and most of the route was on the flat and straight Erie Canal Trail, but 87 miles on the bike is still a long day – about 6 hours on the saddle and on the move. It was so taxing, I’ve brought back the ice bath!
I’m going to abbreviate the summary of the day: 1) Because I’m working on very low sleep level… last night we we stayed out too late and had one too many too many Guinness in us. 2) It was a fairly ordinary day today, and I think the photos and video will tell most of the story. 3) Somehow we fell into the rabbit hole again tonight in Little Falls NY – we’re two 7ths of the “crowd” for the One Night Escape show at one of two bars in town. This band should be playing every night at Grumpy’s in Breckenridge MN: they’re the perfect marriage.
Little Falls is like several towns we’ve been through recently on the former Erie Canal. At some point the canal was widened and then widened again, assuming different routes and leaving these former port towns stranded. Most of these stranded towns are sad, relics of their former selves. I don’t know the date of the Little Falls heyday, but it appears there’s little happening here today, with the exception of this local band.
But, I did want to share a few things about today.. When we left the Collegian Hotel around 7:30 this morning, we were followed out by an older man who was in town for the American Chestnut Convention. Initially I thought this was code for something that I should’ve understood, but no… he was with a group trying to restore the American Chestnut to US forests that was devastated by an airborne pathogen a few decades ago. This guy and his affiliates are working to bring it back. Unfortunately, this guy was creepy enough to make me want to take an axe to the American Chestnut. He was sitting in the hotel lobby, saw us pushing our bikes out, and he rushed out with phone in hand – he wanted photos of these brave sojourners as they braced themselves for the cold open roads. He requested various poses in front of the hotel entrance; he took videos of us wheeling around our steeds; and he seemed WAY TOO EXCITED to be in the presence of a couple of guys on bikes. When he started to take some close up video of me while commenting on my red, white and blue outfit (see photos below of my slightly red, mostly black and orange outfit), I decided it was time to roll. He reminded me of an unsavory character from 45 years ago who soured me on biking… I appreciate the ironic reminder at this stage of our journey, but I was immediately sorry that this creepy chestnut lover has photos and videos of me. And I cringed as he recorded us riding away as he squealed, “Oooh! Look at them go!”
On occasion we come across fellow bikers along the trails in maintenance activities, or seemingly in minor distress. We always slow to ask if they need assistance… they never do. 3,500 miles and several broken down bikers and everyone is self sufficient. But today, after 65 miles biking, we came across Devon who was in a quandary and waved us in for help. If there was a problem, yo I’ll solve it.
Devon was biking from Toronto to NYC. He was completely solo and live-streaming his entire journey. He was carrying a power supply bigger than a car battery on his front basket, next to that was a satellite dish, then he had front and rear facing cameras mounted to the handlebars. His friends and family can follow him realtime for the entire journey, unless the tree cover is too thick for the satellite connection. As I understand it, Devon had a flat tire today; he had some sort of roadside assistance that changed his flat, but left him with a chain off the back sprocket of his back wheel with its internal gear hub (he has only one rear sprocket with a device in the back wheel hub that changes gears). Geeto and I dismounted then mostly with brute force and a little bit of engineering, we reengaged his chain and left Devon to gear up and continue east.
We reached Little Falls at 3pm; Geeto showered and went into town and I followed after my ice bath. There were two fully loaded bikes parked in front and I went into town the find Geeto talking with their riders, Johnny and Patty. Native Alaskans, they now reside on Hawaii and are bikepacking veterans. They’re currently in the middle of a ride from Toronto to Philadelphia. They camp most every night and cover 40 miles per day. At 75 and 69 (it was Patty’s 69th birthday) they were admirable for their passion and strength of character.
After a few recovery drinks we went to the only restaurant in town for a surprisingly fabulous Italian meal. Nearly every table was full, and the waitstaff seemed frazzled. We were patient and kind, and our waitress said she wished all her tables were as nice as us. Since Geeto didn’t let me get dessert, after dinner we walked next door to the other bar for a Baileys nightcap; the Renaissance Pub would be more aptly named The Rabbit Hole.
We walked in as the band, One Day Escape, hit the first note to start their opening set at 7:45. Band leader Arianna was captivating in a Grace Slick sorta way, and Nick on lead guitar seemed like a young, bearded David Gilmore. We took the high top table by the performance intending to have one drink; I left just after their closing number at 10:15. They really were talented and we wondered how they could be from Little Falls, and playing a “friends and family” gig in Little Falls. As I said earlier, there were 7 patrons at the bar (excluding the bassist’s granddaughter who looked to be about 7 years old) including the two of us. A few more shuffled in later… the guitarist’s mom, the drummer’s wife and her sister.
I felt bad cutting through the ensemble in the middle of Jean Genie, but that was the only path to the men’s room.
For day 50, we have a final cling-on joining in the form of Andy Beck. He’s promised to arrive with breakfast burritos and he intends to make a playlist and bring a speaker for us to enjoy on the day’s ride. We rode extra miles today in order to shorten our ride to Amsterdam, 1) because rain is projected in the afternoon, 2) so we can shorten the time having to endure Andy’s music, and 3) having to endure Andy Beck as he comes peacocking into our final week of adventure. Day 50: Little Falls to Amsterdam
For the Spotify playlist today, I’m going to start with an original song by One Day Escape that is appropriate as we brace for a few days of rain influenced by Hurricane Isaias remnants: Hurricane Season
Also sticking with the hurricane theme, one of my favorite Dylan songs about the tragedy of Hurricane Carter; this song was going through my head for a good stretch of yesterday as I learned there was a hurricane in the Atlantic. Hurricane
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