I thought that summer had begun already. Not today in and around Hancock, NY. After a pleasant night in the Little Guy for Carlin and I with Tom at the Parish Center for St. Paul the Apostle we headed out at 8:30 A.M. IN THE RAIN!!! I know that into every life a little rain must fall. But seriously, on a bike trek, a lot of rain must fall? Enough. On the road to Damascus (NY that is) Tom and I got pretty soaked by the time we got to Deposit, NY. We hung out in the local diner/gas station/food mart while we dried off and drank hot tea. Then we headed back out to continue our journey. But, then it really began to rain. Torrential rain. But I broke out my new rain poncho which worked out just great. I wasn't real aerodynamic but with the wet surface to the road I wasn't looking to get moving too fast. The poncho attaches to the handlebar so that I was like a big red tent going down the road. It worked out well as we traversed the cold Amazon like conditions of what I expected to be SUMMERTIME IN NEW YORK.
But we pushed on through to Binghamton where the rain subsided and I was filled with cheer anticipating a break in the weather. Oh my naivete. Tom checked his radar on his smart phone and could see that our break in the weather would be short lived. I felt confident as I checked out the skies that the typhoon season had ended and left my rain gear with Carlin expecting to meet up with her in about 15 miles. Then Tom and I continued our journey. Well, did I tell you that it began to really rain in Deposit, NY? No, no, no. Now, west of Binghamton it really began to rain. The water was rushing down the street and while it was cold I tried to enjoy the experience by recalling my younger days at Noah's Arc at the Wisconsin Dells. Kawabunga! What else can you say. I thought it might be wise to stop and hide under a viaduct for a moment but Tom insisted that we weren't wet enough and needed to strike out again. As he knew how to cook Hungarian goulash I figured he knew better than I. So on we went. And, just when we caught up with Carlin in the town of Endicott it stopped raining and a bit of warmth was felt by all.
Being cheered by this strange turn of events we decided to stop for dinner as it was 4:30 P.M. and we were hungry. Tom's wife, Lisa, drove to Endicott to extricate him from my lunacy. I bid him farewell, glad to have had him as a riding companion these last two days and looking forward to him rejoining me for the last two days of riding from Notre Dame back to Chicago.
So on I rode the 15 last miles to Owego arriving about 7:00 P.M. Carlin, the Little Guy, and I had intended to stay at the local campground but after such a wet and cold day with the prospect of more rain, thunderstorms and rising rivers, we've opted for a night at the Hampton. It'll give us time to get ourselves reorganized. And we went out to dinner again. I am hungry!
Tomorrow's weather is looking better. Could be dry, could be warmer. The climb for the day will be less than 1,000 feet so it's time to rock and roll.
Some stats for the day: Average Speed: 12.7 mph; Total Distance ridden: 69.7 miles (111.849 km); Total climb: 2,188 feet; Total distance for the trip: 224.7 miles (22.3% of total); Total climb for trip: 8,859 feet (39.5% of projected total).
Today's lesson from the bike seat: When the many miles ahead seem daunting focus on the moment.
But we pushed on through to Binghamton where the rain subsided and I was filled with cheer anticipating a break in the weather. Oh my naivete. Tom checked his radar on his smart phone and could see that our break in the weather would be short lived. I felt confident as I checked out the skies that the typhoon season had ended and left my rain gear with Carlin expecting to meet up with her in about 15 miles. Then Tom and I continued our journey. Well, did I tell you that it began to really rain in Deposit, NY? No, no, no. Now, west of Binghamton it really began to rain. The water was rushing down the street and while it was cold I tried to enjoy the experience by recalling my younger days at Noah's Arc at the Wisconsin Dells. Kawabunga! What else can you say. I thought it might be wise to stop and hide under a viaduct for a moment but Tom insisted that we weren't wet enough and needed to strike out again. As he knew how to cook Hungarian goulash I figured he knew better than I. So on we went. And, just when we caught up with Carlin in the town of Endicott it stopped raining and a bit of warmth was felt by all.
Being cheered by this strange turn of events we decided to stop for dinner as it was 4:30 P.M. and we were hungry. Tom's wife, Lisa, drove to Endicott to extricate him from my lunacy. I bid him farewell, glad to have had him as a riding companion these last two days and looking forward to him rejoining me for the last two days of riding from Notre Dame back to Chicago.
So on I rode the 15 last miles to Owego arriving about 7:00 P.M. Carlin, the Little Guy, and I had intended to stay at the local campground but after such a wet and cold day with the prospect of more rain, thunderstorms and rising rivers, we've opted for a night at the Hampton. It'll give us time to get ourselves reorganized. And we went out to dinner again. I am hungry!
Tomorrow's weather is looking better. Could be dry, could be warmer. The climb for the day will be less than 1,000 feet so it's time to rock and roll.
Some stats for the day: Average Speed: 12.7 mph; Total Distance ridden: 69.7 miles (111.849 km); Total climb: 2,188 feet; Total distance for the trip: 224.7 miles (22.3% of total); Total climb for trip: 8,859 feet (39.5% of projected total).
Today's lesson from the bike seat: When the many miles ahead seem daunting focus on the moment.
