Death By Chocolate

Typically my first night in a tent after a long period of NOT sleeping in a tent usually yields the same results. Waking as if I just had the best sleep of my life and ready to take on the new day … only to realize that an hour (maybe two) had actually passed. Not so last night. Yes, I did wake up a couple of times but just long enough to roll over and fall back asleep. I didn’t really wake up until 7:30. I wasn’t kidding about how exhausted I was yesterday!

Despite the long sleep, I still felt less-than-great as I packed up my gear. Seriously, my ability to function on little food and water is going to get me into trouble some day … oh, right. It HAS. And has done so again. And I’m only on Day Two. Seriously, how I thought 150 km on Day Two was a good idea is a bit beyond my comprehension.

Fortunately, today’s plan was a MUCH more reasonable ride. A mere 81 km to Rochester. Not entirely surprisingly, I set out on today’s ride without having much of a breakfast. In my defense … well, okay … I have no defense. I’m just not very bright sometimes.

That said, my first goal of the morning was to find somewhere to stop for breakfast. I suspected that “somewhere” would end up being Albion, NY. It was only 15 km away and even though I didn’t feel great, I was more than confident that I could manage 15 km before breakfast. I was right.

I won’t lie, breakfast this morning wasn’t exactly a “traditional” one. Or remotely healthy. But it was food. I was hungry. And I had a craving. Whether that craving could be satiated at 10:30 AM was the question. Fortunately (I think), I discovered that 10:30 AM is NOT too early to order a Whopper. And orange juice. In all honesty, I’m not sure which one was less healthy. With 32 grams of sugar, I actually think it was the orange juice.

With breakfast (such that it was) taken care of, I returned to the road (and sometimes trail) to Rochester.

Along the trail I crossed paths with a fellow long distance cycle tourist, Jim. We chatted for a bit and he has much further to go than I do as he’s headed to San Francisco. He’s been on the road for about a week and it turns out he stayed in Rochester last night with his first Warm Showers host. Out of curiosity I said, “Oh really, who did you stay with?” And he said, “Brad.” And I said, “Hey! That’s where I’m staying tonight!” Gotta love the funny coincidences that happen on the road. As usual, the meeting ended with wishing each other well and we resumed our respective rides.

The remainder of the ride TO Rochester went by without incident. The ride THROUGH Rochester wasn’t as pleasant – no major incidents to report but lots of traffic lights (mostly red) and construction … including one section that directly interfered with my route. I won’t lie, I was a bit unimpressed. However, I improvised and snuck across the construction area undetected.

The aforementioned Warm Showers host, Brad, lived up to the review that Jim has passed along. A great guy to talk with, very generous with both his time and home, and a whole lot of great stories too.

We ended up going out for supper at Chen Garden where the veggie dumplings and General Tso chicken were more than a little bit delicious. Side note: Does anyone know how to ACCURATELY pronounce the “Tso” of General Tso? There seems to be more than a little uncertainty. In hindsight, I probably just should’ve asked. I’m pretty sure I always say it wrong. Did I mention the General Tso chicken was excellent? And the veggie dumplings? I’m not sure but I don’t think I’ve ever had dumplings before. Although, now that I type that, maybe I have. Either way, I certainly have now. And will likely do so again.

Fast forward a couple of hours.

After returning from his first (and highly anticipated) daddy/daughter dance, Brad and his daughter were heading out for ice cream and asked if wanted to join them. I’m pretty sure the answer to the ice cream question is always yes. It certainly was my answer tonight.

The ice cream establishment in question was Tom Wahl’s. You’d think after all the time I’ve spent on the road I would be smart enough to always take a camera with me. Then again, there’s plenty of evidence to indicate that I may not be as smart as I’d like to think I am. Anyway, had I taken a camera I would’ve taken a picture of the list of flavours available and asked you to guess which flavour I selected. However, since that’s not possible let me just say that I think it’s a bit of no brainer that I opted for “Death by Chocolate”. And while I didn’t die consuming said dairy delight, if I had I think I would’ve been alright with that! That said, “Death by Chocolate” ice cream is an excellent way to end a day. And a blog update.

Today’s totals:
Distance traveled: 81.12 km
Ride time: 3:45:10
Average speed: 21.61 km/h
Maximum speed: 37.73 km/h

Oh … one more thing. This is ENTIRELY and COMPLETELY unrelated but I forgot to mention this yesterday (and the day before). For those that are curious (re: my bike), I opted to switch my standard front rack and installed the low rider for my front panniers. I figured, why change something that I know has had favourable results. And so far so good. Although, so far the terrain has been pretty flat so speed wobbles haven’t entered my mind.