Feet Back On The Ground (or Pedals)

This morning began with mixed emotions. On the upside, my leg felt reasonably good when I woke up. It certainly wasn’t at 100%. And, sure, I hadn’t tested it on the bike yet. But I was pretty confident it wasn’t going to be a significant issue. On the downside, today I would be leaving Susquehanna Flight Park behind me.

That said, I’m pretty sure the biggest challenge of the day came before I even got on the road. And the challenge in question was actually GETTING to the road. As you may have noticed in some of the photos, the bunkhouse is at the bottom of the training hills. Which means my bike was at the bottom of the training hills. Which meant before I could hit the road this morning I had to get my bike to the top of the training hills. I won’t lie, it was NOT a pleasant experience. Of course, I anticipated this – I mean, considering the difficulties car and trucks had navigating the driveway, why would I think it would be easy for a bicycle?

I guess it’s somewhat fitting that two days after I had broken my “rule” of no motorized support, I would break my other “rule” of not walking the bike. Seriously though, there was no other option. Well, MAYBE I could have pedalled to the top if I unloaded the bike and walked my panniers up separately. But there didn’t seem to be much to gain by doing that. That said, pushing/pulling/willing my bike up to the road took significant effort – and perhaps an occasional burst of mild (and not-so-mild) rage.

When I arrived at the top, it was the first time I’d actually been there with my bike loaded up. The previous time it was in this location, my bike was in the back of Dan’s truck. Needless to say, a photo was necessary. As I was taking a photo a few cars passed by. Typically that wouldn’t be particularly notable but when one of the cars stopped, backed up, and the driver got out and asked if I wanted my picture taken in front of the sign, well … that seemed more notable. Of course, I said yes. We chatted for a bit before she got back in her car and continued on her way. Despite what you see in the media sometimes, there are a lot of good people out there.

As mentioned earlier, even though my upper leg wasn’t at 100% condition, I’m pleased to report that it didn’t interfere with my pedalling – the thought of pedalling up hills with a bad leg did not seem appealing.

Originally, I was going to head straight to Hancock from Cooperstown without actually pedalling into downtown Cooperstown. I realized that, even though I’ve been to the Baseball Hall of Fame a few times, not getting a photo at the Hall of Fame with my bike would be something I might regret – even if only briefly. And so, to the Hall of Fame I went.

Despite my dislike for mornings, I was on the road pretty early this morning. The pictures from the top of the flight park were taken around 7:30. By 8:00, I was on my way to the Hall of Fame. That schedule actually worked out really well because nothing was open yet so the main street was still very quiet. Good for taking pictures. Well, unless of course I wanted pictures of the hustle and bustle of a busy Cooperstown street. But I didn’t.

The main reason for my early departure though was weather related. The reports were calling for the winds to pick up somewhat significantly later in the afternoon. Since I had a somewhat long ride with more than a few hills, I thought it would be best to get as far along as possible before I had to fight the wind. And make no mistake about it, I’d have to fight it. Sigh, headwinds.

My plan played out somewhat as expected. The first half of the ride was pretty easy. The second half was pretty tough … and included the first real hills of the trip. Even though my legs are certainly getting stronger with each passing day on the bike, they’re still not quite hill-worthy yet. That said, I didn’t walk any of the hills – I just pedalled them VERY slowly. And used the granny gear.

Oh, and my bike MAY have made a distinctive sound shortly after leaving Cooperstown. I MAY have opted to ignore it. I mean, I knew that sound far too well. But the moment I heard said sound was the same moment I realized that I had left my spare spokes back in Ontario. I couldn’t fix the problem anyway. And so I just kept pedalling and hoped for the “best”.

In this case, the “best” meant a successful arrival in Hancock. Without a campsite nearby (at least none that I could find), I opted to splurge on a motel. As luck would have it, the Upper Delaware Inn was one of the first things I saw as I pedalled into town. As further luck would have it, they had one room left. I took it. And am glad I did.

As the evening is now winding down, I’m attempting to make arrangements for the next couple of nights. But that’s a story for another day – well, tomorrow actually.

Today’s totals:
Distance traveled: 121.47 km
Ride time: 6:10:40
Average speed: 19.66 km/h (I was SO trying to get to 20 km/h today)
Maximum speed: 54.51 km/h