Yesterday we had a good 84 mile ride from Liverpool
(Syracuse), NY to Little Falls, NY. It gets hot in the
afternoon but the roads were pretty good and we had no
problems.
Little Falls, NY is a prime example of the problem
that afflicts small town America and particularly
upstate New York. It’s an old, small city that was
once bustling and had some impressive buildings for
manufacturing but has fallen on hard times as the
manufacturing has left. Now the community is
struggling to maintain itself and keep things from
becoming too decrepit. I don’t have the answer but
it’s a sad picture.
Today we biked about 82 miles to Troy, NY. Troy is
about 20 miles from our country house. It’s odd to be
in familiar territory. It starts to sink in that we
have really come all of the way across the country.
The weather gods really cut us a break today. The sky
was ominous when we left the hotel. We tried to put as
many miles behind us as early as possible. When we
stopped at the first scheduled refreshment stop the
sky looked like it was going to open up. There was
rolling thunder and a bit of lightning. We actually
outran the storm and avoided all but a few drops of
rain. By noon the weather was bright and sunny.
Much of the ride today was on a designated bike route
(along side a road) and a dedicated bike trail. It
made for smooth, fast riding.
Tomorrow we bike to Brattleboro, VT. That means
climbing into the Green Mountains. It will be a change
but at this point we know we can do it. It’s a matter
of completing the journey safely.
Marie almost spent the night in jail due a multitude of violations of local ordinances.