All that climbing I’ve been doing this past week or so takes a whole bunch of downhill miles to undo. And I undid them today.

Once again I slept poorly even though my room could not have been better. At six, I walked down the hall to the breakfast room. I was pleased to see some decent food for a change. I had scrambled eggs, sausage links, two bowls of Cheerios, and three cups of coffee. I grabbed an apple and a banana for the road and got to work.

The first half of the day was a repeat of yesterday: a slight downhill grade for miles and miles interrupted by a few, short climbs. I had a steady tailwind, too. The skies were overcast but not threatening. Temperatures and the relative humidity rose gradually throughout the day. Temps topped out around 80 degrees.

This is Amish country. I dodged horse poop and saw horseshoe marks and cart tracks in the road all day. At one home I saw a girl, about four years old. She had on a dark bonnet and dark dress that covered everything except her hands and face. She looked joyless.

The woods are now broken up by homes on big lots. The houses looked lived in, in some cases they are run down. Winters are hard on houses up here.

I cruised through West Leyden and down into Osceola on the Salmon River. The climb back up was a thigh burner. In Redfield I stopped to refuel. A chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich revived my blood sugar levels.

I continued through Orwell (again!), Richland, and Pulaski. I arrived at Port Ontario, my planned destination, after 51 miles. It was 11:45 a.m.

I went into a gas station convenience store and had a slice of pizza and an iced tea. If I walked across the road, I could check into a motel (vacancy sign displayed). I thought this would be a waste of a good afternoon of riding so I decided to continue on to Fulton where there is a Motel 6.

I was seriously thinking of riding down to the Syracuse area for better lodging options. If I did that I’d wouldn’t bother returning to the Northern Tier route, opting to take the Erie Canal west instead.

I thought it would be a good idea to see Lake Ontario before turning south so I rode a mile north to Mexico Bay Beach. I had ridden about 52 miles to this point.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

I re-assessed my lodging options. Either ride off route south to Baldwinsville and get a room at a Microtel hotel or continue on the route and stay at a Motel 6 in Fulton or find something on route beyond Fulton.

Fulton was the closest at around 70 total miles but its hotel had scathing reviews online. Nope.

Baldwinsville was 31 miles away. Maybe.

I checked places after Fulton. A B&B in Fair Haven wanted over $240. Not gonna happen.

I tried a hotel in Walcott not realizing how far away it was. They had a room in an old building above a bar, like Raquette Lake. It was $50. I took it.

Now to get there. Wolcott was another 52 miles away.

Texas. New Haven. The road was back to having rolling hills. The wind was now at my side or in my face.

Once I committed to the room I stopped thinking about the day’s total mileage and focused more on the minute by minute business of the riding.

I arrived in Fulton and stopped at Byrne Dairy, a gas station with a convenience store and deli. I ordered a turkey sandwich. It was HUGE. I could only eat half. I saved the rest for dinner. (I did this yesterday but never took that half eaten sandwich out of the mini refrigerator. What a tip for the cleaning crew.)

Granby Center, Hannibal, Sterling, and Fair Haven were separated by rolling hills.

Finally, after 103 1/2 miles I arrived at Wolcott. The hotel gave me a room on the third floor. I checked in and lugged The Mule and my stuff up to my room. My legs were seriously spent.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Today was my first century on a tour since 2018 when I did 132 miles in North Dakota.

I cleaned up and went to the bar. It was a smoker’s bar. Everyone in it was smoking a cig. There must have been 20 ashtrays in the place. All of them had been used. Ugh.

I went for a walk and found a grocery where I bought a few things to complement my sandwich. I sat at a table in the hotel’s covered porch and ate as rain fell, watching small town America pass by.

My target destination for tomorrow is Sodus Point on the lake. It’s about 13 miles away from Wolcott so I’m at reassessing my destination. With rain in the forecast, I have a Warmshowers request for Pittsford on the canal near Rochester. In any event, finding a hotel should be easy.