Day 6 - Exhaustion sets in - The Long Way to Cleveland - CycleBlaze

May 20, 2023

Day 6 - Exhaustion sets in

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Colin BakerThat’s a very gradual grade, like something Out West.
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1 year ago

There is nothing worse than gear failure on a long expedition, and last night, my Klymit air mattress, which had performed great on my first night out, developed a leak and would not stay inflated. So there I was, trying to sleep on asphalt with only a half inch of foam under me, with the wind unrelenting all night, rain beating down on the aluminum roof and my hips getting sore from the lack of padding. Needless to say, I got very little sleep, and I wanted to be out of there before anyone came to question me. I now know where the term 'bleary-eyed' comes from. With another storm due to roll in later in the day, I decided to once again book a room at an AirBnb. It would mean a short ride, but a much needed rest. It's really a shame that I didn't sleep, as I was on the road at 6:45 and conditions had greatly improved for putting on some miles. But I have a very nice room in a Victorian bed and breakfast (with actual breakfast) at a price that is much less than what a motel would charge, if there was even a motel in the area. I checked in at 1:00 and immediately fell asleep on the bed.

Cute
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Colin BakerSleeping on asphalt is impossible. Back when we rode from Oberlin, we used foam pads, but we tried to find an an area that wasn’t too hard to sleep on. Plus we were young, which helps a lot. The best was the giant mountain of shredded computer paper at the local recycling facility we found in PA. We burrowed in like giant worms in our sleeping bags. Plus the guy who worked there made us breakfast in the morning.
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1 year ago
jim katzinTo Colin BakerColin, I often think about that night in the shredded paper. I think it was snowing by morning. It was very cold. And the old guy thought we were the young guys sent there to work with him.
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1 year ago
Colin BakerTo jim katzinI had forgotten that part about the young guys coming. So he was cooking the breakfast for them? And here I thought he was being nice to us.
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1 year ago
jim katzinTo Colin BakerThe way I remember that morning was that we were carrying a large Ziploc bag full of bisquick, and we made pancakes for the old man...
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1 year ago
Right out of Mooers, I began a 15-mile gentle incline to get over the Adirondacks. Long slow climbs like this are uncommon in the East - they're generally short and steep. This one was very manageable and I made pretty good time. Since I hadn't had my normal breakfast of instant oatmeal, I stopped at Sherry's Restaurant, which is located in a VFW hall near New York bike route 11. Sherry and her daughter, Debbie, manage the place, and were kind enough to let me stay as long as I wanted after finishing some French toast and coffee. So I rested there and talked with some of the locals, who Debbie described as rednecks. They were really just farmers, and the main topic of their conversation was who was getting contracts for windmills.
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A real gold mine.
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This is what the farmers were talking about.
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I thought I was in Altamont.
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Colin BakerMaine has a bunch of wind farms, either in Aroostook county, which is farm country, or some very remote areas in Maine where no one sees them. Farmers like the income and they don’t care about the views.
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1 year ago
Jonathan DyerThe more the windmills eat, the less you have to push through, Right? Sometimes the little fibs we tell ourselves help with the motivation.
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1 year ago
jim katzinTo Jonathan DyerIf only it worked that way. They put windmills in places where the wind is constantly blowing. I should learn to avoid them.
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1 year ago
I guess not everybody is impressed...
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Jonathan DyerOooo, just imagine this with cat-litter panniers… 🤔
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1 year ago
Just a reminder that this is pretty close to the border.
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Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 342 miles (550 km)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 5
Comment on this entry Comment 1
Lou KatzinI’m really enjoying the photos you choose to post. Great reading the descriptions of your travels and the people you are meeting, too.
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1 year ago