Golden day

August 16, 2021

Last night we got to Boonville and cleaned up. We wanted to try and get our reservations for the next week. We decided to order pizza for dinner. We called and they said they were busy and wouldn’t deliver for at least 2 hours. It was 7:30 and starting to get dark and there weren’t many options for food. Ross volunteered to ride 1.5 miles to Subway to bring us food. This is not the first time that Ross has done something like that on the trip. It makes us proud that he had turned into a man of compassion and concern of others.

We start the day by going to Dunkin Donuts for egg sandwiches and continued efforts to make reservations for staying for the week. After about an hour we are drained and start our ride for the day. The weather is sunny and cool. The first part of the ride is on back roads, then we are on a state highway for 10 miles, another small road for 12 miles and then the rest is on the state highway. There is lots of climbing on these roads. On the first small road Ross stops and talks to a east to west tourer, Dan. He is riding from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and hopes to get there by Sept 22. He is traveling very light and hopes to ride 100+ miles each day. He is an example of what I am seeing in a lot of younger bike tourers. Travel very light and do high miles per day. Us old timers with our front and rear panniers appear to be going out of fashion.

After 20 miles we are in the town of Old Forge, NY and stop at a deli for lunch. After lunch we take a back road for 12 miles. We meet a couple out for a day ride. I didn’t catch their names. The husband is very excited about our trip and rides next to me and we talk about my trip and previous trips he has ridden. Unfortunately for me we were on a hill and I was trying to keep up so we could talk. I haven’t worked that hard in a while. Finally I told him I had to stop and wait for Janet. After about 5 miles he comes riding back to us and tells us he is in a rental house just up the road and we can stop in if we need the bathroom, or something to drink or want to put our feet in the lake. We tell him we appreciate the offer but we have to get to our destination. We are starting to run into more people who want to give us assistance. These people are called road angels and they are greatly appreciated by bike tourers.

We are camping tonight at Golden Beach CG. At the last grocery store we get supplies to make our dinner. Golden Beach is a nice quiet campground but a little mosquito-y.

Tomorrow we have a reservation at Schoon Lake in a motel.

Logistics session in Dunkin Donuts. This picture exemplified our logistics sessions. Ross is deep in thought trying to figure out where we can stay. Janet is on her phone contacting places. I am not helping at all.

In Old Forge they named a bike trail after me. One of my nick names is Tobie.

Dinner tonight. Un- seasoned raiman noodles with a can of dinty Moore beef stew.

Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 3,573 miles (5,750 km)

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