Almost Home Then On to Boston
Saturday June 22, 2019. Hamburg, NY to Victor, NY. 90 miles
Ascent/Descent= 3,448/3,636 feet. Cumulative= 3,168 miles
Sunday June 23, 2019. Victor, NY to Syracuse, NY. 86 miles
Ascent/Descent= 2,587/2,720 feet. Cumulative= 3,254 miles
The past two days have been a sort of homecoming without really getting home. We enjoyed nearly ideal cycling weather both days, leaving in the mornings with temps in the low 60's, but with clear sunny skies so that only a biking jersey and bike shorts were needed, and never becoming oppressively hot.
Both days,biking into Victor which is very near my home in Canandaigua, and biking on to Syracuse,
I was joined by members of my biking club, the Thursday Night Men's Club. Saturday Jeff Thomas and Steve Simpson, were delivered to our hotel in Hamburg by Steve's wife, Patty, who had to get up before 5:00 AM to drive them. On Sunday, I was joined again by Jeff Thomas, as well as Al Shepardson, and for the first 15 miles, by Peter Bud, who had to leave to help his son, Mike, who was moving into a new home.
On Saturday as we pedaled east on US 20, I heard a familiar voice yelling my name from a passing car. As we descended a hill a short time later, My sister-in-law,Sandy, and my brother John were standing by the roadside at the bottom with a sign that read "My Hero, Jeff Page". We stopped to say Hi and had our picture taken before traveling on and encountering Sandy and John a few more times, en route to Avon, NY for our second SAG stop at the Avon Fire Department. Not only did Sandy and John join us, but there son, Mike, his wife, Marie, and their two sons, Drew and Colin. It was tremendous to have them turn out to give their support, and to see them all.
There was only one downer, Saturday, another rear tire flat. Well, one on Saturday and two on Sunday, all occurring late in the day, after the second sag. I was glad to have the help from my TNMC buddies to fix the problems and provide moral support. In addition to their physical help, Jeff contributed CO@ cartridges for a couple of the flats and Al provided a more appropriate size inner tube for the last flat, hopefully providing the magic to stop this string of flats. I should also mention that my Sunday flats made us late getting to my hotel, where Al's wife, Martha was waiting to take both Al and Jeff home. My apologies, Martha.
When we arrived on Saturday at our hotel in Victor, John and Sandy joined us again, as well as my lovely wife, Kathy, and my daughter, Laura, her husband Simon and their daughter, Vera. Other than seeing Kathy in Erie,PA, I hadn't seen any of them in over 6 weeks, and they looked great. Many of the bikers were there to thank Kathy for the 3 kinds of cookies she had made to contribute to our SAG stops over the past two days. Also, there to welcome me was my niece Tammy's brother-in-law, Tom Henshaw, who says that he has been enjoying this blog.
My granddaughter Vera has been seeing Kathy regularly, but she was a little coy with me until Laura, Simon, Vera, Kathy and I went for ice cream. Not only did she sit on my lap while she ate her strawberry ice cream cone with sprinkles, but she helped me finish my chocolate malt, so I think we're good again.
At dinner, we were joined by my other brother Jim and his wife Andrea, and a little later by our oldest son, Nate, who had been working all day.
My good friend, Ed Hicks was able to drop in as we were getting ready to head out this morning
It was truly overwhelming to have so many come out to see me and give their support while I was in the area.
I was asked by many if I planned to actually go home while passing through the area, but I decided that it would take too much time that I needed to be ready to bike in the morning, and while I can't help but be anxious to get home, my first destination is Boston, MA and the Atlantic Oean to dip my front tire in the Atlantic.
Ascent/Descent= 3,448/3,636 feet. Cumulative= 3,168 miles
Sunday June 23, 2019. Victor, NY to Syracuse, NY. 86 miles
Ascent/Descent= 2,587/2,720 feet. Cumulative= 3,254 miles
The past two days have been a sort of homecoming without really getting home. We enjoyed nearly ideal cycling weather both days, leaving in the mornings with temps in the low 60's, but with clear sunny skies so that only a biking jersey and bike shorts were needed, and never becoming oppressively hot.
Both days,biking into Victor which is very near my home in Canandaigua, and biking on to Syracuse,
I was joined by members of my biking club, the Thursday Night Men's Club. Saturday Jeff Thomas and Steve Simpson, were delivered to our hotel in Hamburg by Steve's wife, Patty, who had to get up before 5:00 AM to drive them. On Sunday, I was joined again by Jeff Thomas, as well as Al Shepardson, and for the first 15 miles, by Peter Bud, who had to leave to help his son, Mike, who was moving into a new home.
On Saturday as we pedaled east on US 20, I heard a familiar voice yelling my name from a passing car. As we descended a hill a short time later, My sister-in-law,Sandy, and my brother John were standing by the roadside at the bottom with a sign that read "My Hero, Jeff Page". We stopped to say Hi and had our picture taken before traveling on and encountering Sandy and John a few more times, en route to Avon, NY for our second SAG stop at the Avon Fire Department. Not only did Sandy and John join us, but there son, Mike, his wife, Marie, and their two sons, Drew and Colin. It was tremendous to have them turn out to give their support, and to see them all.
There was only one downer, Saturday, another rear tire flat. Well, one on Saturday and two on Sunday, all occurring late in the day, after the second sag. I was glad to have the help from my TNMC buddies to fix the problems and provide moral support. In addition to their physical help, Jeff contributed CO@ cartridges for a couple of the flats and Al provided a more appropriate size inner tube for the last flat, hopefully providing the magic to stop this string of flats. I should also mention that my Sunday flats made us late getting to my hotel, where Al's wife, Martha was waiting to take both Al and Jeff home. My apologies, Martha.
When we arrived on Saturday at our hotel in Victor, John and Sandy joined us again, as well as my lovely wife, Kathy, and my daughter, Laura, her husband Simon and their daughter, Vera. Other than seeing Kathy in Erie,PA, I hadn't seen any of them in over 6 weeks, and they looked great. Many of the bikers were there to thank Kathy for the 3 kinds of cookies she had made to contribute to our SAG stops over the past two days. Also, there to welcome me was my niece Tammy's brother-in-law, Tom Henshaw, who says that he has been enjoying this blog.
My granddaughter Vera has been seeing Kathy regularly, but she was a little coy with me until Laura, Simon, Vera, Kathy and I went for ice cream. Not only did she sit on my lap while she ate her strawberry ice cream cone with sprinkles, but she helped me finish my chocolate malt, so I think we're good again.
At dinner, we were joined by my other brother Jim and his wife Andrea, and a little later by our oldest son, Nate, who had been working all day.
My good friend, Ed Hicks was able to drop in as we were getting ready to head out this morning
It was truly overwhelming to have so many come out to see me and give their support while I was in the area.
I was asked by many if I planned to actually go home while passing through the area, but I decided that it would take too much time that I needed to be ready to bike in the morning, and while I can't help but be anxious to get home, my first destination is Boston, MA and the Atlantic Oean to dip my front tire in the Atlantic.
Lovin this blog Dr Page...what an inspiration! We were in amazement when Alex had told Spicer, Joe, and Shea you were taking on this adventure. Whatta trip. Like Alex, I liked the post a few days ago about the flats. Been there with the flats before, but not on a trip like yours. It makes for a grueling and frustrating day, but you rolled with it as like any other day of the ~49 to get you from coast to coast.
ReplyDeleteJoe and I are ready for the MS charity ride from Boston to Provincetown this weekend, so I think we miss you coming into Boston otherwise we'd be there. Rough math says our 150 mile trip is a little less than 5% of your trip, haha. You're ride will certainly inspire us on our way. Hats off to you. Finish strong!!
-Sean Harrigan
Sean, thank you so much. Glad you're enjoying the blog.
DeleteGood for you and Joe, raising money for MS, and biking 150 miles. Awesome!
I never did anything like that at your age.
It's hard to do a trip like this while you're working; 7 weeks is a long time, but if it sounds at all like a good idea, make sure you do it. I'm glad Alex has friends like you and Joe and Spicer and Shea