Picking It Up

I am sitting in a church in Boonville, NY right now and no, don't ask me where that is because I have no idea. We pushed through the Adirondacks which was difficult but incredibly beautiful. Today was the first day we had without rain for a number of days which was fantastic; wet spandex, socks, and shoes are awful to ride in and to smell. It is amazing how much of a stench we as a group carry with us, every where we go smells terrible.

So getting back to the riding today was an 80 mile day, the longest one we've had thus far. Several of us managed to put together a pace-line which was fantastic, it really sped the process up. We were able to cover the 80 miles in about 5 hours and were the first people to the stop in Boonville. The pace-line is a long line of riders placing their tires just inches from the one directly in front of them. In doing this the riders in the back are able to ride in the draft of the first rider making it much easier to ride because there is no wind resistance. After the first rider pulls for awhile they drop to the back and the next person moves up - this continues as long as it has to.

Yesterday on the other hand was pretty rough. It was a 60 mile ride through the mountains the last 20 if which were spent climbing ridiculous mountain passes in pouring rain. The directions were wrong and we were supposed to stay at a camp site as well. Fortunately a local church offered us space which was great, every one was hungry, tired, wet, and angry. It was of course another town with no cell phone service and no stop light, but things should change over the next couple of days. We will be going downhill over the next couple of days and will be in the City of Rochester by Tuesday which is the largest place we've been thus far.

Nearly 400 miles on the odometer and only 3600 miles to go. From here on out the days we have will be at least 60 miles but on much flatter ground than we dealt with in the New England area. My body is also getting used to the abuse I inflict on it everyday.

For all of those that are curious I am getting enough to eat, in fact this trip should be called "Eat & Build." People have been so generous with their space, time, and food, it has been fantastic.

I will continue to post when I get a chance, should be getting Internet access in the next couple of towns. Keep reading and posting, I really like getting comments on blog messages.