Week 1: June 9 - June 15
Cape Cod, MA to Sodus Point, NY
This week's photos
Week 2 journal
June 9
They left Coast Guard Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore by 10 am,
heading for Miles Standish State Park. It seems strange to think that the
first days will go through three states, and further on in the trip it may
take three weeks to get through one state. A biking friend, Gary, has
joined up for the first week of the trip.
"today was the absolute best that i could expect... considering wind and
weather conditions. that was good news, because the route sure gave us
some challenging moments. biking on the cape is great on the rail trail,
but nerve wracking in traffic! it's also very hilly off the trail. we
got off route a few times... nothing serious, except for the fact that
our route took us onto some dirt roads. riding recumbents on dirt is no
fun... so with some backtracking at the end of the day, we finally made it
into camp at myles standish state forest having traveled 68 miles rather
than the expected 55! we did get showers and a hot meal (pasta) for
dinner so we'll be comfortable tonight in anticipation of a longer day
tomorrow. notice that i'm typing this all in lower case... the pocket
mailer is very convenient... in some ways... but very cumbersome for
entering text... i'm afraid that my skills as a touch typist will be
ruined after this trip! i am entering this by typing "hunt and peck" with
my thumbs... if you can believe it! it's getting a little too dark to
see, so i will close this first installment for now. so it goes..." ---ez
June 10
"well we made it over the bridges at and around newport! however, i would
not do it again. the traffic around newport was nerve wracking and even
the jamestown bridge, which is mentioned in the rhode island biking map
and guide as rideable was a very white knuckle time. it turns out that
the sidewalks on each side of the bridge are very narrow... about 3 feet
of clearance. also, the support posts for the guard rails are on the
sidewalk side of the path, so every 8 feet, or so, you run the risk of
clipping a pannier on them and going down... very risky! to top it off,
going down the other side of the bridge, coasting with a cross breeze, had
to be done braking constantly, since the possibility of a bad spill
increases as your speed goes up.
on the positive side, the most unknown part of the day, namely how we were
to hook up with the jamestown-newport ferry could not have gone smoother.
we arrived in newport's harbor area in a crush of people and luckily
spotted the ticket and boarding area...with the ferry in dock, empty, and
about to leave in 5 minutes. we had the entire boat to ourselves and the
bay was amazing with sailboats everywhere...including a huge catamaran
called the "play station"... obviously subsidized by sony...complete with
their logo.
once over the jamestown bridge, the ride through rhode island was both
beautiful (in the flats) and draining (in the hills around exeter). we
had to abandon our plans of making hopeville pond by nightfall...and
instead were lucky enough to meet up with a very helpful man who steered
us to our present camp: wawaloam :) quite expensive ($40...with PAY
showers). in spite of the cost, we are grateful to be here after a very
long day! so it goes..." ---ez
June 11
"today we left wawaloam dreading a big uphill climb out of the valley in
which the campground lay. but it wasn't that bad at all! however, the
rest of rhode island and eastern connecticut was a very draining series of
ups and downs. we stopped home in manchester, rather than in west granby
as we had planned. to be honest, so far we have gone 210 miles in three
days, exactly the average of 70 miles a day that i had hoped... but the
beginning days were supposed to be fewer miles per day to give us all a
chance to get used to the effort.
i think the toll is showing in our reduced daily average speed... 11.9 to
11.0 to 10.8
steve's achilles is paining him... a situation that causes me some
concern. we shortened the boom on his stealth today in the hopes that it
is a solution. my own achilles has yet to start acting up... thank
goodness!
we decided against taking the stove along. it seems that there are ample
opportunities to get a decent dinner late in the day as we ride here in
the eastern half of the us. later on, out west, the situation might be
different...and i'll consider having the stove mailed to me, or purchasing
one at that time.
i'm not sure it was a good idea to stop at home after the third day. the
conveniences around here, including the sumptuous meal at gary's house is
in stark contrast to the life style we have lived only briefly over the
last couple of nights, and can expect to live for the foreseeable future.
i think that we've decided to ease up on the miles until we start feeling
less stress going over the hills... so our plans to reach pittsfield
tomorrow are probably over-optimistic.... we'll see. so it goes..." --ez
June 12
"well, here i am in great barrington, ma. today was one of the best
days... relative to how i was physically able to cope with riding. no
more up and down of eastern connecticut... rather we were fairly
constantly moving uphill, as we are now on target for crossing the
berkshires tomorrow. it was mostly cloudy in the morning with a constant
wind in our face. i was able to cope better with the ride than the heat
of the sun has allowed me to do the last days. western connecticut is
quite beautiful and at this altitude (1770') it is slightly behind the
connecticut river valley on the path to summer. we rode thru a snowstorm
of cottonwood seeds today and i know the "cottonwood seed season" of
manchester has already come and gone.
tonight we are staying in a motel... a rare treat... but we thought that
we could use the psychic boost that comfort provides before we head across
the hills tomorrow. all told, the 68 miles we traveled today were some
of the best i've done so far.
on the down side, i thought i detected a twinge or two in my achilles
tendon as we grinded our way out of winsted. i hope that it was my
imagination... from past experience, if that condition flares up again,
it would not be pleasant.
just got back from dinner at friendly's... another bonus of credit card
touring! steve said he could get used to this... and started to point
out all the extra weight we wouldn't have to lug if we gave up the idea of
camping totally. on the one hand, i recognize that the satisfaction of
crossing the country by bike, for me, is principally the idea of doing so
under my own power, so camping is not an essential component of that
satisfaction... on the other hand, i don't know if the budget would
survive without a significant percentage of camping factored in. steve
and i figure to have some lively discussions on this point in the next
five days as we make our way to buffalo, which would be the last
convenient opportunity to reduce our luggage. so it goes..."--ez
June 13
"today was a beautiful day for riding... so much so, that we are back on
schedule... such as it is ... and are spending the night in amsterdam,
ny. we traveled 82.8 miles today averaging 11.7 miles an hour.
considering that we officially crossed the berkshires into the hudson
river valley, that is what i consider a good day's work.
tho the day was beautiful, it was not perfect. traffic thru albany along
central ave. to and thru schenectady was incredibly busy. we arrived in
albany at 11am... just around lunch time on a work day. the heat started
baking us then and got worse as we entered the afternoon and the sun
started moving into our faces. we were making great time tho, and were in
good spirits when we made it into our motel at 3pm... 9 hours after we
started out from great barrington.
i thought i'd repeat a comment that i sent in reply to a message regarding
photographs... unfortunately the camera i have now is a regular 35 mm, so
there will be a delay in getting the pictures developed, scanned, and
published to the site. also, photo ops while riding a bike are rarely
something i want to take advantage of. mostly because i have to stop
the rhythm and momentum in order to do so.
by the way, i saved a life today. while riding along the busy route to
schenectady, i came across a turtle intent on crossing the street. i had
to stop our trek and pick the nomad up and carry it off into the woods
about 100 feet off the side of the road. maybe i just gave it a stay of
execution, tho, since if for any reason known only to turtles, it MUST
cross that road at this season to satisfy some basic urge, then i'm sure
that even now it is making it's slow way towards its destiny. in some
weird way... maybe i am turtle-like in attempting a slow crossing of an
at-times very treacherous land... hmmmmmm. so it goes..." --ez
June 14
"today is flag day, which explains the thousands of flags that we have
passed on the way through a number of small towns here in the mowhawk
valley.
we traveled an easy 89 miles averaging 13.3 mph. we got scorched
again... i'm going to have to get some more sun block soon... because
we're using it up at a frightning pace! steve especially needs it,
because he doesn't like the cyclist's tan lines that he has at his ankles
and legs, so he's taken to riding with his socks rolled down and his pant
legs rolled up. in fact, due to the fact that he shaved his head before
we left, i've noticed some definite markings on his skull from the vents
in his helmet!
we're holed up at a great koa campground in the rome/verona area. it's
run by a gracious and sweet lady named marge. she's been in the business
for 25 years! ...as long as i've been in the computer business. marge
was having some problems with her printer in the camp office, and i helped
her out. in return she was willing to let us use her car to go out to
dinner! ...we declined her generosity, but she is a perfect example of
the kindness of most folks we meet out here on the road. earlier we spent
some time in the company of peggy, a very helpful and inquisitive person
at the erie canal village. in fact, it was she who directed us on our way
to this spot that we'll call home for the next few hours. most people,
especially kids, are fascinated by our recumbent bikes and our plan to
ride them across the country. at the moment we are having fun telling the
same story about our travels to many different people over and over
again... but i wonder how long it will be before we start making up
stories just to keep it interesting for us...;)
i just was talking with matt and his sister madeline, who live in montana,
and are traveling back to cape cod to visit friends and family... they
had moved to montana from the cape about 3 years ago. in fact, i took a
picture of marge and matt out on the porch in front of the office, and
eventually it should make it onto the web site. but, to continue about my
conversation with matt... he said that we'll need a lot of sun screen out
there, and that given the choice of riding in the hot sun or riding in the
rain, he recommends the sun, because the lightning is awsome in the storms
they have out in montana... i can't wait. so it goes..." --ez
June 15
"after i sent yesterday's journal entry, i remembered that a significant
event happened to us which i had failed to relate. we got our first flat
tire... or to be more accurate, i got the first flat on my front wheel.
it took me 12 minutes to repair it... (steve timed me)... and i used a
glueless patch. what reminded me about the flat was the fact that when we
got ready to hit the road this morning at 5:30am i noticed that the tire
was flat again! i thought this was unusual, since i had ridden 50 miles
on it since the repair, so rather than waste precious cool-time, and redo
the patch, i simply pumped it up again and hoped it would get me another
50 miles today. well, i was right, at exactly 50 miles, the tire went
suddenly flat again! this time i used a rubber patch with glue... and
have learned the lesson that glueless patch technology has a ways to go
before my confidence in it will be restored!
we got cooked again today with temperatures in the low 90's. this was an
extremely long day... 92 miles, starting at 5:30 and finishing at 4pm. i
would like to point out that just as we can count on the friendliness of
the people we meet, we can also count on the fact that any information
they give us related to distance or road conditions or weather or stopping
places is invariably wrong. on the way to sodus bay, we stopped to buy
some cookies at a roadside stand... (note... these baked goods stands
are always open only on fridays... why is that?) the cookie lady advised
us that a huge lightning storm was coming in off lake ontario this
evening. well, we thought that was a good reason to look for shelter
indoors tonight. the cookie lady was kind enough to point out the
location of a b&b only a few miles out of our way, and called to confirm
that it still had vacancies. so instead of stopping at the campground
nearby, we traveled about 10 more miles over some appreciable hills to
find the b&b... with no one at home and a "no vacancies" sign out front!
we tried calling some motels on the other side of sodus bay to try to set
us up for the night, and all we got was answering machines! eventually we
got in touch with a hotel in sodus point, the man said he had rooms, but
no one would be around until 5pm! we decided to ride the ten miles around
the bay and wait til someone could check us in, but when we got there...
the hotel looked like it was about to collapse! all the rooms were on the
second floor with no air conditioning and a bar downstairs which we
learned later was somewhat rowdy... with at least one gun shot fired in
its past!
luckily, right across the street from the hotel was an impeccable b&b, the
"silver waters", at which we are staying tonight, with our bikes securely
locked in the garage.
one final note... after checking into the b&b... we checked out the
forecast for tonight and discovered that the cookie lady was wrong, and we
actually could have camped without threat of atmospheric pyrotechnics! on
the positive side, we are 20 miles closer to rochester, so tomorrow
promises to be a relatively easy day. so it goes..." --ez
This week's photos
Week 2 journal
