Time is running out...

One of the coolest things about living in a four season climate area is the frenzy with which the inhabitants celebrate good weather. I met someone who moved here from San Francisco and at the same time she was bemoaning the chill and length of our winter, she noted the vibrancy of spring, both botanical and zoological.
This weekend has been so beautiful that everybody and their mother is outside. Jumping in the fray, I determined to do a century
Traveling from Buffalo to Lake Ontario, along the shore, dropping down to Medina and the Iroquois Wildlife refuge near Alabama, NY, the dominant impression involved "where the heck were all these snakes the rest of the year?" Seriously. Tiny little garter snakes less than 6 inches long, sunning themselves along the road appeared about every 8 miles. Some were dead and the live ones were easy to avoid, but it was a little weird.
I had never been to this refuge. There was a sign at the beginning of the road I chose, which warned the bridge was closed 1 mile ahead. I ignored the signs; worst case scenario, I would have to come back. But really. How often are they seriously speaking of bicycles? Sure enough the bridge was ped only and crossed a really beautiful span of the swamp.

It was interesting to see the crops not yet harvested. Grapes-heavenly smell, cabbage, not so much, apples and soybeans, which it took me an astonishingly long time to recognize.

Such a beautiful day.

Which way now?

I am probably postponing my GDMBR ride until 2013, but it's not too early to work on some skills for that ride. Dwight and I joined a beginning orienteering session at nearby Chestnut Ridge Park, sponsored by Buffalo Orienteering.
I didn't realize orienteering is a sport; turns out it is a pretty cool one. They showed us how to use landmarks and a compass to find flags in the woods. The flags were marked on the map.




for the Great Divide Route this could be very helpful, since most guides suggest you bring topo maps.
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Checking out IPhone apps for cycling

Leyla has a much newer and NOT jailbroken iPhone, so she scopes out the app store.
Her newest find is called Route Loops. Supposedly you can tell it how far you want to go and it will calculate a route for you from your current location. Highly skeptical, we started out. This app gets a silver star rating for our one trip so far. It kept us on manageable roads and was not outrageously zig zaggy, but regardless of which direction we had travelled the loop we would have gone the wrong way down a one way street at least once.




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Cruising in Canada

Went out for a 40 miler with locals. Canadian customs is getting a little weirder. Not only do they change the rules, but the questions are getting stranger. Meanwhile, US customs are normalizing relations with their citizens. Odd twist.



Four of us traveled on the Friendship trail to Port Colburn, diverged onto the roads, then looped back to the trail. Blair showed me a new and improved way to get back on the Peace Bridge.




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Impromptu Minneapolis

6:45pm Minneapolis airport: Delta airlines asks for volunteers to lay over 24 hours, hotel and meals included, $400 travel voucher.
7:15- I'm all set and rescheduled for tomorrow, same bat time, same bat place.
24 hours in Bicycling Magazine's #1 ranked bike friendly city, and the whole day sponsored by Delta.
At the Mall of America Ramada hotel (which treated me just as well as if I had paid for the room), I used their public, very fast computer to look for cycling info and print 3 pages (no charge).
Results: a whole listing of shops renting bikes, info on obtaining path maps and countless links to further info.
Picked one close to the Hiawatha light rail.
9/3 6:00am woke, showered, packed, checked out, asked to leave my duffle, used the Delta meal vouchers for breakfast and lunch (Ramada packed me a box lunch) and walked the short distance to Mall of America.






7:30 jumped off at Lake to walk a quick 1 mile to Freewheel Bike Shop.





Amazing. They rent really nice carbon Treks- $50.
Problem- they have to put a hold on your credit card for the value of the bike. $1,400. Several years ago I asked my CC company to reduce my credit limit to avoid cc fraud. I am at that limit (set it pretty low, didn't I- thought I was sooooo smart). Called CC company- could they please up my limit? BUT OF COURSE! What a stupid question.
Crash couse on using a CO2 cartridge to inflate presta tubes. All new to me. No toe clips. At least I had a helmet and mirror. How embarrassing, I had to go back to the shop to ask how to shift.  Such an old school girl, with her bar end shifters, toe clips and steel framed bike.






Followed the Greenway Trail until I saw a likely candidate for a riding partner. Out for several hours, avg 17- 22 mph. Sounded plausible. Then he was joined by 3 others. Really lean guys. It should have flashed a warning. Didn't. First half, about 15 miles, well within my speed limits. Second half, not so much. On two occasions at least, they waited for me. No computer, so I have no idea how fast, but I would guess well over 20 on the flat. After about 5 miles they slowed down again, but a little off, I had to draft to keep up then. This group... maybe part of a triathlon team out of Urban Tri shop. They could have and probably should have kicked my Buffalo butt and dropped me. But kindness ruled. So sweet. I know, I know. But I really enjoyed myself.






After they finished, I kept going to cross the Mississippi into St. Paul, then back into Minneapolis, around "The Lakes" and back to the bike shop. I joined forces with a rider going the same way who knew the route. Such a pleasure. He went a more manageable pace. Kudos to the cycling community of Minneapolis. Very welcoming. I think I did 45-50 miles, but am guessing.
Compare Portland to Minneapolis: apples to oranges. One is more fabulous for recreational, the other maybe for all around commuting. Maybe. Both nice. What says you? 6 months in Portland, 6 months in Minneapolis. Would you like to guess which 6 months would belong to Minneapolis?
Full light rail train cars. On a Saturday.  And the trains had bike hooks. The amazement never ends.




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Galveston, TX hotter than...

We did 32 miles from Port Bolivar to Galveston in 105 degree heat; ah the memories of the Trans Am, eastern Kansas and western CO.



There was a ship that looked from afar as though not moving, until we got quite close. It created a large wave at its bow and I saw it hits something. As it happened again, I realized the it wasn't hitting something, there were dolphins jumping its wake. I love dolphins. You gotta eat and work, but you can have fun while doing so.



Afterword, we did what I wish we could do after a long hot day on the bike. We drank margueritas.

Kansas biking

Came all the way down to Kansas to visit a TransAm buddy. He popped a 60 mile day trip on me and we went out with two of his freinds. 60 turned into 72 pretty serious miles in 100 degree weather. I commented that it was impressive Bill has any friends when he subjects them to grueling rides. We all held up pretty well though.
Bill, me, Kenny, Mary Jo and SamO the dog.



Look out Kenny. That combine is a mighty wide load!




Cold drinks. In the sun it was probably over 100.



A tractor was slowly and painfully overtaking us. It struggled because its passing speed required almost 2 minutes to pass us and in that time a car would often appear from the other direction.



Nice day, nice people. Kansas.


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Finger Lakes day 5

Rained all night, but a good tent and good siting kept the water at bay (hahahaha, I am so funny). We ate a light breakfast, then made our way to Ithaca. Got into the coop satellite location and bought second breakfast, then visited the used bookstore, where we engaged in deep discussions about activism, cooking, books and life experiences. We spent a lot of time doing this, then returned to Viva for margeritas and lunch and jumped to Mate Format for coffee and to escape the rain. In the short interval between showers we dashed to the main store of the coop. Spending a lot of time checking out the goods, we then ate gelato and sorbet while waiting for the rain to stop. It never did and at 8:30 we headed out in the dark and rainy night to return to the CG. There we hung out in the pavillion with other groups trying to escape the rain., passing the time playing games and watching out the bat inside.


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Finger Lakes day 4

No hurry today. We will probably stay at Buttermilk Falls for three more nights, so I zoomed down the hill and go a new site assignment and cranked back up. Out of the 6 or so sites we had noted as being better and empty, only one was available.
Breakfast of rolls and pesto, carrots, pretzels and trail mix. We didn't get going until 11:30, but then had a good time again eating at the Farmer's market.





On the way to the science center we dried our clothes and afterwards tried to go to the coop. Downtown pretty much shuts down at 6 on Sundays, so we ended up at a restauant for dinner. We had stopped at a toy store to look over their games and picked up a bananagrams type gave involving numbers called Sodomoku, which we played during dinner. The restaurant was Mate and the whole group running it had long hair and were very hippyish. The food was fair, but the interior was what got us into the cool zone. Decorated with wood and branches, the place looked like the inside of a log cabin where people didn't have a saw mill to mill lumber. The branches were fitted together cleverly and the whole place had a skilled wood artist look about it.
We got back to the SP at around 8:15 and Jamie showed up. We were pretty loud, but quieted down by 10 in time for quiet hours.


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Finger Lakes day3: 36 miles

We had agreed to get up early and bolt to get to the Ithaca Farmer's market by 1 at the latest, so up at 6 and out by 7.
Breakfast was in Moravia at the Eatery. Yummy breakfast wraps and cinnamon muffins.
Rachel said the miles were easier and maybe we did mostly uphill yesterday. That may make for more of a struggle when we finally go back for the car. The descent into Ithaca on route 34 was a little hairy due to a very narrow shoulder, but the speed limit was 45 and we were going 30, so most drivers didn't get too upset, but we won't climb back out that way. The farmer's market was delightful and we ate a pint of heirloom cherry tomatoes, two scones and half gallon of cider. There were vendors there selling silk screened t-shirts, clay pots, hand woven baskets and canned foods like chutney. The clientele was interesting and varied, though more through lifestyle than income level. I answered an online survey about the short bike/ped trail we came in on and one question was about gender: male, female, other. Very nice.
At the Visitor's center we found out there is a large race at Watkins Glen and the whole area is filled up. The lady at the visitors center suggested we call the State Park's direct line to see what could be arranged, so this we did. The office told us they were full, but to call the park manager and in this way we spoke to Kathy. She squeezed us into an "emergency" site. So sweet.
Buttermilk Falls has no bike path directly to it, so we got dumped onto a high speed, high traffic, no shoulder road for a quarter mile span. We even went under a nice pedestrian bridge, but were later told there was no access to it and it went nowhere. Kinda stupid, considering there was a nearby bike path. Also, you can follow a low traffic road most of the way and if you know what you are doing you can go up a dead end to a tiny trail which leads to the park office. Really surprising that the bike paths and such are not better developed and utilized. Probably kind of a typical "not enough dedicated people" kind of thing. Some people are obviously working on it.
The road to the campground seems to go straight up. This is the first time I needed my granny gear and I couldn't get into it, so I walked a portion. Beautiful CG, quiet and small. We pitched the tent, dumped the panniers and rode back to Ithaca for dinner at Taste of Thai.


So yummy. Got back at 8:30, blinky lights a blinkin. Shower, Chill Out game and sleep.


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Finger Lakes day 2- 22 miles

8/12
Got up and lazed around after Patty and George left for work, then rode to the LBS and had them adjust Rachel's borrowed bike's derailleurs and rear brake. Truthfully I should have done these things before leaving, but time was tight and Rachel was suffering from a lack of gears. Breakfast then we were off.
I was busy misinforming Rachel about the farm knowledge Bill attempted to impart, when Rachel noted how it would be nice to have all that info in a little book. That's when it struck me: the Pocket Bill farm reference book- just enough Bill, but not too much.


Oats, soybeans, corn and hay fields abound. We saw several different types of combines, including one towing a hay fluffed (smile/wink).
We met a couple from Rochester while lounging by the side of the road eating pretzels. They introduced us to the maps generated by the Onondaga bike club of Finger Lakes routes.
Today rolling hills mostly, we mostly stayed off state routes.
In Moravia we stopped at a grocery for lunch/ dinner and shared a pint of Ben and Jerry's Steven Cobert. Waffle cone and caramel. Funny, but not as tasty as some. We also picked up 2 quarts of blueberries, cottage cheese, salt and vinegar potato chips, oj and carrots.
The 2 miles more to Fillmore Glen SP went quickly; we barely got a site because it was Friday, Showered, ate and played Bananagrams, of course. Rachel spent time creating blueberry people and eating them.





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Tiny tour- Finger Lakes in NY

8/11
Left the car at a used car dealer at the southern end of Owasko Lake, a small lake west of Skaneateles and east of Cayuga. Beautiful roads with some small hills and a little rolling of hills led us to Skaneateles at 7:30, 1 1/2 hours late. We were hosted by Elizabeth's parents Patty and George. Super sweet and very interesting to talk with. They have similar bends to us; nature nurturers, mindful of what they consume (prob moreso than us) and just thought-full/ thoughtful people. They fed us home-made pesto and squash from their garden.



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Biking in Ireland (though I am not)

Some observations about cycling in Ireland:

• The streets (all of them, urban and country lanes) are extremely narrow with little or no shoulder (except the highways).  In the country the visibility is often very limited by twisting roads and high hedges or stone fences. We are talking about sometimes 30 feet.
• Country speeds are quite high by US standards.  60 mph is the norm on these narrow roads
• drivers yield to cyclists every time, often to their own disadvantage or the curse of other motorists
• cyclists were seen under all circumstances, from narrow urban roads with trucks and buses to country lanes seemingly in the middle of nowhere, as well as on highways, were there were broad shoulders
• There were many touring and casual cyclists and hoards of commuters
• people obviously use their bicycles for transport every day, as most were outfitted with pannier/s
• less than half wear helmets and those wearing helmets were often on racing bikes
• most riders were adults
• riders were never observed being "squeezed" by passing cars
• some communities have identified cycling "routes"; Roundstone, near Galway seemed to have quite activily pursued the routes and been given extensive feedback by cyclists

Though cycling here is not for the faint of heart, I would likely return to bike Ireland, but would probably plunk myself (via public transport) down in a town away from the hub-bub of the few urban areas.  If I get the chance, I will look into and report how bike friendly the town to town public transportation is, for example if you flew into Dublin, how easy would it be to get a conventional bike to Roundstone?  Cycling in Dublin alone would be a fabulous way to get around (again, not for the faint of heart).

As for communications and routing, there are information centers in the major towns and cities.  AAA was useless to me when I contacted them before leaving.  t-mobile (phone carrier- US) was excellent, per usual.  They have poor service coverage in rural areas, but their customer service exceeds all.  They told me to remove the sim card on our smart phones, since roaming is impossibly expensive in foreign lands.  We asked them for an unlock code for one smart phone, a MyTouch and they gave us this promptly.  We bought a foreign sim card at an airport phone store in Ireland and the man there helped us through the install and activation, though we needed to play around with the settings ourselves (there are sooooo many models).  When the phone later locked itself, I used wi-fi and Skype Out to call t-mobile and they emailed us directions to unlock it, even though it was the foreign sim card which locked up.  Their info and the info on the sim card ultimately helped us unlock that sim card.  Kudos.

The GPS unit we paid extra for with the car is useless.  Possibly user error, it is really not smart or intuitive. The phone GPS (50 MB per day included in the phone sim) is quite good, especially in urban areas, and the maps are fine in the rural, on the occasions when the data fails. Map most often used (surprise, surprise) is a spiral bound "official" atlas.

Wireless- we are staying exclusively in B&B's, since a good deal, including the rental car, was available.  The wireless in these B&B's varies from poor to great, with most of it so far at the poor end.  At one B&B, I was forced to stay in our kid's room, next to the wall, to get a signal good enough to hold.
Finally, Skype Out is a worthwhile investment.  I think I pay $25 per year for this.  It allows my computer or iPhone to use wireless to dial US numbers without additional cost.  I called t-mobile and could call phones in the US at any time without any fees, since it all goes across the internet. People can't call me with Skype Out, however.

   
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GAP near Pittsburgh, PA

We spent the Fourth in Pitt watching fireworks from up on high.











I took Bill down to Pittsburgh, PA to start his trek down the GAP and C&O to return to his car near DC. Riding 15 miles from Versailles (near Pitt) brought back memories of the first time I did this trail. The GAP part at least is quite smooth and easy. We were doing 16.5 on its limestone without much trouble.
Though more of the path between Pitt and McKeesport has been completed, it is still not quite there. That group is sure working hard, though.

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Olcott to Buffalo

Up early, but slow to start.  We all ate breakfast at the cottage, then Linda accompanied us to Wilson, where we parted ways.









The trek to Buffalo was pretty uneventful, though interestingly, though I have gone to Wilson from Buffalo several times, again I have never gone the other way.  Bill whined about the only hill in this part of the country: the Niagara Escarpment.  I tried to tell him to look at it as a final challenge for this area; you are actually climbing Niagara Falls, for this is the drop which is the cause of that cataract.
We didn't even stop for ice cream, though we did about 50 miles.
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Holley to Olcott

As an asside, it should be mentioned that in order to keep myself close to the Amtrak two bag limit and also for me to be able to carry all my things in one shot, I elected to go without a sleeping bag. Looking ahead at the weather report, the lowest nightime temp was predicted to be 55. This turned out to be unwise. My bag is down and quite small, takes up only about 4
Times the space of the liner I did bring and 55 is pretty cool when lying on the ground. I repeat that last night I wore almost every stitch of clothing I had brought, including three short sleeved tops, smartwool bottoms, pants and rain pants, two pairs socks and my Gore jacket. Still cold. Still cold. Did excercises. Only helped for 30 min.
Lesson? It would be better to leave behind the second set of cycling clothes or bring an empty bag to bungie on the rack for food or whatever.
Despite this Holley was one of the most pleasant sleeping spots one could ask for.
We returned to town for breakfast. So pleasant.
The towpath is well kept, except for a small patch near Medina, which goes over a deep rivine and creek far below.
We watched them raise a bridge to allow a canal boat to pass. That boat and several others are obviously charters and looked pretty cool.







We got snacks and a bag lunch in Medina and parted from the path near Gasport.



This is Bill and Linda. People asked if Linda and I were sisters. Curly hair. I think Bill is very lucky to travel with two such lovely ladies.
We traveled up towards Lake Ontario and Olcott, always conscious of the chimney from the Somerset power plant. It reminded me of the prarie castles (grain elevators) of Kansas. You could see them for 20 miles, but they never got closer.
Nearing Olcott we found an ice cream stand. Having overshot our mandatory 30 miles, we gratiously accepted its siren's call.
We arrived at Linda's cottage and got to meet her parents before jumping in a car to drive back to Syracuse to retrieve Linda's car.
A grocery store provided us with dinnerous stuff so we could pretty much collapse on our return.





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45 miles, no ice cream

We headed into Macedonia for breakfast and possible laundry.
Sorry to be so negative, but how can they mess up a vegetable omlette? Put a really gross sauce on it with no herbs.
There was a beautiful empty cobblestone house. I am not sure I would call it abandoned, but the grass was two feet tall. Hard to believe that house would not sell.
Returning to the closed bridge, Bill suggested we use two people to lift each bike over the cable barrier and this worked fine.

The day was cool and overcast and probably never made the predicted 77. We met a few other touring cyclists, including one from Wisconsin. He had crossed Superior on the ferry and never had heard of Adv. Cycling.
Lunch was in Spencerport.




They could have gotten more money out of us, but offered poor service and uninspired food choices. The Ac directions through Rochester confusing and I was busy second guessing myself though I have been through there at least 5 times. I don't usually go in that direction.





Holley has a beautiful canalside with a camping area, but there was no bridge attendant to help with the access code for the shower and bathrooms. Going into town for ice cream, Bill talked to the town clerk, who called the bridge attendant to get the code!
Although there was no grocery store per se, there was a huge "mini-mart", from which we procured cheese, crackers and Mike's hard lemonade. The evening was completed by visiting a lovely falls in the nearby park. Loads of poison ivy deters leisurely strolls through the woods however.
Second note to self: too cold without sleeping bag. I put on every item of clothing, collapsed the tent's vestibules and put my panniers under my feet. Absurd in the end of June. A surprisingly restful night fraught with waking to make sure my full back or front was against the sleeping pad to maximize its warmth potential. But I didn't have to admit defeat by getting into Bill's tent!
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Contrasts 50 miles

A lovely start to the day, with moderate fog over Lake Ontario looking out from FairHaven State Park. It rapidly cleared while we breakfasted in town. There we met a couple from Montreal a few days into an extensive tour. They are going to be doing a Lonely Planet Guide to inexpensive bicycle touring.
The cafe had wireless, but some fool IT person told the owner that the name of the wireless network and password could not be changed. As a result, the network was generically named C390 and the password was about 25 characters long, including 15 zeros at the end. If she had had the password to get into the router, I would have fixed it for her.
We toodled up to Sodus Bay, ate local cherries and strawberry rhubarb pie



and got caught in a warm thundershower.







Unable to find a decent lunch stop in Williamstown, we grabbed sandwiches from a grocery. Bill picked up wine and local cheese and we got crackers for the evening.




Hopping on the Erie Canal towpath at Palmyra we headed towards Macedon to camp. Passing by the hiker/ biker campsite at lock 30, we tried out the marina, but there was no one in attendance. The bridge to it was barricaded, but I took off my two panniers and lifted the bike over the barricades. Instead of the marina, there was a huge set of ballfields and after a little searching and help from some soccer players, I located him and got permission for us to camp out. No showers, but clean flush toilets. The caretaker, Lorb Miller, managed to locate the person who locks up and the toilets were left open for us. So sweet.
Washing, wine and cheese and bed. Frogs serenaded us.

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Tiny Tour

Gave Amtrak another try. I haven't ridden a train in twenty years. The cost has been too high and I have memories of being unable to get a seat. But $27 for a single person to go 120 miles with the folding bike was too good to resist. No other bikes are allowed on trains without baggage cars and most trains lack those cars.
I would have had to make two trips to put the two panniers, the handlebar bag and bike on the train, because the angle of the steps and my inability to lift the bike one handed over my head would have made it impossible. Instead a porter at the top of the steps grabbed it and moved it to a stow area for me.
The train was 1:15 late to Syracuse, but otherwise it was a pleasant trip.
Bill picked me up there. He and Linda had arrived There after finishing an Atlantic tour.




50 miles from Syracuse we landed in Fair Haven on the shores of Lake Ontario. Beautiful sunset.



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Temp drop

This past Saturday I rode from Buffalo to Wilson on the shore of Lake Ontario. Leaving Buffalo, the temperature was cool and expected to rise to 80. In Wilson, 40 miles away, the temp never topped 68. Brrrr. On the way, I performed my smallest rescue yet. Any smaller and I would have thought it a rock.



That is my bracelet encompassing this tiny turtle. I passed it by, sighed and went back for it.

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Talking to strangers

Riding home from work, I passed a woman on a fully loaded bike stopped and on a cell phone. I just asked her if she needed a place to stay and she indicated that she needed a bike shipping box, so my family helped her obtain one, fed her and listened to her stories while telling some of our own.
I am always astonished how many touring cyclists don't know about warmshowers, similar to couchsurfing. If you tour and need places to stay, I would strongly encourage you to sign up. If you just love cyclists, you can host. In some way this allows you to live vicariously when not on tour. There is even a smartphone app for it.
In addition to shelter, warmshowers hosts often have the resources and or knowledge to help you figure things out.


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Festival time in Buffalo

Many visitors to our area comment on the joie de vivre of Buffalo's population in good weather. Festivals abound and the streets tend to be filled with people.
The Allentown art Festival draws thousands of people from the Upstate NY area. I was surprised at the lack of bicycles locked around the festival area. Maybe we just entered from the wrong direction. We had little trouble finding a place to lock up.
Here is a totally open rack with nifty adornments.


There is also a "locally owned" section of the festival. One vendor had bright green T's with "share the road" on them. Bought one, of course.

More cyclists than ever

This just in from the Center for Unintended consequences:
As Buffalo sees a surge in cyclists, it is beginning to be more dangerous to skimp on following rules. In the olden days (a couple years ago), slowing for a stop sign was always adequate. Now there is rapidly increasing chance that you will suffer from a collision, not with a car but another cyclist. The same things which make cyclists invisible to motorists are what makes bike collisions so likely. We roll up to a stop sign, don't see any large obsticles coming, so we keep going.
My daughter was broadsided by someone going the wrong way down a street. He assumed that since he saw no cars, he was okay as he cruised into a blind intersection.
The next day I was surprised by a cyclist when we ran through an intersection at a 90 degree angle from each other without stopping.
The day after that there was another similar incident.
Awareness needs to increase for all parties, but it is kind of a nice problem to experience, since it shows the vast increase in cycling traffic.


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Green Options

Like many cities, Buffalo has a number of reuse organizations and a few which concentrate on alternative forms of transportation; alternatives to driving, that is.
Green Options is the main one of which I am aware and it includes kind of a sub organization called Buffalo Blue Bikes. BBB's function is to take donated bikes and place them in densely populated areas where members can borrow them.
Today was a beer centered fundraiser. I volunteered to pour beer, which is maybe like putting me in charge of the M&Ms. But I don't really drink much; it just makes me less efficient. Here is a picture of the bike valet parking, which was increasingly popular as the day progressed. Yummy beer: Flying Bison.




Here is an image from a nearby commercial area called Elmwood Village. Note the mostly full bike racks.




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