July 9th, 2013.

We left town a bit later than we had liked, but at least we were done with the Erie Canal trail.....we sure feel like we had a short nights rest. The roads of NY are very heavily traveled, even on the back roads. Thankfully they have had full 3 to 5 foot shoulders in the areas with the most heavy traffic.

I didn't take long and the hills hit. The steepness is something I have not seen anywhere other than south central Wisconsin. 10% grades are common, with some even higher. The climbs are usually less than 100 ft in elevation, but they get there quick. Also, we had been getting spoiled by tailwinds this trip...today was a headwind. It makes such difference, we had started to forget about it. Our typical 13mph stretches were down to 8mph.

We stopped for lunch after only having achieved 15 miles. Pathetic. Crawling up hills a 3mph sure isn't productive. We had a pretty decent lunch at the sub place, although Katie and I didn't like ours. It was solid meat, and quite greasy. The cookies were better.

A few blocks later, we got our first glimpse of Lake Ontario. We did not stop to read the plague, but a historical marker there designated a battle between the town and the British navy. Or so they claim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pultneyville,_New_York

We decided to add another 30 miles to our 15, giving us a 45 mile day ending at a state park that we had overheard multiple people raving about. 45 miles is cake....we will get there early and relax and party and have a fiesta!

Well, the wind continued, as did the hills. I will admit I was the slow one today. I just wasn't "feeling it". My body felt like it wasn't interested in biking, and was objecting to the late ending the night before. Then the rain hit. Shower, sun, shower, sun, and shower. 80 to 85F with 100% humidity. I was beaten.

On smaller hills like the first picture, I think Rog and I actually have an advantage with the trike. The quick momentum and extra weight help us pick up speed fast and carry it higher up the next hill. There is a perfect size to rolling hills where Rog and I catch the girls right at the top of the next hill. Today, most were too big for the trikes. We would pass the girls near the bottoms, and fly about halfway up the next hill. By the 3/4 mark the girls were passing us climbing at 4-6 mph while Rog and I tooled up at 3mph. After a few hills, the girls lead would be enough that they would stop and wait for us slow guys.

Lucky for me, I have two wonderful girls and a crazy old man that keep me going. They urged me on again and again, with help from a pit stop for fresh cherries and raspberries (I had mostly Pepsi and Pepsi) Kitchen's Country Market.

At snack time Katie confirmed something she discovered at lunch....she really likes something about Canada! Canada Dry ginger ale. She is now a fan. There you go.....Al!.

Leer boxes built and/or designed by Katies dad.

So, we screwed up. We rode past a nice, clean, cheap hotel, to the state park. Then we stopped and checked the radar. It looked bad, really bad. So we ask the park office where we would be camping and if there was any shelter or pavilions nearby. The lady had no idea. Our tent site was going to be a mile away, and the lady did not think there would be any place to hide or dry out. With rain foretasted all night and into the morning, we decided to backtrack 2 miles to the motel we passed earlier heading down into town. Normally 2 miles is nothing, but this was a climb I just wasn't needing. Fortunately, the skies opened up and it poured......cooling it down considerably....however we had a wet ride back to the hotel after waiting for the lightening to pass. I am not sure why, but I really struggled in the heat/humidity today.

Anyway, our motel is perfect. The owners are wonderful. I just offered Katie $100 for a soda. No luck.

This is bike touring. We are still having a blast and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else with anyone else.....but I am beaten today.