Day 7 – Little Falls to Amsterdam, 44 miles

Word of warning – this post rambles a bit more than normal.  Looking forward to a good night’s sleep I am.
Second to last day and I still haven’t told you about the gear we are carrying.  You know that Bruce is pulling Dax and I’m pulling a Bob Trailer.  The boys are each carrying these Ortlieb panniers.  Bobby has the smaller set and Terran’s are slightly larger.  These are great bags, waterproof and highly reflective.
In one of Terran’s bags he is carrying all our bad weather gear.  Rain coats, rain pants and windbreakers.  These needed to be in an easy to get to location if the the weather turned on us.  Thankfully we didn’t run into anything that necessitated us using any of this (except for windbreakers a morning or two) but you know how it goes – if we had not brought it with us, it probably would have rained every day.  In Terran’s other bag he carries our food items.  This includes bars, drink mixes, etc.  Again easy to get to on the trail.  Bobby carried our toiletries in one bag (all contained within individual small bags within a packing cube) and one of the big packing cubes containing clothes you see below.  He also got a few pairs of shoes shoved into the bags as well.
The packing cubes you see above were an idea I came up with a few weeks before the trip.  I knew we needed a way to keep our clothes organized and separated as we would be in different rooms each night.  These are the Eagle Creek packing cubes – the ones that allow for separation between clean and dirty clothes.  We already owned some and used them pretty regularly for other trips, but I went ahead and ordered bags for the kids too (conveniently in the colors we already use when assigning the kids’ things).  They look pretty full here, but honestly it’s mostly because we had just done laundry so nothing was compressed yet.  Everyone got two sets of biking clothes, two sets of normal clothes, a lightweight hoody and extra socks/underwear and something light to sleep in.  Oh and everyone has a pair of shoes (not in the bags).  That’s it.  As it turns out we’ve been able to do laundry a bit more than we were expecting so maybe we could have packed even lighter. Anyway, most of those bags go into my trailer.  The red/yellow bag on the end is an Arkel. Each of the boys has one of these on their bike as well.  One carries tools, the other just extra stuff we might have on a day to day basis.  Bruce carries the first aid kit and extra tubes in the bags on the WeeHoo.

Ok so that’s the gear.  Hopefully I haven’t scared too many of you away and you’ve hung in for the funny stories of the day.  It was a beautiful morning and after a quick breakfast (McDonald’s  – hey it was next door) we were on the trail only to stop about 4 miles into the ride because we saw this: It’s the Herkimer Estate and a history teacher we met a few days ago told us we would pass right by it so to be on the look out.  Herkimer was a brigadier general in the Revolutionary War.  We jumped off the bikes to take a quick look around. We even got one of the kids to take a picture of Bruce and I – something that doesn’t happen often enough. And look – a family shot as well.   We got back to riding after that.  Around mile 12 I had a bit of excitement.  Bruce and Bobby had stopped to pee so Terran and I rode ahead.  About a quarter mile up we hit a patch of sand that was deeper than it looked.  I had my foot out already and was trying to stop my bike, but when the trailer wheel hit I could no  longer control it and went down in what Terran described as an “ungraceful attempt to leap off the bike.”  Thanks kid.  I was fine and he helped me back up and we walked our bikes through the slop and then waited so we could warn Bruce and Bobby as they came up on it.  After realizing I had gone down Bruce stopped to make sure I was ok.  The conversation went something like this:

Bruce – You ok?
Me – Yeah, I’m good.
Bruce – You sure?
Me – Yup, was a pretty soft fall.
Bruce (looking intently at my shoulder) – Come here…
Me (leans towards him and shows him my arm) – Ok
Bruce slaps my arm which produces a rather loud WHACK.
Me and kids – blink blink blink
Bruce with a rather sheepish grin – Yeah, you had a bug.  Nothing to do with the fall. Uh, guess I should have said something.
Me and Kids double over laughing until Terran manages to straighten himself up and in a pretty good mimic of his father, pretends to slap my shoulder and says, “Good Job Soldier!”
Cue much more laughter.

Anyway we were back to riding after that.  Here’s a peek at the part of the trail we are on now.
We stopped for lunch in Canajoharie.  You know you’re eating where the locals go when the first question they ask most anyone who walks in the door is “Do you need a menu?”  They just handed them to us, btw.And very lamely I have no pics from the rest of the day.  We kept riding the trail until we hit pavement just outside of Amsterdam.  I should note that for about 4 miles we were on a section of the trail where they apparently allow horses.  The trail was full of pits from their hooves and not really fun to ride.  The last half mile to the hotel was ALL UPHILL.  And steep at that.  We all walked.  And in fact we jumped hotels as well.  When we got the top we were staring at a motel, and the place were supposed to stay was still another half mile away but past the interstate exchange.  No thanks, especially since we’d have to ride back through it again in the morning.

To make up for not riding up the hill we somehow found the energy to walk down into town, only to order pizza and ask them to deliver it back to our room but to please give us a head start as we were walking back.  Yup we walked those hills twice.  At least the second time was without bikes.

Albany tomorrow.  Last day of the ride.  Current plan is to go straight to the hotel and drop gear, then ride the bikes to the Hudson and back to complete the ride.  We’ll let you know how it goes.

Day 6 – Rome to Little Falls, 39.4 miles

No pictures of the morning, it was pretty routine.  Get up, breakfast, pack up and roll out.  We caught a lucky break finding nice paved path leading us to the trailhead, so not as much time on the road first thing as anticipated.  We were on the trail for most of the next 15 miles when we had to make a railroad crossing.  They weren’t kidding about walking your bikes across.
After we crossed it seemed as good a time as any to stop for a few minutes.  As we were applying sunscreen and refilling bottles, a couple that was easily in their 70s passed us by on their bikes – clearly out for a few hours of riding.  Made me wonder if future Bruce and Heidi will still be going on adventures.A mile or so past this we got to cross another Lock and from there it was a few more miles into the outskirts of Utica where we passed pizza joint after pizza joint before finally settling on Burger King.  Nothing amazing, but quick and familiar at least.After the stop we were on somewhat busy streets through Utica and then Mohawk.  Folks in Mohawk were friendly.  Many waved or honked and a few even shouted greetings.  Then it was up and over a bridge and we were on NY 5s for quite awhile.  I managed to take this quick shot and thought all the boys were poking their heads out, but I guess I missed it.  I kept dreading the end of the today’s ride because I knew it came with some elevation and folks, my legs are TIRED.  I never got off my bike though and rode every single one of those hills today.  The family only had to wait for me, oh, three or four times.  My boys seems to be able to power up anything while I slowly make my way up the climbs, sometimes at 4 mph, while repeating over and over in my head “I’m still faster than a walk.”

We made it into town and got checked in – two rooms on the 2nd floor with no elevator.  That was fun.
Snapped this cute shot.  Daxton decided he needed to do some maintenance on his bike once we arrived.  He worked on it for about ten minutes before declaring it was fixed. Turns out not much is open in small towns after 5pm on a Sunday except more pizza joints.  We opted to hit the grocery store instead where we were able to get some made to order sandwiches and in a bit of a splurge and to add some fun to the evening we decided to taste test the new Lay’s Chips flavors.While all of them certainly tasted mostly like what they claimed to be, the clear winner was the truffle fries followed by the Reuben.  Now you know.  Mostly I’d say don’t waste your money on any of them.

Tomorrow is a bit longer but should be mostly trail.  Can’t believe we’ve only got two days left.  So far we’ve gone 296 miles, about a hundred left depending on how we decide to handle things in Albany.  More on that in the next update.

Day 5 – Syracuse to Rome, 42.7 miles

This morning was pretty amusing.  As I was getting Daxton all suited up – fastening his helmet and helping him to put on his biking gloves he looked at me, smiled, and said, “Well, it’s time to go to a new hotel.  It’s going to take a long time.”  Guess that just about sums up this experience for our 4 year old.  He has been remarkable this entire trip so far and we’ve been somewhat surprised by how engaged he has been on the ride.  In general our mornings start like this, 2 trips to bring all the bikes and gear down from the rooms to the parking lot.Getting out of Syracuse was easy enough if you count having to cross a major intersection (think highway on ramp) with no crosswalk.  Thankfully it was light controlled.  It was two miles until the start of the trail you see below.  We only had 38 miles to go to get to Rome.  We just had to beat the rain forecast to begin in the afternoon.Most of the trail was again the chipped rock surface we’ve been riding on and off the whole trip.  The only real difference was that for some reason it was incredibly dusty.  Poor Dax was covered in white dust.  But then again, so were the rest of us.  Stops were brief, again due to the pending rain.  We ate lunch in Canastota at a place called The Toast.  They were fantastically quick and we were back on the route within an hour.  After that it was two more quick stops, one at a park just to refill water bottles and then again at this lock just outside Rome.It got a little exciting coming into Rome.  Terran just barely clipped a post as he rode past it but it was enough to send him off balance and he had a pretty good spill.  He’s fine and we’re teasing him now, because if he hadn’t fallen we would have made to to the hotel by 3 (our goal) but instead we pulled into the lovely Quality Inn at 3:07.  The good news is that while we did see a bit of rain, it was mostly a light sprinkle and we absolutely beat the worst of it.

I took the following picture on the way to dinner because this is pretty much what I see all day, except they are on bikes, of course.  Good ol’ mom, she brings up the rear most times.  Dinner was a caribbean joint about a quarter mile from the hotel.  A very slow quarter mile.  My quads are so tight even Dax was making fun of the way I was walking.  It was worth it though as the food was just the kind of comfort dish we were needing.  So now we’re back at the hotel, doing laundry and watching yet another Harry Potter movie.  Dax and Bruce are playing a 4 year old’s version of checkers and I’m sitting her updating the blog.  Across the street there is a free concert and some fireworks but in the end we opted out.  Tired legs are tired and we’re enjoying the rest.  Tomorrow is another short day but with a fair bit of riding on the road in the morning.  For that reason alone we’re glad it’s Sunday.  Hopefully we won’t see a lot of traffic.

Day 4 – Seneca Falls to Syracuse, 51 miles

Trying hard to think about what to say about day 4.  Don’t get me wrong, it was overall an enjoyable day – just nothing like I was expecting really.  This morning I spent some time trying to get the two guys touring on motorcycles to trade bikes with us.  Not surprisingly they opted out.  I also took this photo of Bruce’s and my bikes sans trailers and we laughed at how much easier this ride would be if we could take the bikes out like this instead.
Today’s ride started with a lot more vertical than expected.  The topo maps we’re looking at are apparently quite deceiving or outright wrong.  I fought up as many hills as I could but in the end had to walk up the last bits of just a few of the hills – mostly when the grade had a rapid change mid-climb.  I’m not upset about it though.  My goal is to finish the ride and not blow out my already somewhat gimpy left knee.  Most of the morning we were on the road, usually with a decent shoulder and at least coming out of Seneca Falls cars generally gave us wide berth which is highly appreciated.  We only stopped for quick rests, pulling over as far as we could and generally under the shade of whatever tree was nearby.  I did mange to snap this shot of Terran as we entered Mentz. Lunch was in Port Byron at this ice cream/grill place.  I amused my kids by buying a t-shirt sporting the local high school’s logo at the grocery store located next door.  Go Panthers! After Port Byron we rode trail that looked like what you see below, or worse.  In some parts it was very narrow, more like a dirt bike path than anything else.  For a bit we were pretty much running through people’s backyards.  We stopped just a few times.  Once to put on bug dope since we were pretty much riding next to a swamp and the bugs were out in force.  A second time because Bobby got stung by some evil bug and we wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to have a reaction.  As luck would have it we had just ridden past a fire hall so we figured better safe than sorry.  He’s more than fine btw.  I don’t think we stopped more than 5 minutes. We took a longer break just on the outskirts of Syracuse.  Right next to the trail was this beautifully maintained set of benches as a memorial to one Bryan McNeill Place.  Beautiful and shaded and just what we needed. This may come across as one of those crazy upside down pictures for some of you again.  Still trying to figure that one out.  Anyway, we took this shot and plan on sending it along to the friends and family who maintain the area as a way of saying thank you.The rest of the day?  Not going to lie, it was mentally taxing.  Coming into Syracuse proper and winding our way to the hotel was a bucket of not fun.  Here I’ll let Bruce tell you about it:

Syracuse is not a bike-able city. Parts of it are, but vast stretches of it are downright hostile to cyclists. No shoulders, no crosswalks (?!?!), and generally screwed up roads make for rough cycling. When you add in to that we’re a 5 person train on 4 separate bikes and at the end of a grueling 50 mile ride, things will not go well.

I load our routes in to my Garmin 810 through MapMyRide. MMR barfs out GPX files which are basically a set of GPS data, not actual road info. The Garmin REALLY struggles with this data and is constantly chirping at me to make a U-turn, go off route, and sometimes to just go back to the beginning. It’s difficult to use it as a navigation aid in an unfamiliar city, especially a place like Syracuse at Friday rush hour.

Side note: There was an organized Erie Canal ride last week.  Someone apparently went out ahead of that ride and marked the route (including guidance on food, dangers ahead, and turns. Since the start of the ride, there have been marks on the road that we’ve been able to generally follow to stay on our route. In Syracuse, those routes were great to help keep us on course… except that course is hilly. At the end of the day today, hilly was our enemy.

Long story short, we’re at the hotel and all fine. However, my attempts to follow my GPS, reconcile differences between the GPS and the marks on the road, minimize hills, and answering the “How much farther?” questions lead to a lot of stress in the group. We’re better now, but there were some slightly heated moments in downtown ‘Cuse 😉

Heidi here again.  Things to know:  Bruce is amazing at leading us through this.  My kids are impressing me each and every day and there is constant encouragement in some form or another.  Once we reached the hotel moods lifted almost immediately and we were lucky enough tonight that there was a restaurant right next door.  Now we are all tucked in and watching one of the Harry Potter movies on tv.  Not a bad way to end the day.