July 6, 2005

Homeward Bound

We had first breakfast in town before we hit the road to avoid the hassle of eating oatmeal cooked with water from a motel coffee maker. The service was pretty quick at Kristen’s Café in Little Falls. We asked at the motel where we could get breakfast and of course they suggested their restaurant. When we said we wanted to eat where the locals eat they sent us to Kristen’s. We actually saved time as we got up at 6:30 and were on the road by 8:00. There was no packing of camping gear so that saved time as well.

Mohawk River Leaving Little Falls

As we started riding I started humming Homeward Bound by Simon and Garfunkle. I could only remember certain phrases of the song and would sing them to myself from time to time most of the day. “Home where my love life’s waiting, silently for me.” We have been on the road for forty days counting today and for sure I miss my wife Joan. I have talked to her on the phone every day but it’s not the same as being with her. I’ll see her in two days when we get to my son Jason’s in Salem, NH Friday night as the set up for the final twenty or so miles to the Atlantic Saturday morning.

The morning was overcast and cool when we started riding. Within the first ten miles it was fairly flat then the road started going up. About half way up one three hundred foot climb Nick’s wheel broke a spoke and we stopped at a farmer’s driveway to fix it. During the fix Bill Kalamar (the farmer) came out and had a conversation with Tim, as Nick and I were preoccupied with the wheel fix. Tim used their facilities inside the farmhouse for a nature break. Just as we were finishing up on the wheel the skies let loose so we suited up in rain gear and began riding. It rained fairly steady for the rest of the morning. Safety was not much of an issue in the rain as New York Bike Route 5 has good, wide, fairly debris free shoulders as I mentioned yesterday.

It was about 1:30 when we approached some construction entering Amsterdam we asked a flagger if there was any place to eat ahead. We were told that we could get some snacks at a gas station ahead, but that was it. To the right of the gas station back in an open parking lot was Hot Ham Diner. We all ordered breakfast. As I was taking off my rain pants I got a “whoo, whoo” from the waitress and the woman who was doing the cooking. They made some comment about my legs to which I replied, “That’s why we ride - - so the women will look at our legs.” They came back with something like “We like to look at them.” It was that kind of a place.

The rain had let up and all we had between reaching my sister Pat and her husband Jim’s house was Schenectady and an ice cream break in Rotterdam. Schenectady was one of the more difficult cities to get through as the roads were narrow, we had a number of turns to make, the traffic was fairly heavy, the city roads were pothole ridden, and there were no shoulders. We were vigilant and looked out for each other as we rode through without incident. Riding in those conditions requires full concentration and always being alert for potential dangers. Stay alert - - stay alive.

'Roughing It' at Dinner at Pat and Jim's

We were treated to a steak dinner at Pat & Jim’s. It was delicious. As I am typing this log entry Tim is talking computer talk with my brother in law Jim, and Nick is on the cell phone (as usual). OLN is on the TV so we can get today’s results of the Tour de France. Life is good.