Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Countdown to the finish line....

It's Wednesday already - we haven't had internet connection since Sunday so this will be short and sweet. We drove for 1/2 hour to find a place in Binghamton to find a library and we have to be back for supper by 6:00 p.m. or we don't eat.

Crossing back into the USA on Monday was the simplest border crossing ever. I won't give you all the details now but it went without a hitch. We had a great day weather wise and road wise on Monday and did our 125 km very quickly - the first 30 were to the border. We stayed in a campground that night which worked very well. Tuesday morning we were up bright and early again and on the road just after 7:00 - great weather again but we did have a tail wind for a bit and the terrain became very hilly - just a taste of what's coming the rest of the week. We again did 125 km. I've been masking a knee pain for the past few days with ibuprophen and decided last evening to switch places with Joe for today which I did. I don't want to land up visiting my chiropractor for the next month to get the problem fixed and with my hand still being numb which prevents me from using all my gears with my left hand, I thought it best to take at least a day off and maybe more. Al Karsten wants to SAG on Friday using Joe's van so Joe will get to ride on Friday again and I will ride in the van with Al - that day will be the toughest of the whole tour we've been told. The scenery is beautiful here in the Finger Lakes Area.

Wednesday morning had us up early once again - Joe had to get ready to cycle and I had to be on the road early to beat the cyclists to the first stop at 30 km down the road. Joe cycled with the ladies that I usually cycle with and had a good ride with them. I enjoyed my day on SAG and had to wait until nearly noon before the last cyclist passed me before I could leave and head off to camp. Met up with Joe et al a few times during the day. At the end of the ride we were met by the friendly folks at Valley CRC for snacks and cold drinks and tonight they are doing supper for us - serving us some New York State specialties - we've seen the menu and it's looking really good.

Those that have been on tour for the whole nine weeks have mixed feelings about ending this week - some can't wait to finish and others would continue on if they could. The weight loss some people have experienced is noticeable - some up to 30 lbs. in total. We'll all have to adjust our eating habits once we stop cycling. It will be bitter sweet for some - reality will set in for each one in different ways. We will be leaving bright and early Sunday morning with 2 passengers who have to be home on Sunday for commitments so that's fine with me as well.

Hopefully we will be able to post again before the weekend but we can't promise - depends where we are camped. Till later....

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