Beano

My daughter worries that I have become obsessed with my digestive system, but I am not alone. I am sitting in the lobby and one of our older riders (Cliff, who has a reputation for ignoring the directions on the route sheet) said that he planned on buying surgical masks for the riders who had been complaining about his gaseous emissions. I remarked that (1) fart jokes never get old, and (2) isn't it amazing that the gas level seems to be declining in recent weeks. Our digestive systems seem to have adapted to the huge loads we have been placing on them. Linda and Greg are sitting next to me as we all try to take advantage of the very local wireless internet (not available in the rooms). Linda commented that she thought Greg's system was slow to adjust. This led to a discussion of products that relieve gas. E.g., Beano.

This is just one example of the kind of special bond that we have formed over the past 6 1/2 weeks.

Paul's right that I didn't enjoy the heat and humidity today. I got a late start and wasn't much interested in riding with the very slow people I passed so I mostly rode alone. It was incredibly humid and then very, very hot. That would have been okay, but the route was also dead boring. The above picture of the world's smallest chapel (in Oneida) was the most interesting thing I saw.

One of the drawbacks of a cross-country tour is that the route is mostly determined by expedience, rather than things you might want to see or places you might want to go. The Finger Lakes are close to our route, and they are just gorgeous. Upstate New York is full of scenic vistas. We didn't see any of that. Mike says that there will be some vistas tomorrow. Woo hoo!

On the positive side, Betty's Diner, where I stopped for lunch, was also pretty cool. The diner had moved four times in it 50-year history, but I bet the menu hadn't changed much. It reminded me of my childhood.

Yesterday was a nicer ride. We rode along the Erie Canal for a while and that was very pretty. (Paul skipped that because he doesn't like riding on gravel.) We also saw some nice little towns. And tonight we are staying in a hotel that is actually in a working downtown--Little Falls, NY. We even had a pallatable dinner in the hotel. I won't ruin this happy tone by mentioning the very busy railroad that runs a few feet from our hotel room window.

Tomorrow we start at the crack of dawn. Today we started early because it was going to be hot. Tomorrow it is going to be much cooler (yeah!) and there's supposed to be rain in the morning. One might think it advisable to sleep a little longer, but one would not be thinking like America by Bicycle. The last time we got up early on a rainy morning, we waited around for an hour or two until thunder storms passed. One might have learned from that experience. But learning is not a feature of this tour either. (Riders have several times complained about particularly bad accommodations or food and been told that there were similar complaints in years past. I do not plan to put a lot of effort into my ride comment sheet at the end of the ride.)

In five days, I get to sleep in my own bed. Past 5:30am. Yes!

Cheers,

Len