Day 61 - Tom and Kriti - Joining the Fun!

We are on Day 61 and though we continue to make progress, there are times I feel like Kramer at the end of the AIDS walk.  There is always something around the corner looking to trip us up and there are days it feels like we are limping toward the finish line.  The next few days it will be the weather.  The forecast is for thunderstorms and 90 degrees with 90% humidity.  I’ve experienced these conditions a few times while on vacation in the West Caribbean but during those days I just grabbed a Pina Colada and watched the ocean go by from the Lido Deck.  Not riding my bicycle through it.   

Tom and his wife Kriti are friends of Lindsay and Kyle who will be joining us for the next two days to experience our adventure which is good news for Cheryl and I (misery loves company) but as the heat cranks up, they may feel otherwise.  They will be driving over from Connecticut.  I’m very happy Tom and Kriti have jumped on the coast to coast train.

Considering the weather, todays ride was actually pretty good.  No iPad in the backpack and I got in 67 miles to Delta Lake State Park.  I did get dumped on about 15 miles in, but it was fine as it kept me cool.  I crisscrossed the Erie Canal again which is always fun.  Freaks me out that it was built in the early 1800s.  As if the humidity wasn’t bad enough on the riding, it caused another minor issue I didn’t think about until I looked at the pictures I took today.  They all seemed a little foggy and I realized that it was because my bike pouch is like a steam room.  I need to remember to wipe off the lens! Geez.

There has been a lot of learning about ourselves this trip.  We like small towns, I like old barns and we like old school drive-in restaurants.  We visited another one today.  This time it was Nicky Doodles in Rome NY.  It's another family owned/operated restaurant (father/son) and unfortunately we didn't get to meet them today.  I will say, the Philly Cheesesteak was one of the best I have ever eaten.  Yes, I took a picture.  I guess taking food pictures is another thing I learned about myself!

Tom and Kriti have to drive 4 hours to meet us in Delta Lake State Park which is truly a commitment!  I decided to take this time to do a pre-emptive tire change on my front wheel.  The tire had been on since before the ride and I'm afraid it won't make it another 400 miles. Better to do it now with a beer in hand than with Tom watching me fumble around on the side of the road in the rain.   

Our guests arrived at about 8:30 pm after their long drive.  It took all of about 5 minutes for Tom to introduce me to a new bike routing program "Komoot."  Here I am, 9 days from the finish finding out about this cool tool.  Where was this 61 days ago?  

Our route is set and tomorrow we ride ~60 miles to Limekiln State Park in the Adirondacks.  None of the state parks have electricity (not allowed to run the generator through the night either) and the one RV park won't let you use the electricity to run your AC as their isn't capacity (what??)  It will be interesting.  Looking forward to a couple days with Tom and Kriti.  

Until then....