The Tour de Southern Tier
Jul. 24th, 2006 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbrayWith the bike trip looming on the horizon, my friend Stacey came up this weekend so we could train together.
Saturday's forecast was for scattered showers followed by heavy rain & thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we got up early Saturday to try and beat the rain.
We rode around here for a bit to stretch our legs, and then headed out to Owego. Stopped at a small park by the river for a snack, then turned for home. Stacey jinxed us by mentioning the R-word, so just as we left Owego the skies opened up. We're nearly an hour from home, so we put on our rain jackets and kept pedaling. The rain went back and forth from heavy to blinding sheets, and the bike lane flooded. Everything was wet--my shoes were so soaked it felt like my feet were in bowls of water. At one point we passed a gas station and thought about trying to wait out the storm, but decided to just suck it up and keep riding. My glasses were so rain spattered that I couldn't read the street signs to catch the turn we needed, so instead of residential streets we wound up going through Endicott via Route 17C (fun!) on our way home. Sadly this meant we missed the final hill climb I'd planned, but Stacey didn't seemed bummed by this.
Got home, threw the soaking bike clothes in the wash and set a fan in front of the bike shoes to try and dry them off while we got cleaned up. After shopping for a digital camera and new hiking shoes, we went to the Lost Dog for dinner with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jennifer_dunne and then crashed at home watching the Tour de France.
Sunday morning we rose even earlier. It was only in the low 60s we we set out, but we warmed up quickly. This time we went on my favorite ride--out to the airport, down through JC, then back up over Robinson Hill Road before looping around for a few final hill climbs. The last set of hills were climbed slowly, as we kept calling out to each other.
"Canadian Rockies, what were we thinking?"
"Next year we're doing easy/flat."
"I need a motor. Or a tow."
"Maybe we'd bike faster if they put beer on top of each hill."
"Maybe we'd never leave the first hill."
"And that would be a bad thing?"
Then Stacey packed up to head home as I tossed more bike gear into the washer.
Now it's time for the final weeks of training on my own, plus putting together all the bike gear and other stuff I'll need for seven days of biking/hiking plus two days of travel.
Saturday's forecast was for scattered showers followed by heavy rain & thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we got up early Saturday to try and beat the rain.
We rode around here for a bit to stretch our legs, and then headed out to Owego. Stopped at a small park by the river for a snack, then turned for home. Stacey jinxed us by mentioning the R-word, so just as we left Owego the skies opened up. We're nearly an hour from home, so we put on our rain jackets and kept pedaling. The rain went back and forth from heavy to blinding sheets, and the bike lane flooded. Everything was wet--my shoes were so soaked it felt like my feet were in bowls of water. At one point we passed a gas station and thought about trying to wait out the storm, but decided to just suck it up and keep riding. My glasses were so rain spattered that I couldn't read the street signs to catch the turn we needed, so instead of residential streets we wound up going through Endicott via Route 17C (fun!) on our way home. Sadly this meant we missed the final hill climb I'd planned, but Stacey didn't seemed bummed by this.
Got home, threw the soaking bike clothes in the wash and set a fan in front of the bike shoes to try and dry them off while we got cleaned up. After shopping for a digital camera and new hiking shoes, we went to the Lost Dog for dinner with
jennifer_dunne and then crashed at home watching the Tour de France. Sunday morning we rose even earlier. It was only in the low 60s we we set out, but we warmed up quickly. This time we went on my favorite ride--out to the airport, down through JC, then back up over Robinson Hill Road before looping around for a few final hill climbs. The last set of hills were climbed slowly, as we kept calling out to each other.
"Canadian Rockies, what were we thinking?"
"Next year we're doing easy/flat."
"I need a motor. Or a tow."
"Maybe we'd bike faster if they put beer on top of each hill."
"Maybe we'd never leave the first hill."
"And that would be a bad thing?"
Then Stacey packed up to head home as I tossed more bike gear into the washer.
Now it's time for the final weeks of training on my own, plus putting together all the bike gear and other stuff I'll need for seven days of biking/hiking plus two days of travel.
