Hello from New York state!

After weeks of anticipation, we’re sitting here in Emerson Park outside of Auburn New York after a day of riding.

Charles and I left my house in Michigan at 7am on Saturday, headed for Cortland, NY for the start of the BonTon Roulet ride. We decided to go the northern route through Canada, and although it was the “fastest time” it sure felt long. Nothing but interstate, and there was construction at several points resulting in a lot of crawling along. We also stopped for breakfast in New Haven, MI and unfortunately for us, a large takeout order came in right before us, so it took forever to get our food, which set us back. We did make it by 4:45, 15 whole minutes before registration ended. Kris, Bill, and Cynthia were already there.

Once we got the car unloaded and stowed our stuff (we were able to camp in the indoor soccer field, so we didn’t have to take down tents this morning), we went to downtown Cortland and had dinner at a good Mediterranean restaurant.

It was an early night (for Charles and I, the night owls), as the lights went off at 10pm. I slept okay, better than Charles at least, who said he got about two hours.

The lights were back on at 6am, so we were up, and I was questioning all of my life choices and especially the decision to spend a week camping and cycling instead of staying home, sleeping in, and watching movies. But I was here so I carried on.

After breakfast and coffee I felt much improved, and we started off around 8 (luggage truck closes then).

It was a beautiful morning, no clouds and nice temperature. I felt strong, which was good, as it’s all rolling hills here. Old farmhouse and barns, some livestock, and cornfields were the course for the day. We had some beautiful descents as well.

The loveliness of the morning unfortunately came to a swift end just after we turned onto the park road for the morning SAG stop. Earlier I’d noticed that the jacket Charles had stowed under his seat was hanging a bit low, and told him we needed to secure it better at the stop. That was too far away for the jacket though. I saw it come loose and then quick as lightning get caught by the back wheel and chewed up into the chain and gears. We were moving slowly though and it didn’t cause a crash, but the rear dérailleur was sheared right apart. We suddenly had a very big problem.

Charles cursed some then hoisted his crippled bike into his shoulder and headed for the support mechanic (thank goodness for those folks). They had a new derailleur and chain, and Charles worked with the mechanic Ken to get his bike back to rideable. Unfortunately due to a mismatch of components, he didn’t have the top or bottom gear, and the ones in the middle aren’t great. We did the “regular” route of 42 miles, but he was having to be out of the saddle on the climbs. Definitely not ideal. Since it Sunday, no shops open either.

We got to camp around 1pm, and met Cynthia, who had done the regular route as well and had left the SAG stop far ahead of us (we were there for a long while). The advantage to that was getting a nice large spot under some trees and right by the showers and some power, large enough for all of our tents.

The three of us got cleaned up and relaxed for a long time, waiting for Bill and Kris, who did the long route plus some due to a slight navigational error. But we all regrouped in time for a good dinner (ride provided all week, along with breakfast).

Charles and I took a walk down the pier here at the park, which is on Owasco Lake and sat for a while enjoying the scenery. I’m very glad he’s here with me. It’s wonderful to have him and my friends here to enjoy this week of riding.

Although today’s issue was bad, and isn’t really sorted yet, it could have been so much worse if it had happened at speed. I’m very thankful that Charles wasn’t hurt. And we finished the ride and had a good afternoon and evening.

Tomorrow we’ll do the regular route and he’ll have to suffer with the lousy gearing. But the ride mechanic is going to call ahead to the bike shop in Geneva and we’ll go straight there. Hopefully we can get in early enough and they will be able to fix it better than it is now. Best to think positively.

Departure time is set for 7:30am, so it’s time for bed. Got to be ready to tackle whatever tomorrow holds!