DAY 48

ROUTE:Syracuse,NY to Little Falls,NY	DISTANCE:85 miles	WINDS:Calm
WEATHER:Heavy misty fog early	TERRAIN:Relatively flat	CLIMBING:1600 feet

Friday, July 23rd. Today was the greatest biking day EVER! We weren't sure at the start that the weather was going to cooperate...shortly after take-off we encountered dense fog that dripped like rain off our helmets. Luckily we never really got soaked, just damp. The route was along really nice, predominantly flat roads, and all indications were that it could be a really fast day. The thing is, none of us really felt like pushing today and instead we kept the group (Tim & Kathryn, Mason, Bill, Joyce, Steve, Michael D., and me) at an easy pace of 15-17mph. With a tough day coming up on Sunday, it was probably a good idea to notch it down a tad and let our legs rest. I've heard several riders mention how tired their legs are, and I can relate! We had lots of turns that took us through several small towns. We also rode by a portion of the old Erie Canal...if we rode by the new one, I missed it. :) The backroads today continued to be lined with small farms and large houses. We're seeing fewer and fewer corn fields, and more horses than cows. Mason kids me about the fact that I've clucked at every horse we've passed since June 6th! We had a "sacred" SAG stop in the parking lot of a beautiful church in Canastota,NY, at mile 31. Our lunch stop today was in the town of Westmoreland (I think that's right!). Bill had quite a few members of his family (including his beautiful 96 year old mother!) waiting there with signs and balloons, and a television crew was there to interview him. Exciting stuff! The owner of the diner where we ate made a donation to the American Cancer Society, the organization for which Bill is raising funds. Isn't that cool?! :) After lunch, Bill's brother Chuck and sister-in-law Jackie joined us for the last 30 miles to Little Falls. Before we even got to lunch, Bill had this idea that when we started out with Chuck and Jackie we'd tell them that we were going to start out really slow, let them start pedaling, then suddenly blow by them. Sure enough, we let them pull out first, get ahead just a little ways, then we raced past at 21mph! The looks on their faces were priceless! Jackie got the last laugh on the first hill though...she blew by Kathryn and me like we were standing still! :) Joe and John caught up with us, and we made a watermelon stop at Jim Palermo's veggie/fruit stand. Jim himself even took pictures for us! Closer to Little Falls, we made a second snack stop at a Hersey's ice cream stand. Well, we had to give Chuck and Jackie a good taste of a day in the life of an ABB rider, right?? Oh yeah...Mason is also quite the celebrity today! His picture and an article about his fund-raising for the Army Emergency Relief Fund appeared in the Syracuse paper this morning. Tomorrow we ride 83 miles to Troy,NY, our last night in the Empire State before entering Massacusetts. The weather is supposed to be sunny and less humid, and the climb is only 1600 feet. Should be the best cycling day EVER! :) Thanks for checking in!

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