Day 28 – July 14th

Today’s ride started out similar to the last several days, not with rain but with my legs feeling uncanny and fresh; they seemed to be aching to ride. Well there wish was soon granted as I climbed upon the rough trodden Trek and pushed on towards the goal for the day; New York.

56 miles into the ride, as I peaked one of the few climbs of the route, I thought I caught a glimpse of a massive expanse of black hiding just behind an extensive line of trees. Was that Lake Erie? I asked myself. Not knowing for sure, I continued on in hopes of getting a more up close and friendly view of it. A couple dozen miles later, all doubts were banished. Standing on the pedals to quell another hilly foe, I heard Gary shout from behind “I bet we can see it from up there.” There was no need to define ‘it’ as he could mean but one thing: the Great Lake Erie. Picking up the tempo I crested the hill and with soft green vineyards sprawling on both sides of the highway, I cast a brief glance over my left shoulder and finally beheld ‘it’ in all its massive glory. The waters near the shoreline far below showed a mixture of faint blues with patches of jade. Farther out, the lake deepened to a liquid black pearl with crests of white upon it. For as far as I could see the lake just went onward. It was astonishing in its sheer size. The description Great Lake is not apt to express the vastness of this body of water. Land-locked Ocean comes much closer to touching upon the truth.

As I crossed over the century mark for the day, I entered into the Empire State: New York. By doing so, both Ohio and Pennsylvania had been left behind and I was a couple of states closer to that great beckon of riders, the Atlantic. But recently, it is New York that has been on my mind. Having never been to this state, I was really excited about finally setting foot and wheel on its soils. As I pedaled into its borders, a strange excitement took hold of me and melted away the fatigue, limb weariness, and total body exhaustion as if they were nothing more than small lumps of wax. Casting a smile back at Larry, as he snapped a picture of this momentous occasion, my legs went into overdrive. Soon I was pounding out at 27+ mph. For the next ten miles I kept the pace up as Gary and I flew to our stopping point for the day: Westfield, NY. Even after I had climbed off the bike and begun our post ride routine (unpack the car, clean the bikes, get laundry going, drink a beer etc) my legs still wanted more. The pace into town was just a teaser and they wanted to know how much faster and how much longer could they maintain? 5 days is my quick response. Just 5 days more…