Byron, NY to Romulus, NY

Today we left the flat land of northern NY behind and entered the Finger Lakes area that has more rolling hills. There are 11 finger lakes and are very long and narrow lakes that were formed by glaciers. They are very deep. Seneca Lake, which is the one we camped at for the night is over 500’ deep. We are camped at Sampson State Park, which was a former military base during WWII and they tested submarines in this lake. The base and park are about 10 square miles. We heard that the area is completely fenced and is home to a large protected herd of albino deer, which we did not see.

Today I had my first mechanical problem with my bike. My rear derailer cable broke. For the first part of the ride, we had very hilly country and quite a bit of climbing. As I approached the 60 mile mark, it broke. I was almost to a CR church sponsored lunch stop and managed to pedal into it. The people there looked in the phone book and wrote down a couple bike shops and phone numbers for me. One I had passed some miles back and the other was in Geneva, about 12 miles ahead. With the cable broke, the chain was stuck in the smallest, hardest to pedal gear. The people told me that the terrain was not as high of hills into Geneva. I took a chance and pedaled for there. Julie was off as a SAG today and she was at the lunch stop and followed me to Geneva to make sure I made it. I had to pedal at about either 18 or 24 mph and made it in great time. At the edge of town, I called the bike shop and they told me how to find them. When I arrived, they told me to go to the back and a tech immediately took it and put my bike on a repair stand and got to it. I was out of there in about 30 minutes with it repaired and a few other adjustments done. He told me I needed a new chain, but did not recommend putting that on now if I was returning the wheels I am testing for Bontrager. So, I will wait on that until I get home.

The time is winding down on the tour. We have mixed emotions on that.

Love to all, P & J.