Day 44: Syracuse to Herkimer NY

I think we all have a lot of experience getting up on the wrong side of the bed, but what do you do on a day when you get out on the right side of bed?  With respect to this cross country bike trip, I had that day today. But more on that in a minute.

We had great weather again at the start today -- blue sky and 65F with a slight morning breeze.  I stuffed  my wind breaker back in my luggage before loading it onto the truck.  I neglected to buy Gatorade the night before and I started to fret a little about buying some in time before our group went off.  But before it got into a full-blown fret, I heard a Jedi-like voice say "You don't want Gatorade.  You want Coke."    I objected thinking "No, wait, I always use Gatorade in one bottle and water in the other. I want Gatorade."  Again, the voice said calmly "No, you want Coke today."  Still being impressionable at age 58 -- especially when dealing with instructive statements from a disembodied voice -- I thought "OK."  So I ran back into the hotel, bought a Coke from the vending machine, and dumped it into one of my bike bottles.  I was ready.  A quick systems check on bike and body indicated all systems were go.  And that surprised me, because never have all my systems in the morning been go at the same time on this trip.  I felt loaded for bear and I wasn't even planning to hunt.

Getting out of Syracuse was a little more straightforward than getting in last night, but because of our 1 hour later start, we jumped onto a busy road right at the time tardy workers were speeding to their jobs on a Monday morning.  It was a bit stressful at first, but traffic became lighter after we moved beyond the business sections of the greater Syracuse area.  I stayed with Michael, Michelle, and Tim again this morning for the first 12 miles or so.  It helps being in the sight of others in town when there are lots of twists and turns in the route.  The speed stays relatively slow and serves as a nice active warm-up before one LAUNCHES A  FULL-ON ROAD ASSAULT TO HERKIMER!

Yup, that's what I did.  That's what the Jedi was telling me would happen.  I had energy and focus from the start and was ready for a different ride.  A fast ride.  And a fast ride requires fast fuel -- Coke with special assistance from periodic Honey Stingers and water.  From the time I left my start group, I dedicated this ride to driving my legs into submission and making a physiologic deposit into a physical discomfort account that will accrue interest in the form of neuromuscular adaptation.   It was a training ride consisting of several individual time trials of 10-25 miles each with interruptions only to buy more Coke or water, or to take an occasional photo.

It wasn't about history, scenery, or meeting people today.  It was about feeling physically strong and simply putting that strength to the test.  And that's OK once in a while.

Early morning around Mile 5 -- traffic is light

Around Mile 12 -- traffic is lighter

Around Mile 17 -- traffic is lightest

Mile 25 in Canastota NY -- Erie Canal on left

I will have a beer here one day.  With any luck, a pie fight will break out.

CrossRoads Day 44 Google Earth image and Elevation Profile
Syracuse to Herkimer NY

Progress Map
(Black = progress-to-date; Blue = planned route)

Tomorrow (Jun 24) we ride 78 miles to Albany NY.