Well, our idyllic trip crashed today - literally. This morning one of our riders was involved in a bicycle - motorcycle accident coming out of the hotel and on to the road. Fortunately he is OK, but it was very scary. He ended up with a concussion and a few stitches, but we didn't know this until we reached the first SAG stop - 30 miles into the ride, so it was a pretty subdued group as we set out this morning.
It was a delightful route for the first half of the day - we followed a bike path that went along the Erie Canal. We rode right by a couple of the locks/lochs?, but I didn't see any in action.
The roads were busier today - (more people, therefore more cars...) and we had to travel one of the state highways for several miles. The ride was 5 miles short of a century and that made for a long day - though I was smart and stopped for a sandwich midway and right before the hotel found a great place for an ice cream cone. The weather got hot and muggy too - around 85 drippy degrees. Tomorrow it's supposed to hit 90 - yuc!
My biosuit is starting to act up a bit too. My knees have been aching for several days now (especially on the hills) - I'm using more ibuprophen to keep going - and today I had problems with my left hand. About 3/4's of the way through the ride I found I could not work the shifters with my left hand - it was like the shift levers were locked and wouldn't move.
When I got in I went to see the mechanics and they lubed the shifters and I cleaned the cable and I still could not shift it. Then Jim completely took the cable off and checked it all out and had me try shifting again. He could shift it, Cindy could shift it, but I couldn't shift it. Turns out the bike is OK but I'm broken! I've lost the strength in my left hand. I don't know if it is from fatigue, or pressure, or what. I'm going to try aspirin and ice tonight and see if I get any better tomorrow. If not, it's going to be a long day - I will only be able to ride in my middle chain ring - I won't have the strength to shift out of it!
Only 5 days of riding left and lots of mixed emotions. In some ways I want to keep going - this has been such a great experience, but I also know it is probably time to be done and moving on to the next adventure/chapter......
Tomorrow we head to Little Falls, NY......
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1 comment:
Sorry to hear about your hand. I'll see if G has any advice. Wishing you much strength as you complete this journey. (Elsa loved her birthday gifts...thank you!)
Love,
Sarah
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