Cycling from LA to Boston

Day 30: Amsterdam, New York to Keene, New Hampshire, 128 miles, 7072' of climbing. Today was a long day in the saddle, with not much wind to contend with, but with lots of climbing, rain off and on, and lots of little towns and turns to slow you down. They rode along portions of the Erie Canal, and crossed the Hudson River, then into Vermont at about mile 59, and into New Hampshire about mile 108. There was some great scenery. Beautiful granite church White marble church in Proctor, Vermont we didn't see :) There were some long hills up with good descents. But the theme of the day was one rain shower after another, with drier spells in between. With warmer temperatures (high 62's and low 70's, except at the summits of the climbs), the rain was not as chilling as yesterday. The roads were decent for the most part with long stretches of smooth, wide shoulders, other than 15 miles of construction during the longest climb, where the road had been scored to he

Day 29: Liverpool to Amsterdam, New York, 120 miles? Well, maybe 46. or 56. Again out of the hotel at 5:30, to 52 degrees and a slight headwind. Dry so far.. Then it turned nasty. It was raining before mile 25 where we stopped for a break. An earlier quick stop had Phil taking off some clothes as being too warm, but the temperatures were dropping and the rain intensifying. Phil added a garbage bag under his florescent jersey. Shortly thereafter, I stopped to see how they were doing in the rain, and Phil added my waterproof rain jacket over it all. By the time we got to mile 46, it was really raining and was now 45 degrees. Ken had had enough, with cold feet and shivering. Phil was warmer with his rain pants so decided to push ahead. We got Ken's bike in the back of the truck and moved ahead to about mile 58. We waited and waited for Phil, wondering what was taking him so long. Finally I looked at my cell phone and found Phil had called me 7 times, left 3 voice mail messages

Day 28: Batavia to Liverpool, New York, 125 miles. A 5:38 start, with light winds in their faces, 48 degrees. This was a "grind her out" day for both of them. Each chose their own speed which would minimize the stress and pain for their bodies. Ken was a bit ahead after 30 miles where they stopped for some grub. There was some good scenery, as we passed some of New York's famed "Finger Lakes" that stretched far to the south. But the theme was "just git 'er done".  I stayed in the motel to finish the 4th of the textbooks I had brought to read, to take a walk, and then drove to the town of Geneva at the 65 mile mark (at the north end of Seneca Lake). When I didn't find either of them, and not knowing whether they were ahead or behind me, I drove on, but received a call from Ken, saying he was in Geneva. We arranged to meet at the 76 mile mark for something to eat, As we exited the restaurant, we spied Phil biking on past. so Ken took off

Day 27: Westfield, New York to Batavia, New York, 108 miles. Yawn, another 100 mile day, winds not much of a factor. (Yes, it is getting to be routine, but going this many miles per day for 25 days without a day of rest is really quite something.) Ken wanted to push faster than Phil, so they separated. I could not track them on Life 360, so they rode the route unsupported. Phil made a stop at Tim Hortons for a late breakfast (getting to be a habit). :) Four more days to go, all 120+ miles, so about 490 total to go.

Day 26: Niles, Ohio to Westfield, New York, 129 miles The guys headed out shortly after 5:00, with lights blinking prior to the 6:04 sunrise, to get out of town before the traffic got heavy. The breakfast in the room avoided having to wait until the 6:00 breakfast. They were quickly out of town and onto a great country road with minimal traffic. After a quick SAG stop for water at the Old Covered Bridge on Graham Road at mile 47, they were eager for a lunch, which they finally reached around the 60 mile mark south of the town of Conneaut. From there, they headed NE along Route 5 E., all the way to Westfield, crossing the Pennsylvania border at abut the 64 mile mark and the New York border near mile 111. Lake Erie We are staying at a locally owned old style motel so we could cut 20 miles off the 138 mile day on the cue sheet, but the mileage for the day still ended up being 129. The guys had wind in their faces most of the day, about 5-6 mph early, but over 10 in the afternoo

Day 25: Wooster to Niles, Ohio, 97 miles. The day started with some hills and light winds. The guys started with little or nothing to eat, thinking they would stop at some local place for breakfast. After an early SAG stop around mile 32 to check in, they pushed on, thinking there would be a restaurant in a small town of 3000 people at about mile 40. I went ahead with the truck, and after checking out the town, discovered that there was no restaurant there. so hoped there would be one before Limaville around mile 50. I scoured the route and side streets, and found nothing open. I pushed to Limaville and found nothing there either. Oops, the guys were surely going to run out of gas. So, I drove back to meet them to have them eat whatever little was left in the cooler and food bin. Looking at where they were on Life360, I saw they were stopped in one of the little towns I had driven through, so found them at a restaurant that had been closed when I checked it out. It opened at 10:00,