Day 44 - Syracuse, NY to Little Falls, NY... Picture Perfect

Day 44
Syracuse, NY to Little Falls, NY
78 Miles, Blue Sky - Picture Perfect

Today was a good day on the bike but to not mention how the morning started would be like trying to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room. Let me preface this by saying that the staff of Crossroads, the our company that takes care of our logistics, has been great. Tracy is the owner and she along with the staff have done a great job. In 7 weeks and 3,000 miles it is impossible for everything to be perfect and there have been a couple things that could have been handled better but if you were to give Crossroads a grade it would have to be an A.
This morning as we were leaving the hotel we were told that 2 staff members had left the tour. This was quite a shock and of course it fueled speculation as to what could have happened, Both people who left were very nice and always came across to the riders in a professional manner. After spending so much time with the 15-20 riders and 5 (now 3) crew you really become somewhat of a family and it is painful when something like this happens that upsets the balance. I don't know what caused the exodus but I do know that I wish everyone the very best. Boston awaits us in 4 days and that is all I can focus on at this point.

 Cross Island Chapel, what a great way to brighten up a ride. The Chapel is in the middle of this pond which itself is in the middle of nowhere.

The other males in "The Gang of 5" are Chris ( England ) and Dave (Vermont). Chris took a tumble on the bike today but luckily the only thing hurt was his pride. He had a issue with unclipping while coming to a stop while making a turn and.....kerplunk.We have all done it at some point but with only a few hundred miles remaining we are trying to make sure that we keep the rubber side down.

More great little towns in this area. Canastota runs along the Canal and has a great deal of character and charm.

                                 The "Falls" of Little Falls NY are....Little.

The Mohawk river runs along the back side of Little Falls and still uses a lock system for large barges going up and down the river.

So after arriving in Little Falls I decided to take a walk up the hill to the main street to see what was going on. Little falls on a Monday afternoon isn't exactly hopping. I walked the 5 blocks from one side of town to the other and found 1 place open that looked like it had food. As I entered the "Bar & Grill" I realized that food wasn't going to be the strong point. I sat down and "Moose", yes, that is the bartenders name, asked me if I intended to have a drink. I assured him that a cold beer had been calling to me and so he obliged me. There were 6 other people in the establishment, all sitting at the rail so I was able to get the latest on the local politics and miscreants in town. For some odd reason they knew that I wasn't a local so they asked me where I was from and after I told them "Portland Oregon" one fella said "hell son, from what I hear you might just come from the one place in the country that is goofier than New York". I really couldn't argue with him so instead I agreed and we shared a beer and stories of stupid politicians doing stupid things and being praised and rewarded by those who prosper by their folly. It was a great end to a odd day.

Tomorrow we ride to Albany, NY and then on Wednesday we cross New Hampshire and Vermont and will end up in Massachusetts. (3 state lines in 1 day)

Maybe it's just my imagination but I think I'm beginning to smell the ocean:)

Dream BIG, Jeff