Day 4: Albany, NY to Richfield Springs, NY (J Version)

Great view of the truck

Read this if you haven't already

Good morning!! It's the beginning of day 5, and I'm finally in a local café! The Pewter Spoon.(I just overheard the ladies at the counter mention Atticus from "that book" no lie!) Thank goodness for Yelp. If you have a Smart Phone and don't have the Yelp app yet I highly recommend it. I believe in another entry I mentioned how there's usually nothing on these routes for long stretches of time (and no service) but every so often you see those Golden Arches of Mecca and your face lights up. Your face lights up not because you have a longing for fries but because you have to pee and get to use Wi-Fi!!! With the Mcd's Wi-Fi I was able to get on Yelp and did a search for cafes in the area and just a few miles down the road I was brought here. Score.

Yesterday morning, after I posted from Starbucks, I stayed around Albany for another hour or so and got my city fix and went into several stores in the shopping plaza that the SBs was in. I'm thankful I remained in Albany for a few hours because after that, there was literally nothing except farms which don't get me wrong are cool but no place to chill. Side note: Some of you may think this is creepy (which it is I'm not denying it), but when I was in the Albany SBs there was this movie star looking guy sitting in the corner on his laptop, and SO many people that walked by him stopped to say hi or shake his hand. He MAY or MAY not have been famous, so I was a sketch ball and discreetly took a picture of him. I photo shopped over his eyes because G told me I better. The guy reminded me of a mix of the actors Michael Vartan (and kudos to you if you even know who MV is) and Paul Rudd.

After Albany I passed G on the road which was awesome! (If you haven't already liked our FB page please do because it's easier to post little videos on there) This link should work even if you haven't liked the page: Passing G on the road   I noticed that as the truck went by him, he flagged me down to pull over. ROADIE SUPPORT CREW at your service!

Apparently one of his phone batteries was low, so he wanted a switch just to be safe. **BREAKING NEWS** G just called me to tell me that he did a pit stop at a gas station and didn't realize until a few miles down the road that he left his helmet there. Luckily, there is a spare in the truck.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog. Also, during yesterday's trip we encountered the first of

Bring it, Mother Nature!

mother nature's wrath. Rain. It was light rain but still rain none the less. According to G, being rained on with a bicycle is way better than on a motorcycle. Back home, we recently bought a rain type of light jacket (remember "light" is the key word because any extra weight adds time to your ride) at Eastern Mountain Sports. Initially, we were like, "$60 for a glorified, fitted poncho." But, you get what you pay for because G said it worked wonderfully. Not only was it warm, but it protected him and was so light that he could either tie it around his waist or stuff it into one of the small bags with ease. 

After my roadie support crew job yesterday, there were the MOST hills we've seen yet on the trip. I was thinking, "Oh, no!" G told me that night that he loves NY hills. He talks about them more in length in his entry. One

Baby got hill!

of the hardest parts of my job is finding a place to stay for the night. It's hard for a few reasons:

1. It depends on where G wants to stop for the day. If he plans on say 90 miles then I have to map out where about that is on the route and what hotels are near there, BUT if he says 90 and makes it to 80 then there's a problem. I can always drive him in the morning to that spot he left off but it takes more time. The ideal hotel is exactly on the route where he can ride to.

2. On these scenic roads, there are very few hotels to even chose from. The hotels that are around typically look grimy. Ultimately, we want a clean, safe place to sleep.

3. The people that run these hotels/motels are not that friendly and get pissy with me when I ask what their rates are for the night OR they don't even answer the phone.

4. I finally thought I found a place to stay yesterday and go into the office all ready to pay and what do I see? I see a "NO BIKES ALLOWED SIGN." Are you kidding me? The lady said in the past people who have bikes in the room mess up the carpet. I left. I went BACK in the other direction miles down the road and found a decent place that did not have a computer, so I had to fill out a card with all my information; however, the motel did have Wi-Fi.

Tonight we're going to stay with G's cousin a little past Auburn, NY. Yay!! Good family time and I don't have to find a place for the night. I think tomorrow (day 6) is going to be a rest day or a minimal riding day. We both are in dire need of sleeping in. Plus, it's good for G to rest those legs. We need to find a bike shop that specializes in Trek bikes because Rootbeer needs some adjusting according to G, and we need to find an auto body shop to fix the bike wrack.


All of our bags. 1. CPAP bag plus distilled water bottle and vinegar to clean cpap machine 2. G's Computer/Electronics bag 3. G's Cycling Clothes Bag.4. G's Non-cycling clothes bag, 5. Our joint dirty clothes bag 6. Shower stuff bag 7. Make up stuff bag 8. My clothes bag. 9. Bike food bag 10. Socks and Shoes bag 11. My Computer bag

Lastly, our nephew sent us a picture of Smokey! Looks like she came out of hiding and is currently in a territory war with the baby's pack and play!

PS. I'm so proud of G. I really am. xoxo My girl J texted me last night with this, and I'm going to share it because it's so true about G.




Here's a more in depth look at the bike necessities that G has on each bike:

Aero bars allow for different arm/hand positions. When you're cycling for long distances, you need to vary your hand/arm positions to avoid cramps. He can lean forward and rest his elbows on the pads and grab onto the aero bars. The pack in front hold his GPS and Battery charger/adaptors. It's one those bad ass chargers that you need to charge ahead of time, so it can charge other items anywhere.

This bag on the back of the seat allows for spare tubes incase of a flat, and there's a spot for his driver's license, a credit card, and $20. Notice how there's two water bottles attached for easy access. There's 2 other bottles in the "normal" water bottle spots on the bike. So far, 4 bottles last him daily.


This bag in the middle of the bike is for sun screen reapplication throughout the ride. ; lips, face, arms. He lathers up good with a big bottle before each ride. Also, his phone is in this bag, too.