Day 9 and 10 The Gee Brief: Nice People and Nice People

STATS

Day 9
Miles today: 75

Total so far: 581

Miles to go: 2689

Weather: HOT around 90. Sprinkled a few times

Road: More berms and swales, mostly flat

Physical: My whole body hurt toward the end. This was the first day that I truly felt physically exhausted. It happened in the last 27 miles. The wall hit and wouldn't go away. I slowed down to a crawl, which made it bearable to go on, but I was literally WIPED by the end of the journey.

Day 10

Miles today: 75

Total so far: 656

Miles to go: 2633

Weather: 80's, no rain. A few times of nice over-cast shade.

Road: Mostly flat. I went up one minor incline and at the top, met a jogger who smiled and said,"Those hills will kill ya!". I felt it would be rude to stop and giver her the true definition of "hill that will kill you", so I smiled, and moved on.

Physical: For the second day in a row, my whole body was exhausted in the last quarter of the ride. I will be changing the seat angle tomorrow. I know I previously said that my new seat angle created a whole new relationship between my butt and the seat. The relationship, however, only benefited my reproductive area. It did this by making it almost impossible to actually SIT on the seat. So... for the past two days, I've been more LEANING against the back of the seat, as if I was sort of RUNNING rather than biking. Again, my gentle area appreciated this a lot, but the rest of my body is rather pissed.

So tomorrow, I'll be riding Rootbeer, whose seat angle is a bit less severe. If this works out, then Jenard's seat will be changed to resemble Rootbeer's.

Ok, enough of that, let's catch up to the nice people.

The first pic is a nice Biology teacher from Attica, NY that I met on Day 8. She was training for a ride across New York that would travel along the Erie canal. My story inspired her to try an actual cross country trip with her husband driving the support vehicle. Her name is Melanie. Go for it Melanie!

My second nice person was an AWESOME cashier at a mini-mart in Lutz Mobil in the Hamlet of Hamburg. In any event, if you happen to be travelling through Hamburg on route 20 west, you will find the most FRIENDLY people on the face of this earth. My wife claims that I'm a social butterfly, but I SWEAR all I did this day was buy the blueberry version of my Tuesday Burger and a chicken salad sandwich. I was sitting there, eating my snack, minding my own business, when Kathy started asking ME questions. "Where you going? You're going WHERE???" "Wow, that's GREAT!!!" And all of a sudden, Kathy's enthusiasm for my journey had spread to other people in the store. Enter Nick from stage right.

So as I sat there, simply answering Kathy's questions, Nick sits down next to me and says, "Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing that you're going to Portland, Oregon. Exactly how are you going?" I pointed to Jenard, and he said, "You're going on a Pedal Bike???!"

As the conversation ensured, I found out that Nick is an aspiring teacher who put off his aspirations temporarily to raise his child. In the brief time that I met him, it seems that Nick would make an AWESOME teacher, so, Nick if you're reading this right now, do whatever you can to go back to school and follow your dream!

Finally I have to mention Josh and his girlfriend who talked to me OUTSIDE the Lutz Mobil. I had no idea that they were even aware of me, and they started asking questions and showing an interest that I would never have expected from complete strangers at a mini-mart in Hamburg, New York!

Josh, Nick and Kathy inspired me as much as I apparently inspired them. We all have our daily lives to deal with, but to actually take time out of our own life, and pay attention to someone ELSE is a gift. I have seen this gift demonstrated over and over again from Fulton through Ohio.

Next folks on my list are Barb, Josh and Stacey from the Country Fair store in....NY?  Pennsylvania? (again, if you send me the location I'll post it. The card you guys gave me just says, "Country Fair" and there's a MILLION of them!) Anyway, I was on the phone with the love of my life, trying to arrange a motel that was withing bicycling distance when Barbara come up to me and helps me find a spot exactly where I wanted to end for the night. Again, I didn't ASK for this help, she just came out and gave it. Thank you soo much!

Other nice folks from Day 9 were Tom and Doreen who are Alpaca farmers in Eden, NY.  There website is www.edenvalleyalpacas.com..  We talked about my trip and Alpacas for a while. They seemed like very sweet people, so if you're ever in the market for Alpaca products, give them a call!

 

Another nice person: above, you see Emmett.
Emmett loves his name because it is NOT common, like Bill or George or John. Emmett also seems to love life, and at the age of 80, it looks as if he's got another several decades to continue enjoying life! He explained to me, that the plants which I had been wondering about were actually grape vines, and that the sign which you see above was advertising a local author who also owns the vineyards surrounding the area of the sign. I haven't read the book but the title seems interesting. Emmett has been having some knee problems, so I encouraged him to do more of my favorite physical exercise, which is WONDERFUL for you knees: CYCLE ON EMMETT!!








Lastly, I can't help but mentioning the absolutely sweetest person I have EVER met.  She listens to you, cares about what you think and is the most thoughtful human being I know.  So I                                                 married her.

Here's some extra pics from day 9 and 10

Typical view through upstate NY

A lone tree greets the lone cyclist.

The lone tree close up.

A lone tree visits lake Cayuga.

Spam Cakes???? AWESOME!

Back off dude, we bite.

Ancient Greek Philosophers Welcome!

A slice of amber waves of grain.

No idea. But my brother in law's name is Dave.