The end

i thought it was going to be anticlimatic.  after all, i was essentiially done, less than 10 mi from the harbor.  it was a mere formality.

but i was pleasantly surprised.  maurice and i both got up by 6:00, even though we were in no rush and told our host we would probably leave between 8 and 9.  the sky was overcast with a few rain drops sprinled in; temperature was mild; and, pleasantly, the streets were void of traffic.  so rather than get on bike trail, we just road down massachusetts ave. to harvard square.  we road across the commons, then we found a cafe a block or two away.  sat outside, drinking our espresso and chai, watched the people walk by.  according to a tourist director i talked to, people have gone to the beach for the final weekend of summer.  things are quieter than usual.

off again, we continued down massachusetts and across longfellow bridge into boston proper.  over the bridge (scene of my one and only 5k race triumph a few years back), we took a hard right into the beacon hill area.  we saw a coffe shop, and since it had been at least 30 minutes since we finished our previous drinks, we stopped at panificio, which maurice explains to means 'bakery' in italian.  another espresso and a chai, accompanied by a cinnamon twist, and we're ready to go again.

down the street to the boston commons.  oh, for the days when american towns had a 'living room'.  across the commons, we rode down throgh the financial district, picked up the gardens above 'the big dig', over to state street, and out the long wharf.  shezaam.  the other coast.  technically, boston's inner harbor, but who's being picky?  and what better scene than with a harbor full of ships moving in and out?  ferries, sailboats, yachts motoring about.  after the obligatory photo documentation, i just had to sit there for a bit and let it soak in.  it felt good.  it felt satisfying.

August 30 - minutemen and gaming

oh my god, our hosts are gamers!  i have never seen this before.  this is a far cry above the world i'm used to.  they have machines about 4x's the size of the ones we use.  the graphics is incredible.  we came home and found father and son, each sitting in front of their own machine and large monitor, playing an on line version of lord of the rings.  They've got head sets with microphones and their playing with 12 other people online.   the son is a programmer for a gaming company and he keeps a running discussion going with the other online participants.  this may explain how they are so socially inept that they went out for dinner earlier without telling us and left us just sitting on the back deck wondering what was going on.  we had to text them to find out if they had in fact gone out and what we should do about locking the door when we went out.

i'm sure this has some relation to the incredible time we had earlier touring the minuteman national park.  we got up slowly this morning, rode through the massachusetts countryside, up and down, up and down.  then we picked up the nashua river rail trail, stopped and had breakfast in a groton cafe, and continued on to concord.  outside concord we entered the minuteman national park ( and, no, jeff, it's not named after you.  stop bragging.)  what a real delight to see the actual location of the battles (skirmishes is more like it) betwen british and colonialists.  (and, please, do not tell me you do not know what happened at concord and lexington) we stood there and looked down on the north bridge from the same location as the colonists mustered, where they would have looked down on the 96 british soldiers there.  and we stood on the bridge, both sides, and felt what it must have been to be on both sides.  then we road the 'battle road trail' along the route of the british retreat.

it's amazing how little damage was actually done by all of this.  the muskets both sides used were incredibly inaccurate.  i remember watching 'last of the mohicans' and marvelling as daniel day lewis shot the english officer through the heart from a hundred yards away.  well, that just didn't happen.  these guys could stand a hundred yards apart and fire all day and they wouldn't have hit anyone.  in fact, that's pretty much what they did.  at the battle of lexington commons, where the british and colonialists faced off, the total damage to britsh forces was one leg wound and one hand wound.  unfortunately, there were 8 colonialists killed.  this by trained british soldiers.  but there was a lot of noise and smoke.  anyway, it was exciting to see the actual battlefield.

from there we went through lexington and on to arlington, where our hosts are.  and now we are.  45-50 mile day, but it felt longer.  and although the gods continue to smile on me (is it a joke?), maurice came up limping with his second flat tire of the trip.  on the battle road trail, no less.

it's amazing how much nicer it is to approach a city through rich neighborhoods, with stone walls and orchards and shaded woods, versus the slums of saginaw.  the barns of massachusetts are distinctly different.  they're not the classic dutch gambrel, painted red, but simple tent roofs with gable ends, often painted brown.  and the town halls are unique, shaped by the fact that they served as meeting halls, not courthouses and administrative centers as we commonly think of them.  a more purely democratic government (if you were a free, white male) the populace would meet together to discuss issues in a large room.

tomorrow, the final 10 miles to boston bay.

August 29 - in and out of new hampshire

we crossed vermont, went in and out of new hampshire, and then entered into massachusettes, the final state of the journey.

it was very foggy, 100% humidity, but it wasn't raining.  air temp was cool and we started out with jackets.  we didn't get more than a mile down the road when a pick up truck turned around on the highway, went passed us and pulled over.  as we got closer, the driver waved us down.  he wanted to show us what he thought was either a small moose or a large buck on the other side of a field.  i can't see all that clearly anyway, but with the condensation on my glasses, it really made it hard, but i would have voted for the large buck. 

we reached brattleboro, but not without maurice first getting a flat 2 miles short of downtown, for a late chai latte and breakfast.  maurice has become my brother in his fondness for cafes and chai lattes, when he's not drinking an espresso.  brattleboro sits on the conneticut river, which is the boundary between new hampshire and vermont.  there's a lot of activity downtown and way too much traffic; several roads come together and then split apart there.  and everything slopes to the river, though not much actually crosses it.  there are a lot of shops and it appears vibrant.  it has a reputation of being a top 10 small town. 

the rest of the day was spent going up and down hills, several 8% and one i would swear was at least 10%, but none of them very long.  it felt like riding through the foothills back home in tennessee.  maurice and i discussed the differences between here and east tennessee.  the buildings are different; more colonial and more wood siding.  we've seen three covered bridges so far.  the air is cooler; of course, but that's hard to compare on one or two data points.  the towns are built tighter, closer to the downtown, and most centers of towns is where the commercial activity takes place.  i'm not sure how they pull it off, but there are no strip developments.  but the country side is amazingly similar.  i think the undergrowth may be less dense here, and things are a little drier,  and i'm sure the trees are different.  but today we rode along a mountain stream for periods and we could easily have been in the smokies.

we arrived in willard brook state forest to spend the night.  it's a pretty state forest, the camp site was in a level area covered in pine trees.  there is no undergrowth, so the whole camp site is open, but considering we were the only ones there, not a problem.

we finished todays ride outrunning or dodging rain for the last 20 miles.  it was overcast, the clouds hanging low, and moisture filled the air.  and it was cool; maurice slipped his vest back on.  and speaking of maurice, i know he was tired and a little sore, this being his third day, but he really sucked it up at the end.  80 mi day on top of 70 yesterday, so he did very well indeed.

tomorrow, we have a light day, riding only 45-50 mi into the inner ring of boston.  we have a warm shower arranged in arlington.  this will be my 13th consecutive day riding without any rest days.  then on saturday, we will ride the final 15-20 miles down to the harbor and the official end of my journey.

August 28 - saratoga to bennington

southern history is saturated with the civil war.  i think they forgot that there ever was a thing called 'the revolution.'  it wasn't televised.
but we yankees know better.  and it is a sad thing to me that my wife and daughters cannot answer the question concerning the battle of saratoga.  when i was young, i found a couple of books my father had from his navel academy days.  they were 'arundel' and 'rabble in arms' by kenneth roberts.  the first told the tale of the american attempt on quebec by traveling up the arundel river in maine.  if i remember correctly, benedict arnold led that campaign and almost pulled it off.  the second book dealt with the battle at saratoga.  at which benedict arnold also played a significant role, helping to pull off a significant defeat of the british.  the first defeat of the british by american forces and one that helped bring the french over to our cause.  it was arguably the most important battle ever fought by the u.s., because if we had failed to defeat the british there, the united states would probably not exist.

i still have those books in my library.  i used to love to read 'drums along the mohawk', 'last of the mohicans', 'ethan allen and the green mountain boys', etc. about the northeast and the french annd indian war and the revolution.  i always thought that new england was the place i would end up living.  that's why this part of the trip is so interesting to me.

maurice and i toured the battlefield this morning and watched the short movie that gave an overview of the battle.  then we headed down the road and crossed the hudson.  we passed the county fair that was in progress in schaghticoke (pronounce that one if you dare), headed up the hoosic river, and eventually crossed into vermont and ended up at a cafe in bennington.  for the first time in about six weeks, i'm back in the mountains.  riding here is just like east tennessee with the steep little climbs mixed in with the rolling hills.  ah, three cafes in a row, and maurice is putting away the espressos and chais.  it was a nice place, though, and they served sandwiches as well, so we could get something to eat.  we sat outside on the sidewalk tables.

after a good rest, we headed out for the final 12 mi to our camp ground for the night, woodford state park.  the twelve miles included a significant climb into the green mountains, 1500 - 2000 feet with a pretty steep grade.  but we made it and managed to set up camp just before the occasional scattered thunderstorm hit.  it was a light but steady rain.  we ended up picking all our stuff up and moving to a nearby leanto that was unoccupied, which is where i sit now writing this.

the one draw back of riding with maurice is the temptation to talk about work, since we do so much of it together.  i have done very little thinking about anything these two months, just living in the moment, basically.  and i want to keep it that way for the final few days.

August 28 - trading places

today was the day of the great exchange, paul and maurice.  paul and i had a 25 mi ride into troy/waterford.  pretty uneventful, though paul was feel pretty good and he smacked my ass going up the one steep hill we've had.  that made him feel even better.  380 miles completed, he rode the full length of the erie canal.   we pulled into cahoes and stopped at the mohawk river's water fall, which is just a mile short of where it joins the hudson.  the water levels appeared low and there was a lot of exposed rock.  we found out later that back in june there had been flooding and the falls were looking a little more like niagara at that time.

we tooled on into to troy with several hours to wait till maurice would showed up.  i, of course, wanted to find a coffee house; paul wanted breakfast.  we ended up at the infinity cafe, which in keeping with most of our experiences, was not a coffee house.  but it was a small neighborhood cafe serving breakfast.  we were the only ones there.  the owner, matt, made us whatever we wanted, substitutions allowed.  we talked with matt awhile about troy, the neighborhood, et al.  then we took our leave and headed to the visitor center in waterford, lock no. 2 and the beginning of the canal.  never did figure out what happened to lock no. 1.

there we talked with bill and martha for awhile.  they owned and lived on a fairly large cruiser currently tied up to the dock.  back in 2005, he had sold half his company to his sons, sold the house in appleton, wi, and moved on board.  now they motor around the u.s., wintering in charleston, just enjoying visiting with old friends and making new.  they had just completed a trip up the lakes to ontario and were headed down to charleston for the winter.  it's a rough life, but i guess someone has to do it.  they looked pretty happy; we probably looked envious.

maurice got lost on his way into waterford, but after taking some time to figure out exactly where in the world he was, we managed to guire him intonthe visitor's center.  hugs and kisses all around and much joy, we went and had lunch.  then paul and maurice exchanged equipment and car keys.  parting pictures were taken, paul headed home, and maurice and i headed to saratoga springs.

question:  what famous battle took place in saratoga, when, and why was it so important?  the answer to come later.

i enjoyed riding with paul.  everyone has there own style and there's some adjustment and acommodation that has to be made.  it wasn't difficult for me to adjust to him.  i can relate to his sciatic issues, and he was pretty stoic about the pain.  he was pretty aware of everything going on, the geography, history, culture, wildlife, etc.  it was a real pleasure to ride with him.

maurice is an old friend.  this is now the fourth year in a row we've ridden together, so we know what to expect.  our start was a little rough, as we ended up in weeds and dirt trying to follow the champlain canal trail.  we quickly abandoned that and headed on to the road.  one thing different about maurice than most, he doesn't mind traffic at all.  on the pavement, he took off to a rapid start, i think he was nervous about what kind of condition i was in from all the riding.  i had to tell him he  didn't need to ride so fast, and it didn't take a second recommendation for him to settle down in a more comfortable pace.

by late afternoon, we were in saratoga.  we stopped at a cafe on the main street for an espresso and a chai.  then on to our warm shower host, who proved to be a nice, 20-something kid, in the middle of enovated an old, historic home.  he's a math teacher at the local middle school.  maurice was able to help him with some strucural problems he was having with a sagging floor and chimney.  colin and i talked about canoeing in the adirondacks.  he and his father are avid canoers and i took a seven day canoe trip back in my college days.

then it was time for bed.

August 25 & 26 - little falls

once again, early morning rise, but this time at our hosts house.  you know, it's a bit of a check when you wake up in the middle of the night to pee, walk out into the corridor, and there is a mammoth german shepard lying across the entire width of the hall.  one does take a small deep breath (and protects vital organs) as one steps over the beast.  packing is done and goodbys are given as we head off into the sunrise to find the canal path.

another beautiful morning in paradise.  i think i've said that almost every morning of this trip; i remain incredibly lucky with the weather.  we're on gravel fines and dirt trail again.  the local fleet feet runners our out en mass this morning, we say 'good morning' to a hell of a lot of people.  water coolers are located at every road crossing.  after awhile, the trail becomes all gravel and a little deeper, like they recently laid a new course down.  i have to keep reminding myself that time is not important, because this gravel slows us down and makes us work harder.

looking for breakfast, there's not much open.  we ride into the small town of canastota where our host had told us of a place, but everything is closed on sunday morning.  paul does start a conversation with a man who's walking on the street.  his voice full of cigaretts and alchohol.  he provides us with some history of the town and the canal, as well as some options for eating.

interesting thing about this area is that, unlike on the high-line in montana where the towns are space 6-8 mi apart, here they seem to be only 3 miles or so. it seems odd to have towns so close together.   there are times when there'll be larger spaces between towns.  i've almost forgotten that where i grew up, there were no spaces between towns.  chittenango, canastota, oneida, rome, utica, frankfort, ilion, mohawk, herkimer, and little falls; we roll right through.

we join back with the barge canal, the third erie canal, and reach rome.  rome is on the portage between the mohawk river, coming from the east and the hudson river, and onieda lake which feeds into lake ontario.   fort stanwikx was built here in the 1750's to hold the wilderness and the entrance to the mohawk  valley.  a full size replica of the fort stands on it's original location.  pretty cool.  this fort features in one of my favorite books, 'drums along the mohawk'.

along the canal, we see great blue herons, kingfishers, and what paul is thinking are green herons. 

evening brings us to our destination:  little falls.  we stop at the marina and for $10 they let us camp for in the grass and give us a key to the main office building which has bathrooms, showers, seating and tv, and wi-fi.  in case of rain, we can go up in the porch or inside.  very nice.  the manager even drives us a mile into town to an italian restaurant.  we eat and walk back, getting ice cream in a recently restored mill between the canal and the river.  we have tea inside the office and then settle down for the night.

on monday, we have a short ride, 60 mi, into schenectady. 

Crossing the new york thruway brings back memories.  i was actually arrested in upstate new york on the thruway back in the summer of 1974.  for hitchhiking.  the police told us we could either spend the night in jail and probably pay court costs or pay a $5 bail and leave town.  since we were from out of state, they couldn't come get us for skipping bail.  i figure i'm still wanted on bail skipping.

we stay with a guy who is, how did paul put it, 'on the spectrum'.  i think that translates into being in need of help.  but it's a dry place, even if it's a kind of messy apartment, cluttered with collections of empty salsa jars, bags full of recycle jars and cans, bicycle parts, and star trek paraphenalia.  it's especially appreciated during the middle of the night as i listen to the rain coming down.  we're up and gone at 6:00 in the morning.

Glenn the invincible

This is a guest entry in glenns blog to shed some perspective on his amazing accomplishment.  Those of you who have been following his journey read about the miles he has ridden day after day that glenn ticks off as simply numbers but i can attest that its much more than that.  I sit here aching from my neck down to my toes.  I cranked out 45 in half a day followed by 90, 80, 80, 65, and 25.  And that whole time ive been holding glenn back.  He can easily ride 15 mph on gravel for hours without letup.  And he gets stronger as the day progresses.  Of course he is riding an ancient bike, seldom changing gears while i have jim's lexus luxury machine and i'm still way behind.  The night we raced to beat the dark and rode thru clouds of gnats, glenn was cranking 18 mph and i was drafting him so he ate all the bugs and i just tried to keep up.  My small victories are two hills that glenn had to walk while i pedaled.  And then thinking about the fact that his gears barely shift and he road thru the Rockies on that pieceojunk turns that into yet another glenn achievement.
Glenn is german enginering at its best.  He's that Mercedes deisel that runs forever and is like a tank.  I, on the other hand am like a Fiat.  When running, its elegant and fast but most of the time i'm on the side of the road coughing and sputtering with important pieces falling off.
I will have finished this journey by riding over 380 miles sleeping in a tent three nights and i look and feel like %$÷×#@+£¥.  And that's about one tenth of what Glenn did!  Yes we all can agree that he is crazy, but he is also awesome!
Ps, that first picture is the scenery i had to endure most of the week...
Sincerely, Paul, I'm not worthy, Tarricone

Auggu0st 24 - syracuse

another beautiful morning on the canal.  night temperature is cool.  paul slept well, though he's looking a little tired and i make a vow that we'll find him a bed for the night.  two other cyclists came into the lock area to sleep last night and  i notice by the gear and bike that one of them is jacob, the kid i rode with in ontario..  but he's still asleep by the time we leave.
we ride 20 miles this morning and arrive at lyons (pronounced 'lion').  google says there is a meg's cafe downtown, but they've moved a couple of blocks just a month ago and are now rosie & meg's.  a family run restaurant, mother and daughter now, they're in a much bigger place and doing a great saturday morning business.  while we're at breakfast, we have success lining up a warmshower on the otherside of syracuse.
after breakfast, we head up to the small farmer's market that is in the downtown.  one vender gives me a couple of peaches, one gives paul a couple of pears.  a woman sees my knoxville marathon shirt and starts talking to us about her son who worked in oak ridge for several years.
when the canal was originally built in the 1830's, it was 24' wide and 4' deep at he bottom.  it was deepened and widened twice.  when this happened, it also was moved to a new route in some locations.  the final barge canal still operates, locks, bridges, the whole thing, mostly for pleasure craft.  where the canal moved, the old canal is over grown, filled with stagnant water, or maintained as a nicely manicured historical remnant.  the path is often dirt.  it reminds me a lot of the c&o canal along the potomic that karen and i rode 4 years ago.
paul does well until around 50 miles or so and then his sciatic kicks in.  he says his right leg just burns at that point.  he doesn't get much enjoyment out of the physical riding, but he gets a lot of satisfaction out of the accomplishment.  our destination is at 75 mi.  by the end of the day he'll have completed the most he's ever ridden, a little over 200 miles.
rick, our host, guides us through syracuse where the canal trail pretty much disappears and the route is on city streets.  once we get the directions straight, it's pretty smooth, flat, and low traffic.  a shower feels great, clothes get washed, and dinner at a local southwestern style restaurant is just the perfect finishing touch.