Ithica to Oneonta (On-Eee-on-ta)

Prep. ooh, arty.

The cheap hotel is always on the outskirts of the town. The outskirts that look the same whether you are in Ithica, NY or  California - the Quality Inn, the Maccy D's, the gas station. It's the same uglification nationwide.  Dutifully, and to make the picture complete, the locals fill the road with their vehicles. The storm drains pushed us into the road, the trucks pushing us back to the edge . We climbed out of the town and past the affluent academic houses on the hill. In an idiotic eureka moment,  I realised that the main thing on a recce is - well, research. We took some wrong turns, fiddled with mapping devices and GPS, and in general meandered around. In the back of my mind, I knew we had a long way to go. Jeff and I had decided to make this a big day, in order to make the next day not such a big day. You know what I mean. By accident and some fortune we found a route that had it all. After rocking down the "Jim Shug Trail" - a dirt track in the trees for a few miles, the horizon opened up into verdant valleys of meadows, trees and farms.

Muzz on the Jim Shug

The finger lakes region is real working farmland. The larder of New York, I dubbed it. The smells and sights meant you knew it was exactly that. Shit was happening, literally. The views were spectacular. And it was a perfect day. On your bike, some days the world is against you. The traffic sucks, you get sworn at by a random old git, it starts to rain - but today it was the opposite. Like the road was a carpet that was being unrolled in front just for our edification, a film set that's been orchestrated for your riding pleasure.  The rolling terrain seemed to work in harmony with our gears, and cars seemed so few and far between I forgot they were there some of the time. We stopped at the Daves Diner which was the coolest place ever to have a fried cheese sandwich and a shake.

So everything is fried, correct?

The afternoon got a bit more real. We hit Norwich. Much like the English town, there might have been some inbreeding issues here. But I think for drug use, Norwich NY may well have the upper hand. Everyone looked high. Or at least tweaked on something, and faces that seemed to be collapsing in on themselves. It was sad, but I wanted to get out and not face that reality. But a note to Albany - please send economic stimulus package to Norwich to provide locals with a vision for future and a reason not to get high every day. Done. And we had our own problems. 33 miles to Oneonta seemed doable. Laughable, really. The clue may have been in Oneonta being known as the "City of Hills". We started out towards it. The rode turned up, and up, and kept going up. We don't mind a hill, but at the end of 80 miles of riding, it really hurt. I have never been so glad to see a holiday inn before in my life. 100 miles and 6000 feet..ouch.  But it was an EPIC day, and a memorable one. Jeff and I think it may have to be a keeper.

This is the ride..but without the last hills.

My battery died..boo.