Saturday 29 May 2010

Day 9 Lenox to Owenga







Friday 28th May
Daily mileage 57miles Average Speed 12mph Ride Time 4hr45min

After an 6.45am wake up call we ate cheerio’s at Wendy’s house and got on the road by 8am. We had been told the road was flat today and we were hoping that was true as we were both exceedingly sore. Unfortunately we had approx 5miles left of the 106 which is the hilly road before route 11 which is the nice flat one. I had plenty to think about on this section of the ride as Ken was telling us last night about the mountain lion that his son saw up on the road 2 days ago and not to mention the big black bear that was up on the road a few weeks back.

Tackling the hills was a tough way to start the day and get the tired muscles working but we made it slowly. Route 11 was a sight for sore eyes and we embraced the flat road by clocking up another 10 miles before stopping in a gas station for breakfast. A sausage and egg muffin with a big coffee hit the spot.

Back on the road we snaked alongside the rivers edge for a further 15miles before stopping again. Talking of snakes we have seen a water snake where we were camping the other night, forgot to mention before as was side tracked with the bears. We were now making more progress as it was less hot say 71 degrees Fahrenheit and a few spits of rain in the air kept us cool and merely a incline insight there were smiles creeping across our faces. We stopped at a market in Binghamton and purchased some talc powder for our bits! Kris enjoys to stand on the bike to part his legs and air his bits while on the road.

We have seen plenty of road kill so far, lots of beaver looking creatures, a porcupine, squirrels and a massive deer. They are in various states of decay none of which smell or look particularly nice as you dodge them with the bike. As we got onto route 11 I though I was cycling with my brakes on again like the other day when my bar bag slid down and was resting on the brake cable without me realising, but today it was just a slight headwind so I ducked behind Kris to use his slip stream which made my life easier!

Through the town of Binghamton Kris had some road rage with a car that cut him up trying to leave on the slip road. Some nasty words were thrown back and throw and as Kris was bubbling with anger we had to stop at McDonalds for a McFlurry to cool down.

Both feeling shattered we put the music on as the sun came out and cycled as quick as possible the 15 miles left to Owenga as Hickory Park campsite was waiting. We made it, and although it was our longest mileage today it almost felt like a walk in the park compared to the last couple of days. Although we have been told it gets bad again on tomorrows terrain.

We arrived and put the tent up. This campground is massive with very few campers despite there only being 4 plots left apparently. Its nearly booked out as it’s a bank holiday on Monday for memorial day so everyone goes camping apparently. Our tent looks like it is sat just in front of teletubby hills. We both slept for an hour under a tree then cooked pasta for dinner and watched a movie in the tent. Think im gonna sleep well tonight.





1 comment:

  1. ZZZ zzzz ZZZZ zzzz hoping you both get a deep restful sleep :o)

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