JOAN'S FIRST RAIN ADVENTURE

Joan's View

Tony woke me up around 6:00 am to let me know that the rain would start around 11:00, and would I want to start riding. My answer was YES, so we ate our hotel breakfast and hit the road. The first leg of the ride was highway berm until we picked up the Erie Canal bike trail again near Rochester. We had a bike trail detour that I insisted on following even though Tony wanted to go through the construction barriers. The detour signs seemed to disappear as we ended up several miles off route, but navigator Tony found a way back to the canal. The canal trail was more active with people today considering yesterday's ride we met only a handful of people. We saw what looked like several rowing teams out practicing on the canal.                         




We stopped at Lock 32 to get a picture with Teddy. Teddy is a rescue just like Luna, and we knew that Marla would love a dog named after her favorite stuffed animal.    

The last picture that we could get safely while keeping our phones dry was this one that shows the mountains we will be entering in the Finger Lakes (picture doesn't do it justice). It also shows the highway ramp off to the right that had several oncoming cars at the same time that we got there. Obviously, we had to stop! We then crossed it in a perpendicular direction to make sure we didn't get hit by merging traffic.

The rain started as a drizzle, then got to windshield wiper needed status. The sky got darker, and the clouds unleashed their gift. We were on highway 96 when the downpour started. Even though the berm was wide, the trucks were very kind to move over a tad to keep the spray from hitting us. My fairing did a nice job keeping my legs and shoes dry as Tony's were already soaked. It was short-lived, however, because as we got closer to Canadaigua the rains became torrential. Even though our phones were safely stored in our rain-proof handlebar bag, we could hear the storm alerts, which turned out to be flash flood alerts. Visibility was low as well and we even had to stop to read the bicycle GPS because the rain made it hard to read. Every part of us was soaked. To quote Marla, 

"If you get thirsty, you just open your mouth."

 The pictures above were taken when we arrived at our hotel. Our rooms wasn't ready so we hung out in the lobby and dried out.

To end the day, we took a dinner cruise on the Canandaigua Lady, a paddlewheel boat moved from the Mississippi. Did you know that Lake Canandaigua is the second most expensive U.S. Lake to live on after Lake Tahoe? Cara & Nick honeymooned at Lake Tahoe. Maybe this will be their next anniversary trip?

Also fascinating is Squaw Island, which is the smallest protected area in the state of NY. It is 1 of only 2 islands in the 11 Finger Lakes and was used by the Indians.

Tony's View

This being Joan's Maiden Voyage of riding in the rain, she did well.  The rain came down like it was Friday on GOBA just 3 weeks ago. On GOBA Jerry, Nick and Andrew were wimps about it, but Marla was tough as nails. I see rain on a bicycle ride as an opportunity to utilize Energy Level 6 with finding opportunity and joy in everything. Seriously, when you look at it that way it makes a big difference. Those following this blog that don't know the 7 levels of energy, will completely miss that point.

This rain reminded me of the big rain day on Wade and I's Cross-Country Trip.  The following link shows the blog of that rainy day:  day-48-liverpool-ny-to-little-falls-ny.html

Interestingly, the day we ran from the thunderstorms, on the cross-country trip, just getting to the hotel before it rained was at the same town, Canandaigua. By the way, that day we rode over 100 miles, twice what we did today.  What I just realized, by coincidence, is that we are staying at the same hotel.  I know Wade will remember that day, but if you are interested in reading about that day the following link will get you there:  day-46-hamburg-ny-to-canadaigua-ny.html

I made a monumental mistake today by complimenting Wes Gipe in an email and it went to his head.  He now wants me to call him Dr. Gipe.  Lesson learned, be careful with compliments.  Second mistake today was to get on a paddle boat where the captain allows Joan to steer the ship. She sure had fun though.