So Eerie

I woke up at 5am to see the sunrise over Sodus Point - stunning!

As we gathered our things and packed up the truck, Richard indicated that he found a breakfast spot in town that opened at 7am. Hooray!  There are about 6 of us who regularly meet for breakfast on the way out of town, but on this morning, there were lots more people who joined in.

After breakfast, we said good bye to Sodus Point - certainly a favorite spot so far.  I do not know how we will top the combination amazing camping spot and fun friendly folks from this town!

Our breakfast club started a pace line out of Sodus and raced to the first rest stop - which was at the start of a bike path which we would be on for the next couple of days. I was looking forward to riding without car traffic - just like on the greenways back in Raleigh.

This trip has generally had three groupings of riders...the pros, the average joes and the slows.  The pros are the fastest and so on. As the trip is progressing, the gap is closing between the three groups - a combination of people getting stronger/ fitter and the terrain getting a bit flatter.  I spent the morning between the pros and average joes - quite a change from my normal slow pace.  I am feeling good on the bike and much stronger on climbs than week one.  Also happy to be getting over the cold that is going around our group...

The Eerie canal bike path was beautiful! It was relatively flat and mostly paved or packed dirt. There was a tooth rattling section just before rest stop two which Richard and I agreed we should have avoided.  It was under construction and covered with loose stone and debris. It is amazing that we did not double flat before lunch.

After grabbing a bite to eat at the second rest stop, Richard, Jen and I raced the rain to the church where we would stay that night - we were sprinkled on and made it inside before the skies opened up.  Caroline was already waiting.  (She is one of the pros)  It was so nice to sleep inside that night while it was raining!  No wet tents! 72 miles done for the day and looking forward to Niagara Falls and Cleveland this week.

As an added bonus, our route leaders offered to do laundry that night - simple pleasures!  Our resident Irishman, Kenny, posed for a picture with the laundry - he is a brave soul...