Welcome to the 80's

Longest ride today - 81 miles!

Actually, a welcome break and relaxing ride along streams and lakes from Old Forge to Selkirk.

We said good bye to Sony at breakfast....and chatted. Among other things, someone mentioned a funny tweet about dogs 15 miles from the second rest stop...As we use twitter to communicate info about the day, sometimes, random tweets creep in! (Note : if you want to follow the same twitter feed that we do and see what communication happens, follow @notier2014)

After the first rest stop (about the 30 mile mark), I felt great - probably because the ride was relatively flat and shady - a definite change of pace!  However, one of my fellow riders had gotten a flat just after he stopped and waved us on so he could take off a couple of layers. Bad luck - but he is a strong rider and was able to make up the time.

After that rest stop, I was toward the back of the pack and I stopped to take a picture of a sign and my tire went flat - apparently the bad luck karma torch had been passed. I pulled over on the side of the road and realized that my spare tire was in another bag, so patch kit it was!  So glad they included these in our welcome bag.  As I tried to determine where the tube was leaking, it was difficult to determine if I heard air, or trees rustling as I compressed and listened intently.  So I applied three patches, reassembled the tire and tube and pumped it up with a CO2 cartridge. I tried to text the route leaders, but as usual, I had no signal and was on the side of the road In back woods New York.  I was on my way..and things seemed to be holding..when suddenly, a big dog started barking behind me and was clearly getting closer...I pedaled fast and was able to lose him after he chased me for two city blocks. Apparently, that tweet we made fun of at breakfast was the real deal!

We laughed about our dog encounters at camp that night.

Selkirk Shores State park is on the shores of Lake Ontario. There is something comforting about staying in a State Park. It reminds me of being a kid and going on various camping trips from New England to Indiana.  The smell of pine, the doors banging..the fires burning....

After I rolled into camp that night, I took a hot shower - which included washing a couple pairs of shorts. Sleep came quickly on the shores of Lake Ontario...