Criminey. What's it gonna take to get a new wheel? We knew we couldn't pass by Rochester without getting the job done. Rochester would be the last best chance to find a good bike shop to bring my bike back up to speed. 35 miles to the first shop. Problem: It's Sunday. As the morning played out, I made phone calls to see if it was open. Rats. By 11:00 I gave up on the first shop. Time to move further down the line.
Towpath Bikes would be open til 5. Promising.
The ride went from hilly to resemble Virginia Beach flat. Finally. Even cooler, it was along the Erie Canal as we entered Palmyra. (My colleague, Randy Drake hails from there. That explains a lot.) The towpath that parallels the canal is a mixed bag of pavement, gravel and packed dirt. The route was scenic and tremendously different from the miles of pavement we've been traversing. Interesting boats tied up along the way. Park displays and operational locks to boot.
Fred is exceptional at coming up to people to talk to them and especially when it comes to asking for directions. He stopped on guy running along the path pushing a baby jogger and asked about how we might find the bike shop. The man helped us find a shortcut across the town which saved us a few miles of travel along the waterway.
Riding through town was a bit frantic after the quiet towpath. But then we took a turn and EUREKA! Towpath Bike Shop. It was a full service shop with several mechanics and lots of everything a bike shop could have. I took my front panniers off, pulled my wobbly a&$ wheel off and went inside. After waiting patiently for a few minutes, I was directed to the mechanics. He looked at my wheel and said he would have to look in the basement and to keep my fingers crossed. 10 long minutes later, he returned.... with a wheel that would work!! Actually, it was a (mountain bike) 29er wheel. It only had 32 spokes but it took a disc brake. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. He got right to it. 30 minutes later, I was whole again. What a great day this turned out to be. He even dialed in my brakes to perfection.
He only charged for the wheel, gave me a 15% discount and no labor charge. Gay got some cable work done, too. Bikes taken care of, now it's time to consider accommodations.
We did a bit of sleuthing and figured out that the next campground was 35 miles away. It was late. We were tired. Gay's Achilles was killing him :( So, we found a budget Super 8 not far off route. Perfect.
Time for a late lunch before we push off and wind our way using a digital map (my Aple phone) to find the motel in the next town. My protégés are typically averse to such nonsense as they are truly masters of the paper maps. Success certainly helps make new inroads.
55 miles today
Not all of it was on the route. I'll be doing some calculating and post it later.
Cheers and Happy Father's Day.
My "Pop" died in his sleep @4.5 years ago now at 90. I miss him dearly. He would not approve of nor understand this insanity.
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