Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Day 59 Romulus to Binghamton

Distance Biked Today: 78.3 miles

Time Spent Biking:  5:58

Avg Speed: 13 mph

Max speed: 40.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3778 miles

What a great day! I hiked to some awesome falls, tried some local cuisine, helped at a food bank, and saw my parents.

We biked close to Taughannock Falls, so Christeena and I hiked one mile back to the actual falls. I really wanted to get the day’s biking behind me as we had a big hill to climb and a headwind. Short side trips like this is what I love on this tour. The hike followed the stream / river as the canyon grew on both sides. The streambed was one huge piece of rock, flat as could be, and without a speck of sand or gravel.

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When we got to the falls, several cyclists were already there, including Aaron, Hans, Jason, Gretchen, and Melinda. I walked in a little ways and then just stood back, skipped some stones and took in the beauty. Even though the falls are higher than Niagara the amount of water cascading over them was minimal. It varies from a trickle to a rapid-producing waterfall.

But back to the route!

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After Ithaca we had a climb a sizeable hill. The church that is cooking for us tonight had some individual with water and trail mix at the top. What a great chance to take a break and catch our breath.

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About a dozen of us volunteered for the last service project of the trip. We went to a local food bank to help sort goods that a local radio show had just had a drive for. We organized all the goods by type, but first checked to make sure they had no dents. If a can has any dents it most likely puncture the seal so it goes to a local pig farmer for pig food.

Valley CRC who’s serving us dinner is actively involved with this food bank. The relationship that they’re developed is great.

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We also took everything out of a freezer and put everything back in all tidy so the worker there knows what is in it and can get it out easier. Plus I got a popsicle for helping.

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Dinner was served by the Valley CRC congregation. The local favorite is Spiedies, salt potatoes, baked beans, and Acini de Pepe Salad. It was great food and fun to have some local taste. A spiede is a skewer of marinated meat that is placed on top of a piece of Italian bread.

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My parents left home today to drive to New York to visit with relatives and then come to Liberty State Park to see us arrive at the end of the tour! And they also tried the food.

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Desert was brownies and ice cream. My favorite, but I’m trying to watch my sugar intake as I prepare to be a lot less active in a week, so I skipped it. The ice cream was very hard so they tried everything they could do shave off a little.

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What a beautiful sunset during our nightly Peloton Meeting. It’s hard to capture it with a camera, but I got fairly close.

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