Taking a zero (or two)

Amsterdam, New York. Wednesday and Thursday, April 21-22, 2021

The weather only worsened after yesterday’s chilly encounter with a headwind. The WNW winds increased to 20-30 mph with gusts up to 50, a couple of inches of snow were predicted, with temperatures in the low 30s and wind chills in the low 20s. This wouldn’t have stopped me on my bicycle commutes, but I did not plan for weather this cold.

Appalachian Trail hikers refer to “taking a zero”, when they go into town and spend a day recuperating, not putting in any trail miles at all. My motel is nothing special, but it’s cheap and clean and a decent place to hunker down.

I got a tear in my bike shorts, and nobody wants to see that. I didn’t bring a sewing kit, which wouldn’t have worked on Lycra anyway, so I decided to ask the “experts” at Joann’s Fabrics across town. Just three miles away, but it meant dropping down the 200 feet back to the Canal, and back up 600 feet on the other side. Not exactly going rim to rim on the Grand Canyon, but still daunting in the wind and rain.

There was an “easter egg” at the canal I hadn’t noticed yesterday. Amsterdam is one of those once–glorious towns that has gone to seed, its riverfront almost lost in a tangle of highway off ramps, but they recently added a pedestrian bridge with interpretive signs and sculptures that were really kind of touching.

Cranking up the other side I passed from the sublime to the ridiculous. Joann’s was in one of those strips with endless big box stores and pedestrian-unfriendly highways, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. The ladies helped me with tips about back-to-back iron on patches, though. I was hoping to build up a head of momentum dropping back into the gorge that would get me up the other side, but got diverted to a maze of construction detours. Meanwhile the rain had turned to snow and the crosswinds intensified, I was glad to have stayed put.

The motel clerk David was very helpful with an ironing board and iron, and I chatted with him as I made the repair (sandwiched between pillowcase sheets) in the lobby and did my laundry. Also there was a cross-country truck driver, Michael, who was marooned here, just like me, waiting for a part for his 18-wheeler. I have always been fascinated by long haul truckers, who seem to me to be the cowboys of the modern age. He was remarkably erudite and well informed, and it emerged he had lost custody of his son, and resolved to end his “poor choices” and educate himself about a career in hydroponics. The three of us talked for almost an hour. Human connections like these are one of the highlights of the trip.

While remounting my panniers back in the room, I made a horrifying discovery. A critical screw had come loose and couldn’t be found after scouring the whole room. These Ortlieb waterproof panniers from Germany are fantastic, but their hardware is specialized and has to be ordered. The “for want of a nail…the kingdom was lost” proverb echoed in my head as I searched around. Jane says I tend to catastrophize things. I calmed down, cannibalized a screw from a less-critical spot on the pannier, and tightened it and all the other screws in the set with my Swiss Army knife. Good thing, many of them had started to loosen.

I ordered replacement screws to come to my cousin Lindsay in Rochester, where I had originally planned to be in two days. Not bloody likely, it’s still 200 miles away. As I informed her of the delay, I couldn’t resist paraphrasing Dylan.

Oh, Lindsay, could this really be the end / To be stuck inside of Amsterdam with those Rochester blues again?

Distance 9.6 miles, 210.4 total. Time 1 1/2 hours with stops. Elevation gain 805 feet.

Addendum: the second day was just as bad, with winds that actually did hit 50 mph. I took a second “zero” day, and didn’t even leave the motel. I caught up on my sleep, worked on the blog, and read the newspapers. It was great to have a truly “down” day, ironic that it happened to be Earth Day.

I write this contemporaneously, early on the morning of 4/23/21, it’s still windy but the temperature is moderating. I am going to try to make a break for it. The next motel is 43 miles away and I’ve been warned it’s “pretty shabby”. Hopefully I won’t get turned around by the wind, and have to take a third zero here.