It’s always something

Amsterdam to Little Falls, New York Friday, April 23, 2021

Well I needn’t have worried. It was cold but the sun was shining, and my gear was adequate to keep me fairly warm. I was delighted to make 10 mph, which doesn’t sound like much on a flat surface, but the headwind was significant, mitigated only somewhat by the trees. Stopped for breakfast at the Berean Bean in Canajoharie, it was lovely to talk to the owner Carol and her friends Matt and Teresa. Matt is a pastor in the local church, and they both are recovering from Covid, although only Teresa got sick. Fortunately, she did not need to be hospitalized.

When I tried to pay up, they said it was by donation only, and they only took cash. I tried to go out to the bike to fetch it, but they would have none of it, insisted on treating me, despite my protests. Just another demonstration that while bike touring, it’s the people who are the highpoints.

I had to get to the motel by 1:30 for a zoom call, but was on pace and feeling pretty great. 8 miles away, however, the path changed from paved to stone dust. This is commonly used on bike paths, and is usually easy to negotiate, but in this case it was treacherous. Maybe because it rained yesterday, or that it had not yet been packed down by regular usage, but it was like cycling through sand. My speed dropped to 4 mph, and I had to struggle to keep from wiping out in the loose ruts. My bike has big tires, 700 x 40 C, which can usually handle off-road surfaces just fine. I suppose I could’ve let air out of the tires for better flotation, but it’s awkward to pump them back up again.

After 2 miles of this, despairing of reaching the motel on time, I bailed out and got on the adjacent highway. It wasn’t too traffic-y, the shoulders were adequate, and the hills not too bad. However the trees were wide open, so the effect of the headwind was dramatic.

I did make it to the motel just in time, but with more of a struggle that I had hoped for. One of my favorite comediennes was Gilda Radner, of the early Saturday Night Live. She had a great routine as Roseanne Rosannadanna, where she would launch in tirades invariably ending with an exasperated “it’s always something”.

Gilda died too young of ovarian cancer, but not before she wrote a memoir entitled “It’s Always Something”😔

Distance 43.5 miles, 253.8 total. Time 4 1/2 hours with stops. Elevation gain 682 feet.