A day off.... maybe?

[marko138]

Originally Posted by karl_1052

Okay

[Particle Man]

Patience is a virtue

I'm workin' on it!

[HurricaneHeather]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

Patience is a virtue

A virtue we, as a whole, do not possess.

[karl_1052]

You guys suck at the continuing of the story for him.

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

Patience is a virtue

I'm workin' on it!

Working on work or your damn story. I am bored to death at work and need something to look at so its all on you now

Tom

[Particle Man]

I am not particularly eloquent… either by design or as a result of my upbringing, I am somewhat pragmatic in my use of words (both written and spoken). This tends to make me come across as either flippant or just plain short (which is synonymous with “rude” in the eyes of many). As a result, when I post on Internet forums, I am not known for writing volumes when I believe just an emoticon will express the appropriate thoughts just as well.

I felt it necessary to explain this before going on.

The world around me also tends to be pragmatic in its own distribution of words. Take this sign for example:



In just 2 small words, “Road” and “Closed” the message is stated in such a manner as to convey the appropriate message: don’t try to drive down this street.

The sign does not say, “We’re sorry, this road is closed because we’ve decided to spend your tax dollars and dig a large hole in the center of the street in order to improve drainage and reduce the amount of time we have to spend listening to you all complain about your basements flooding.”

Back to past tense:

This sign was something of a theme for my morning and became one of the reasons for changing my loose framework (okay, it was a plan) mid-stream.

…

The night before my potential day off, I had plugged in my iPhone, camera, and GPS to charge since I had not yet gotten around to wiring in my auxiliary power port. Unfortunately, my brain was not quite firing correctly at the time because, although I had plugged the GPS and iPhone into a power strip, I had apparently neglected to plug said power strip into a wall socket.

Since I would be dropping my daughter off at day care and because I am the emergency contact in the event something is needed, my phone was something of a requirement (the GPS, not so much since I wasn’t planning on getting into any unfamiliar territory).

I discovered this little snag only after putting all my gear on and rolling the bike out of the garage but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting away. So, I did what any half crazed rider would do: I improvised. I spied a couple alligator clips hanging on the wall and hooked them to the aux port… the positive I clipped to the positive terminal of the battery and the ground I clipped to a convenient piece of exposed metal:

(I only grabbed a photo of the ground)



I then zip-tied the assembly to the frame:



GPS secure:



A quick check to make sure power was flowing:



Tire pressure check just in case:



Finally ready to roll:



A quick check of the weather revealed no clouds but a bit of haze (who needs weather.com ):



At this point, I should actually outline my plan (not calling it a framework anymore because at this point, it had become something of a plan)… I had decided to roll down US Route 20 toward Albany with a plan to end up in Cooperstown, NY. After heading in that direction, I kept hitting signs saying “Road Closed.” One did lead to this:



… not a bad thing but this was a fairly isolated incident. In addition, I kept running into some fairly annoying traffic (30 in a 55 stuff). Okay, there was a message buried in there. My plan wasn’t going to work out. I listened.

New plan: I remembered that in the other direction on Rt. 20 there’s a nice little town called Skaneateles. I also remembered from a thread on ADV by GSBones that there’s a great burger place called Johnny Angel’s Heavenly Burgers… and I was a bit hungry by this point. Hmmmmm….

After turning around and heading in the direction of Skaneateles on US Route 20, it had become clear that I was a tad bit overdressed for the unseasonably warm temperatures (I was sweating my ass off). I decided that a pitstop in Cazenovia, NY would be a good idea:



I then changed from this:



… to this:



Much better. I also took this opportunity to open the vents on my Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket and pants.

Some more information on Cazenovia:



These guys were certainly enjoying the lake and the weather:



I love my bike…



Onward:



(notice the “Bike Route” sign… this becomes significant in a bit)



Take the “Bike Route” sign and relate it to this picture:



All will become clear soon.

[karl_1052]

How flipantly rude.

[Tmall]

You made me love MY bike again.. Sigh.

[Particle Man]

As I crested the first hill, the “Bike Route” sign gained a whole new meaning…



Yikes… it wouldn’t be so bad going this direction, but the other direction would be hell. And it just kept going:



And up the other side in the distance:



In case it hasn’t already become clear, I live in an area of hills. Lots of hills. The same forces that carved out the Finger Lakes also helped sculpt the other features in this part of New York State.

While I was heading up the hill in the distance, I thought about how much thought the highway designers had put into Route 20 in this area. Every time the road headed up, a second lane appeared for the slower traffic:



That came in handy more than once on this trip.



In some areas, it was clear that some adjustment to the landscape were necessary when the road was built:



There was no shortage of hills:



I passed by Pratts Falls Park and briefly considered heading in (it’s quite scenic) but I was on a mission and I was getting hungry



Besides, I had established a rhythm and didn’t feel like pulling over.



This big fella managed to find the one area where there wasn’t another lane going up hill but I didn’t care… I was riding.





Caution: tractors may jump out without notice:



There was a ton of horse farms along the way:



Thankfully, this was a rare sight along the way:



More hills coming up:



Going dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn:



(What’s interesting about the above picture is that this road in the middle of nowhere had granite curbs…)

As I crossed into the area around Lafayette, NY, it became clear that I was entering Apple Orchard territory… every other farm had rows and rows of apple trees:



Oh look… another closed road:



…

[Particle Man]

...

I was getting close and I was getting hungry:





… bet you don’t see these in Florida



Lots of nice, flat, open land for snowmobiling:



With plenty of views…



What you can’t see in this picture is that the hill beyond this sign went up for about a mile:



I’m particularly fond of windmills. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve always held a certain fascination with the concept and the form of windmills. I think it has something to do with the basic form that’s determined by functionality (kind of like motorcycles).

A classic-style windmill:



I had almost reached my destination when my phone rang...