Sporran

Word of the week: Arsesome (adj., fictional) In reference to a particularly desirable rear end.
Use: "Mate, check it out. That is arsesome!"
"Dude, not cool! That's my Mum!"

Yup, you think about some fairly strange things when you're by yourself for so long. Not a clue what influenced this bit of randomness, but it definitely wasn't the waitresses from the other night.

Cornell University Campus, Ithaca NY

So, the broken spoke. Google promised thunderstorms but instead it was incredible sunshine which made pushing the bike up the mountain bloody hard going. Knackered after 10 miles when I finally got picked up. The guy who stopped was in the area because his two sons were wine makers so he'd bought some land to turn into a vineyard. He gave us a lift all the way into the middle of Ithaca and to the edge of the Cornell University campus which was handy as the campus is on one hell of a hill with another gorge.

Gorge, Ithaca NY

Started off the day with pissing rain. Most people complain about the rain, but after the heat and the distances I'm covering the rain makes things easier. Once you're soaked, getting wetter just doesn't happen so as long as you keep moving and don't get cold it's all good. Tonight I won a pub quiz! Randomly wandered into a pub that looked decent and had some quality beers. As well as incredible food (I had an awesome meatloaf) they were running a trivia quiz. Which British luxury car maker made the Spitfire engine? Which duo wrote the opera Mikado? I was, well, not really on fire but I was getting a couple of questions right. For the final question, with the topic of Scotland, each team bet the current score of a team. So you could lose the current score of the worst team if you got the question wrong and bet conservative, or go big and bet for the current score of the best team with big rewards if you got the right answer and a big loss if you got it wrong. We bet big, and the question...

What is the name of the pouch traditionally worn with the kilt?

BOOM! I own two of these and finally, proof that my 4 years at St Andrews haven't gone to waste. $10 gift card in the bag with a final score of 9 hundred and something. Second place had a score of 0. Best cheap meal I've had.

Not Great Times

Thought for the day: Red meat is not bad for you; green furry meat is bad for you.

Things were left in the motel after having to break into a medieval axe collecting hillbilly's ("I don't know what no visa is") house after hiding from a storm. Surely that's got to be the bad times done for a little while...

Erie Canalway Trail after the storm

Cycling along the Canalway Trail the effects of the storm were ever present; fallen trees and branches all over the place. Other than that it was a simple day. And the day after was simple other than putting in a few more miles to try and get to Niagara Falls quicker: 150 miles in 3 days - I've done it before.

Then, it rained. Before when it's rained I've done 20 miles but this time I did 50. And I went along the Erie Canalway Trail again which was alright in the morning when it was concrete, but then it turned to gravel which acts like a fusion of mud and sand when waterlogged. This makes the peddling tough as the bike sinks and loses traction, and covers everything in a gritty mud. Make it to the motel I want to stay at, but they own two motels and check-in is only at the other motel so I have to go that little bit further, and back again to get a room. Once clean and warm again I try and check the internet, but I need a password so it's back out into the rain and to the other motel to get the password. Get back again and all my clothes are soaked and the internet doesn't work. Something I'd eaten was disagreeing with us too so I wasn't feeling particularly great. Surely that's got to be the bad times done for a while...

There was a bit of rain first thing yesterday but it actually cleared up so I wasn't bothered by it. Get into me slightly wet cycling gear and pack away me damp clothes and set off - THWUNK! I know that sound. Yup - back wheel is wobbling all over the place again and another spoke has called it a day. Steal wireless from outside Subway to find the nearest bike shop and it's 15 miles in the wrong direction. A mile or two on a wobbly wheel is doable in an emergency, 15 is not a good idea. It'll have to be walking which'll take maybe 4 hours, or I can hitch-hike. Got picked up by some guy in an absolutely knackered white pick-up truck that smelt like an ashtray and sounded like a permanently missed gear. But I got to the bike shop and got the bike fixed. By the time I cycled past my original start point I'd lost 4 hours - 3 in the afternoon and 50 miles to go. Kept up the 10 mph average and made it to the hostel at about 8, just short of a new PB (best is still 66 miles in a day, I did 65) but I did go past the 1500 mile mark (over 2400 km).

Destination reached - Niagara Falls

Not knowing anything about the place and doing no research, I thought that Niagara Falls would be some quiet place surrounded by forest and National Park, but no. Niagara Falls is a city and leading up to the city is suburbs and farmland; all of it populated. You can tell where the money is though; as soon as I reached Niagara the road was suddenly brand new smooth tarmac. Few days of (much needed) rest here and then it's on to Harrisburg.

Hiding From The Rain, Pt II

Sleeping opportunity number 1

The photo above shows my potential bed for the evening. It'll do for an emergency, but I wasn't really feeling it. The skies cleared and there was time to head on to De Witt, my original target, before sunset, where I could find a motel with a proper bed, a shower, and nearby food. Gathered all my stuff together, closed the door, and looked around at how bright everything was after the storm. Things aren't usually this bright. I left my glasses on the side - fucksocks! Nope, door was well and truly shut and locked and no windows were open. Whilst I was examining the slightly dodgy window round the back I was surrounded by mosquitoes when BUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz. What kind of bastard mosquito was that?!? Look at the size of it! And it has feathers! And it's a hummingbird.

Which brings us back to the much neglected wildlife list. Going through New Hampshire, Vermont and New York I have seen more grey squirrels, black squirrels, red squirrels, garter snakes, adders, deer, groundhog, beavers, tortoise, eagles, vultures, woodpeckers, tons of butterflies, tons of frogs, midges beetles dragonflies and other bugs bouncing off me glasses, and of course today's hummingbirds.

Back to the problem at hand. No way in, going to have to call the guy who let us in. He wrote his number on the pad that I left on the side inside - fucksocks! Hmmmmmm. Maybe the neighbour has his number. Score - he does! Give him a call, no he can't make it back to let us in. He suggests going in through the window. Going to have to find something to prize the window up. As I'm cycling I've got a fair few tools with me including tyre levers! Window up, through the window, glasses retrieved!

Breaking into the repossessed home of a complete stranger with a collection of medieval style axes - achieved! And comparing sleeping options 1 and 2, it was totally worth it.

Sleeping opportunity number 2

Hiding From The Rain

Little Falls NY

In the last post I was in Fultonville listening to the sounds of the Speedway not helping me sleep. After that I stopped in Little Falls NY. Not too much to say, but next door to the motel was a cinema so I went to watch Men In Black 3. Good film, but better than that was the adverts beforehand. All of them, without exception, were for local businesses (used cars, hardware, more used cars, rubbish collection, the pub) complete with shaky camera action and over-enthusiastic comb-overs.

Last night I made it to Rome. For all you American history geeks, this is the location of Fort Stanwix. For all of you who aren't American history geeks, meh - another town, another motel.

Back onto the Erie Canalway Trail and this morning it was stunning. I even had to stop to put more sunblock on as I'd seen a sign saying it was 33 C at 11 am and it was just getting hotter. After lunch (a Moonpie and a couple of cupcakes) I started running into problems. The USA isn't known for its use of its rail network, but over the past few days I've seen trains on the tracks and moving a number of times which has surprised the locals a lot. Today I encountered another train on the tracks but not moving, right across a level crossing. 100 m detour round the back of the train, carrying me bike, and I was back on me way. That's when the wind picked up and it got dark. Then it started to rain. Heavily. Me trainers were waterlogged within 2 minutes. I pressed on until the path was blocked by a gaggle of geese protecting their goslings and I turned back to the last civilisation to find some kind of help. And that's how I find myself in an empty house, that's in the process of being repossessed by the bank, hiding from a thunderstorm with a collection of medieval style axes. Last night I slept in a king-size bed, tonight I have a bit of sponge. If the weather improves, I may go and find a proper place to stay - it's only 12 miles or so.