Day 30

                                                                        Day 30
                                                         Batavia, NY to Liverpool, NY
                                                            121 miles, Avg speed 16.1
                                                          Time in saddle 7 hr 30 minutes

     Today, we had our first major accident.  Little Chris was hit from the right by a car at an intersection.  The car had stopped but then proceeded, not noting Chris coming from the left.  Chris had the right of way but that doesn't mean much when you're hit by a car.  The good news is that he is apparently OK.  There were some cuts and scrapes, but reportedly nothing broken.  An MRI of the head was negative.  He will be returning to the hotel from the hospital later tonight and would like to ride tomorrow.  His bike was destroyed and the ABB group is seeing what they can do to get him a temporary bike for the next few days.  This had a sobering affect on most of the group.  Although Little Chris had been a "loner" on this bike trip, choosing to ride by himself and eat by himself, he's still a part of the trip and we are all quite happy that his injuries are relatively minor.  Look, biking is a dangerous activity.  It's hard enough avoiding the potholes, curbs, wheels of other cyclists all while obeying the rules of traffic.  There are times, as Mike says, you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  One of the spookier aspects to this, is that just a few minutes before this accident happened, I was riding with Jim, (the mechanic on the trip), and he was telling me of the number of times people have had accidents in just the last few days of these cross country trips.  Moments later, we came upon Chris just as the ambulance was arriving.  Anyway, I have been and plan to continue riding in the safest possible way. 
     The ride today was hard, probably harder than it should have been.  There are days on this trip where I've felt strong and days where I have not.  Today fit well into the latter category.  Perhaps it was related to not enough sleep, which I can pin on the Bulls-Heat game that I watched until 10:45 until the outcome was clear.  Perhaps it was too much bragging over how the prior day's 83 miles seemed like nothing.  Regardless, my mojo was gone today.  Maybe it will be back tomorrow.  Maybe not. 
     We were in the Finger Lake area.  I saw Seneca Lake, which we brushed by the northern shore.  I saw signs to towns I was familiar with, Ithaca, Syracuse, Watkins Glen.  I also saw the Erie Canal.  There were lots and lots of rollers today.  The temps were nice, but the wind, which was from the South, sometimes blew against us and sometimes with us.  The combination of wind, mileage, and rollers made for a long day.  I was quite happy to finish.  I felt wiped out.  As part of my recovery routine, I've been laying on the bed with my feet above me, resting on the headboard.  This afternoon, I fell asleep in that position and woke up just before rap. 
      For nourishment we went next door to a sports bar which was both convenient and fun.  Lassa turned 50 today and treated us to a round of beer.  More reason to like Norway.  He's got the proper attitude about celebration.  One of the more interesting bits of conversation was whether if it were possible to continue our bike trip for another month after it ends in three days, would we do it?   This is assuming that money and jobs were not a factor.  Most agreed they would which really says a lot about how great this bike trip has been.  We just don't want it to end.  So we agreed that it's on to Europe for the lot of us. Kris, if you're reading this, could you send me my passport?

-Grinner

Erie Canal

Seneca Lake

Finger Lake countryside