6-7-10 Day 10: Auburn, NY to Perrysville, NY: 91 miles in 7:20 hrs: Rt 20 west the whole day.
Stellar day with only the 20 mph westerly headwind to deal with, but with that being my only real issue, I was more than happy to endure.
Left Auburn at 8:45 AM for the long push today, and from the gun I noticed that there were NO major climbs – that thankfully was behind me. From there onward the road was just rolling, not easy mind you, but just rolling – and all no more than middle ring climbs. Seems I got the worst of the climbing behind me with yesterday’s ride, and with some extremely tired legs at the start, I was pretty happy not to be threading my way up 3 and 4 mile climbs in the little cookie. Made Geneva in about 2 hrs, and it seemed pretty mellow, but just about then that westerly headwind really started to kick in, and my riding became more difficult, cutting my average back from 14 mph to less than 12 mph – but at least it wasn’t a deplorable 9 mph as it was yesterday.
Went through all of the finger lakes, and I was surprised that the climbing got so mellow because I’d heard horror stories about the climbing around some of those lakes. Maybe, since I was just going across the northern tips of them the terrain was much more manageable. Don’t know, but I was happy nonetheless. Got through Canandagua at the 3 hour mark, about 45 miles in. Then on through farm country for a solid 4.5 hours, with the road undulating non stop. It kind of reminded me of Rt 303 out in Hinckley where it just go up and down like a roller coaster ride.
About 6 hours in I decided to start to look for a place to either camp or a cheap motel – whichever came first. So I kept riding, and it was like over the top of each and every roller I’d look for signs of a city or town, but nothing but farm country as far as the eye can see. Like the towns would be listed on the map, but when you get there there was nothing but a few farm houses. This went on for a good 2 hours. I finally stopped at a little filling station in the middle of nowhere and asked a gal about camping or motes – nothing was her answer. I’d have to ride at least 15 more miles to hit a little motel in Attica, NY. So I cranked a bottle of Gatorade and refilled my waterbottles and on I went towards Attica.
About 91 miles in and on the saddle for 7:20 hours I stopped and asked directions for the motel from a guy out in the yard. He told me where the place was, and then asked if I wanted to just camp in his yard, said he’d even feed me. Great guy for sure. I accepted and here I am at the dinner table of Charlie and Em. They have 4 children who’s ages range from 6 thru 15, all boys. We talked for a bit, he showed me around the house and property and then we commenced to eating. They fed me 3 bowls of chili, a salad, fruit – the works. Very awesome people. I’ll crash in their living room tonight and then head to Lake Erie tomorrow and ride southwest along the coast into Ohio.
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