Day 49 -- Little Falls, NY to Latham, NY

Miles: 83.72
Total Miles: 3752.42
Time: 5:48
Average Speed: 14.4 mph
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Flats Today: 0
Total Flats: 15
Elevation Gain: 2227 ft
Weather: Light rain in the morning changing to very hot and humid later
Today started out as almost the same as yesterday, but it slowly died down and turned out to be very hot. We got a lot more pictures today because after the rain passed we didn't have to worry about the camera getting wet. Today was also really cool because we followed the Mohawk River almost the entire way. We woke up at 5:50, ate breakfast at 6:30, loaded at 7:30, then began to ride in the rain. It wasn't raining at the hotel, so we kept our rain jackets in our back pockets. About a half of a mile into the ride, it started to rain. We didn't put our jackets on because it was so hot, but the rain still hindered the enjoyment of the ride. It calmed down to a drizzle, then it stopped for quite awhile. During that time, we went by a bunch of castle looking buildings, so we took a picture in a part of an old one. Also, we saw a bunch of small creeks and river that were absolutely roaring under some of the bridges we went on. All of the rain we had yesterday made today a little more interesting. After the pictures, it almost immediately started to sprinkle again. It wasn't very hard, so once again we didn't put on our rain jackets. We rode through that light sprinkle for about 10 miles before it stopped, then it started to get hot. As it got hot, we had a pretty large climb for about a mile, so I got more wet from my sweat than I would have if the sprinkle had kept up. At the top of that hill was the first sag stop. It was nice to have a dry sag stop unlike the 2 yesterday. We did our normal long sag stop routine, then we got going again. There wasn't much after the first sag stop beside the beautiful and fast moving Mohawk River beside us, so we didn't stop to take pictures for about 5 or so miles. Since it was dry out but there was still and overcast, we knew we had to take pictures when we got the change. We soon found a lock where they let the boats go past the dam, and we took pictures of the river and lock there. Once we were done taking pictures at the lock, it started to rain again. This time it became a heavy and steady rain that we could have used our rain jackets for... too bad we left them in the drop box at the sag stop. We just rode cold and wet through the rain until it stopped... then I sweated and stayed just as wet as when it was raining. It was a nice ride from then on out with no rain and a lot of shade. About 3 miles after it stopped raining we got on a nice bike path through a wooded area next to the river. Along the bike path we came upon another lock, so we stopped and took some more pictures. This one had an older boat going through the lock than the last on, and the water was rushing through the dam like crazy. The rapids on the lower side of the dam were enormous. Anyway, we took that bike path all of the way to the second sag stop.

That sag stop was at another root beer stand type thing, so we got some ice cream then continued on our way. After the sag stop, we almost immediately got right back onto the bike path. It was nice for about 2 miles, then we saw an asphalt paver that looked like it was ready to pave a path in front of us. Sure enough, on the other side of the machine, there was just gravel that hadn't been paved over yet. We rode on that for about 2 miles, then the path became paved again. I never thought that I would be so excited to see asphalt after riding on it for the past 47 days. Anyway, the path stayed paved for the rest of the ride on the bike path. Once we got past the gravel and a little bit more, the path went right up next to the river again. Wade took a bunch of pictures of me behind him and in front of him while we were on the bike path. One of the pictures he even tried to get both of us in it. We followed that for about 8 miles until we had to turn and ride the last 3 miles on roads to the hotel. Before we made our turn onto the roads, we took the bike path about a mile and a half further, then turned around. We ended up only getting an extra 3 miles out of that, so after we climbed some hills to get to the hotel, we rode around in some neighboring car lots to get a few more miles. The day was only supposed to be 76 miles and we almost got to 84, so we ended up doing about 8 extra miles today. What also helped us get those 8 miles was going to Mass this evening. It was only about 7 tenths of a mile away, but there and back makes a mile and a half. Big John ate with a college buddy of his tonight, so it was just Fran, Rand, Wade and I that went to Mass today. The first time he missed Mass on this trip, the next day he got 2 flats... I doubt anyone will ride with him tomorrow. Anyway, today was great because we actually got to take some pictures. According to weather.com, there was a 10 percent chance of rain today, and tomorrow is a 40 percent chance. Since we got rained on almost all morning with a 10 percent chance, we plan on getting wet tomorrow... but hopefully not.