It must have been a rough day for Jeff. He arrived at Joe’s house at the age of 78, but one day of cycling made him age 1 year. Happy 79 Jeff.
We started this morning at 7 a.m. and arrived at our hotel at 3 p.m. Overall it was a wonderful day to cycle. The temperature was moderate and it did not rain. Most of the day was spent on the Empire State Trail network that extends north to Canada, west to Buffalo, and south to New York City. The section from Joe’s house to the city meanders through the mountain valleys and is about 75 miles long. In planning our trip, Joe saw that we could save over 10 miles by going over one of the mountains rather than staying on the relatively flat trail. We are still debating the merits of saving 10 miles versus climbing a 2 mile hill with an average grade of 6 percent. The steepest part of the climb was 16 percent. Nancy, our trail angel and Joe’s wife met us with our bags after our big climb. Climbing without all that extra weight was a blessing.
While there wasn’t much to see today, we stopped at the 150 year old Hopewell Depot train station that sits along the trail. The depot and adjacent buildings have been restored and turned into a museum.
While our 2 mile climb was challenging, it was not bad. The bad climb was the one required to get to our hotel. It was about one-half mile with a 7 percent grade up a very busy road with no shoulders. This hotel was definitely not built for cyclists.
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