Author: Paul Kramer

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Day 48: Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA

90 miles, 5341 feet climbed

After yesterday’s chilly weather, today was more moderate. There was a patch near Burlington where rain preceded us, leaving wet pavement in the shaded areas but that was all. The elevation gains came from many small climbs, spread throughout the day. I was hurrying to make sure I had time to pick up my rental car before the Avis office closed at 5. I made it to the hotel by 3 pm, showered and made it with plenty of time to spare.

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Day 46: Utica to Troy, NY

100 miles, 2188 feet climbed

Today being another long day, with the potential for rain, I didn’t plan on taking many photos. The rains stayed away until dinner time and were light even then. Much of the scenery was familiar from the 2019 ABB North ride. We’re following the same basic track, though with some differences in the specific streets. For example, right after Little Falls, ABB switched to the south side of the Mohawk River while Crossroads kept us on NY Hwy 5 until Schenectady. ABB’s approach put us on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail earlier than Crossroads’.

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Day 45: Syracuse to Utica, NY

58 miles, 1119 feet climbed

We postponed our departures from 7:15/7:30 to 9:00/9:15 due to the short distance. To our surprise as well as staff’s tonight’s hotel manager announced that he only had 11 of the 31 rooms we’d reserved. He did arrange for the rest at a hotel .7 miles away. I was one of the riders so relocated. Most, if not all, of the staff was assigned rooms in the original hotel. I suppose that is necessary logistically but it does complicate things for the rest of us. We needed to be shuttled back to the original hotel for dinner. And in the morning we have to have our luggage packed and out for pickup by 6:15 am, an hour later. Then we ride our bikes to the original hotel for breakfast and sit around for departure at 7:15/7:30.

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Day 43: Buffalo to Victor, NY

79 miles, 3264 feet climbed

The weather has turned colder again. Low to mid 50’s to start, getting up only to the mid 60’s. And fairly strong winds, mostly coming as crosswinds. Thermal arm warmers and legging were in order, along with a wind vest. Today we had more rollers, with the longest climb less than half a mile long. It was best to keep moving to generate heat and I took fewer photos as a result. Getting out my camera involved unzipping my vest to access by jersey pocket, which let out a bunch of heat and let in the cold winds.

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Day 42: Erie, PA to Buffalo, NY

91 miles, 2310 feet climbed

Today the winds were going to help us much of the day until we turned directly north coming into Buffalo, when they turned into pretty strong crosswinds. The road surfaces were among the better ones we’ve encountered. Another SAG at an ice cream place. I partook of some very good cherry product. Later, a few miles from our hotel, I had my first Boston Cream doughnut from Tim Horton’s, likely not the last.

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Day 39: Wooster to Niles, OH

94 miles, 3678 feet climbed

Today was another long day. The winds were not particularly strong but they were mostly crosswinds. Unlike yesterday, the many climbs and descents were spread throughout the day. Near the end, we turned north toward our hotel on a very nice bike path for 8 miles or so. The last couple of miles, though, were on some very poorly patched local streets.

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