Redfield, NY to Fair Haven, NY:

June 8, 2012

Into the teeth of the wind

A restful stay at Phil & Donna's Driftwood Inn ended with a cool clear morning. We affixed one of the deer fly tapes that Phil gave us to the top rear of our helmets.

We figured Rhona would be in a good position to see how the deer flys reacted. A piece of gravel landed on Rhona's fly tape prompting premature celebration but the only deer fly to land on my helmet lamded on the rear vertical surface, which happened to be where Rhona said I should affix the tape. I hate when that happens. We seemed to leave deer fly country and because of strong headwinds never encountered any for the remainder of the day.

We stopped in a small diner in the town of Orwell which was recommended by Phil and Donna. The waitress greeted us immediately, introduced herself and we sat down to coffee and donuts. Several seniors immediately engaged us in conversation about our trip and local events. A friendly welcoming atmosphere can go a long way to keeping a small business going Cost for two donuts, use of the restrooms and 15 minutes of conversation was $2.

As is this one. What kind of magic could turn a tree into a wizard?

We passed the 33 mile mark by lunch time and stopped at picnic tables near the road in New Haven. While eating we were joined by Logan S. a first grader on his bicycle who stayed home from school "to work on a project".

Logan stayed home from school to work on a "project". It should be a heck of a project.

Logan lived in a shabby house next door and told us he was the youngest of seven siblings. At one point he proceeded to describe his many and varied injuries and hospitalizations which included one stay at age two when a 12 year old cousin boosted him up to climb an electric powerline. Logan was a friendly engaging little boy and we told him his teacher and principal certainly wished he was in school today. I suspect his Principal has been a frequent visitor to the shabby house. Logan stayed in my mind for several miles down the road which may explain the first wrong turn of the day. When the GPS said we were going North and the wind was hitting my left cheek we discovered our error. It probably added on a few extra miles. Our wrong turn late in the day was more bothersome because Rhona's back was bothering her (which I diagnosed as another delayed side effect from our Shingles vaccination a week before we left on tour) and we had tired of riding 68 miles into a headwind. You would think we would be unlikely to make a wrong turn riding west parallel to Lake Ontario but once again we were riding north up hills and with the friendly wind hitting the left cheeks again. This ended up a six mile detour...it only felt like 12 miles. We're spending the night in a small cottage next to an outdoor bar on an inlet of Lake Ontario. For $40 you can't beat the price but we don't have cellphone signal service, wi-fi or even a functioning TV. As soon as I finish these notes I'm going to figure out how to set up a fan or the airconditioner to cover up the sound of the bar patrons and turn in for the night. It's 9 pm...we're such party animals.

Our $40 a night "cute cottage", right in the water and right next to the bar. I had to cast through a couple of pillows before finding one that didn't smell of cigarette smoke. It was a dry cabin and with all of our food placed inside the fridge the mice were not a problem. However, Rhona was paralyzed in laughter when I flushed the commode and the plumbing reverberated sounding like a fog horn. She finally recovered and could stand nearly straight.

Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 1,443 miles (2,322 km)

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