It was a beautiful morning that we woke up to. Chilly, but lovely. Mist quietly rose off the creek water. Everything on the mountains was completely shrouded in fog.
A pair of Bald Eagles came and perched in a tree near our camping area. I was able to get a couple pictures, but they were shy of the camera.
Our legs and ankles were still painful, but we could ride. I came to the conclusion that my saddle had been set too high. I had adjusted it during our visit, and must have put it just a little too high. It caused my feet to extend with each pedal stroke, placing unusual stress on the Achilles tendon. I lowered my seat, hoping that would enable me to ride the rest of the way home.
Once again, we got going around 8. There were about 10 miles of the trail left to ride before we came out at Route 6, or Grand Army of the Republic Highway. We wanted to avoid the steep dirt road we had taken on the way down, so that meant we were on Rte 6 for probably 20 miles.
20 miles with little variation. There were a few small towns to ride through, lots of rolling hills, woods, and a few farms. There was also a significant side wind that felt like a headwind. After 10 miles, I was ready to be on a different road....
Finally we turned, and my mindset improved dramatically. The side road was more interesting and fun to ride with decent downhills and lots of curves. Twisting winding back roads I find quite enjoyable...
And...in only about 20 miles we would be in New York!
Unfortunately my Achilles tendons were becoming more and more painful as the day went by.
We stopped for lunch at the same place we had on the way down, near a little creek and a side road. I tried standing in the creek to cool my tendons, but it didn't help.
In the little Pennsylvania town of Genesee, we stopped at a gas station for some water. There was less than a mile to go till NY! We were pretty happy to be getting to the state line. It was a very clear sign that we were nearing home.
Not long after riding into NY, we noticed that the driver here were definitely less courteous than PA drivers. How annoying! Why would a thing as small as a state line have such an impact on the behavior of a person? I found it fascinating....
We made it to the little campground between Wellsville and Scio that we had stayed in on the way down. There were only 80 miles between us and home, but my tendons were extremely painful. I called home to find out if they thought, like I did, that it would be a bad idea to ride 80 more miles on an injury like that.
Mom decided she could come out and get us that night.
Here is a picture from when we were waiting...
We were very grateful to her, but I was sad to miss the last leg of the trip, and not finish the way I had planned. I am glad I didn't further injure my tendons, though. I hoped they would heal quickly, so I could get back on the bike before too long!
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