Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Watertown to Oswego NY

August 2, 2005
Distance 60.0 Miles

We left Watertown around 8:00 AM and headed south since we had to get around the end of Lake Ontario. Again today we had a headwind all day but good news no rain. The wind was from the southwest, the direction we were headed. We completed the first 30 miles by 11:30. We were in a rural area so restaurants were few and far between. Finally we came to a sign that said a golf restaurant was ½ mile ahead but when we completed the ½ mile we found a sign that pointed down a hill and around a curve. When we looked ahead, we were at the top of a roller hill. Since Mary Kay and Jim did not want to go down a hill that could lead to a major uphill climb after lunch, they continued on to the next restaurant, a small bar where they split a sandwich. Scott and Barbara went to the golf restaurant.

Scott had been fighting a slow leak in the front tire of his bicycle. Every 5 to 10 miles he had to stop and pump up the tire. Finally, after lunch he stopped and changed the front tire tube on his bicycle. Mary Kay and Jim left as Scott was putting everything back on his bicycle after changing the tube. We finally stopped in the shade of a large tree about 15 miles later because Scott and Barbara had not caught up to us. While we waited, our cell phone rang and Barbara told us that they were about a mile behind us and would catch up with us shortly. 40 minutes later, Barbara called again and informed us that Scott had found a piece of glass in the front tire. He removed the small piece of glass and had patched the tube 3 times. None of the patches had held and the tube was still leaking air. Scott gave up and rode the rest of the way to Oswego by stopping every 5 to 10 miles and putting air into the front tire.

When he arrived at the motel (a Days Inn) he moved into one room and found that it was next to a room that had been used as a "party" room. The window was broken and several bags of empty beer cans littered the floor. The room had not been cleaned. In addition, the bathroom light would not work. Scott and Barbara moved to a different room. Scott then began to clean the chain on his bicycle as well as the bicycle in general. Jim took the tubes which Scott had trouble patching and successfully patched both tubes. Jim and Scott then remounted the front tire on Scott's bicycle. Showers were taken, supper eaten and Scott and Jim revised the route for the next three days to reduce the total miles that would be ridden each day.