Thursday, August 14, 2008

Bon Ton Roulet, Day 7 - Trumansburg to Auburn

We actually saw a sunrise today from our room at the Copper Beacon. The weather forecast is for thundershowers in the afternoon, though.Our room was called "Under-the-Eves" and it had two full beds, an in-room bath and a sloping roof - Ouch! Hit my head a few times. Laurel and I decided to hang around for breakfast and treat ourselves to Eileen's home cooking. We couldn't decide what to choose from the menu but I think we tried almost everything - eggs, bacon, French Toast, potatoes, home-made muffins, fruit, coffee, juice, and maple syrup, jellies, and butter made on the farm. What a way to start a day! It was past 9:30 AM, and we had to get rolling.This was a straightforward route heading north along the west shore of Cayuga Lake back to where we started seven days ago in Auburn. There was not much sightseeing, just a long steady bike ride with time to think about our past week riding in the Bon Ton Roulet.The last leg was a downhill out of Trumansburg and a gradual easy uphill climb back to Auburn. Total ascent was 1,385 feet. The straw from the wheat crop that is left behind after the combine does it's job is baled and used for livestock bedding. . . and hay rides. This must be where old tractors come to rust while they wait to be sold on E-bay. Today was the kickoff for the 22nd Annual Route 90 Garage Sale, stretching more than 50 miles where "garage sale junkies find paradise". Unfortunately, today's route back to Auburn took us on SR 90 for about 3 miles. If you sell it, they will come. People stopping, parking, U-turning, door-opening, J-walking, trunk-loading made for a challenging ride through the neighborhoods. Besides, we were also trying to check out what was for sale. The final stretch back to Auburn. Since we had a late start, we saw none of the other riders on the road. We did the 45.6 mile ride in 3 hrs:40 min with only one 15 minute break, averaging 12.4 MPH. We were the last ones in, just before it started raining again, and in time for our shuttle ride back to Syracuse.
Congratulations! 291 miles in 7 days
Total bike time: 38 Hrs:30Min
Total Ascent: 11,362 ft
Total Calories: 14,723
No flats, no falls, many good memories.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm trying to decide whether to do this ride this year. I've done fancy European tours with hills and mountains for the past 3 years, but need to stay closer to home this year. I'm solo. Any suggestions?
(btw: here's a pointer to my blog's last Euro trip: http://dhmitchell.blogspot.com/2008/06/bellagio.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your Blog. My husband and I are doing the Bon Ton for the first time this year. Loved getting a visual of what to expect or at least anticipate. Enjoyed reading as well as the photos's
Leslie and Mike