Day 37- Syracuse, NY > Utica, NY (58 miles)

June 17

The heat has found us and will be with us until Boston; my Garmin shows avg heat on the ride at 90. The good news is that we are used to heat and were sort of forged in it by riding to SGI so many times. We did not start until 9:30 today and rolled into Utica around 1. The 4 of us ate a couple of pizzas immediately and rehydrated with 2 beers per biker (also immediately). The ride was social through 33 miles and the first SAG, and then the group broke apart, and the Griffin guys rode together into Utica.

The route:

Gradient:

Check out a couple of photos from the ride supplied by some of the folks from our group:

Oneida, NY claims the world's smallest church - this is pretty cool.

A beautiful church in one of the small towns that we rode through on the way. Yes, the town has a name, and I am being lazy.

As I said the other day, upstate NY is very nice.

We rode along other parts of the Erie Canal today; it is impressive, but I would hate to have to seine it.

Since we did not leave until much later this morning, I was reading and came across a quote from F Scott Fitzgerald that I've read multiple times over the years. This kind of follows the hobgoblin of little minds from a couple of weeks ago, but I like it anyway: ""The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." Think about this one the next time someone wants to talk politics and fight the hobgoblins.

Tomorrow will be a tough one because it will be blazing, and we have 102 miles. Pray for safe passage, good roads, and strong legs. Talk tomorrow...