Riding across America to train Joe for the Furnace Creek 508 - Day 2

Tuesday September, 16 2008 - Day 2
Amsterdam, NY – We decide that I will ride with Joe for the first part of the day and Chet will ride with Joe for the remaining miles to Ithaca, NY. We crank due west out of Amsterdam into a perfect morning. The temperature is 60 and the sun is gathering some distance from the horizon behind us. In the morning Chet and I mapped a course but from our experience yesterday we agree the support truck will remain relatively close to the riders.
I chose a back road turnoff early in the day to get some of the cornfield and mountain overlook views I missed yesterday while staring at the back of Chet’s bike. We turn on “Hickory Hill” and it goes almost vertical immediately. Joe looks over at me and I shrug. We climb the first hill and I am optimistic the word hill in the name meant one otherwise they would have named the road “Hickory Hills”. Kabong – it is up and up and up. We climb and I just keep going through gears until I run out and then resort to using my body weight on each pedal. After several miles we crest the top and are treated to beautiful views of farmland and mountains.
We are going to meet Chet and Bo after 25 miles but the town we decide to meet in is not on the trucks atlas. Chet and Bo drive around in circles looking for the town and Joe and I start moving west again. We cat and mouse through several more towns till mile 40 where we all meet and are able to replenish food and water. We decide to meet and change riders around mile 60 and Joe and I are cranking on the pedals again.
I stick closely to Joe’s back tire and begin to fall behind on the hills. I usually catch up with Joe on the downhills or flats as he is talking on his phone or using his blackberry. My legs are not sore from the day before but they are also not fresh. I stick to his back tire and try not to run up into him during speed changes which happen often considering the number and steepness of the hills. My mind is complaining and noisy this morning and then after a while there are fewer voices. I tell myself some of the complainers got tired and went back to bed – that is an alarm clock and before I know it the whole group is back complaining in a Dolby chorus.
Joe biked these roads last year and says to me as we start up the first hill, “there will be 100” of these today. The voice in my head thinks – is that supposed to be encouragement (later I came to realize it was the most encouraging thing he could have said knowing what lay ahead). The number was understated.
At mile 60, Chet takes over riding with Joe and other than another 10 miles late in the day I have the remainder of the day off. I get some food and as much drink as my stomach will hold. I start driving the truck and find nothing but long steep hills. The truck is downshifting to maintain speed. Joe and Chet are cranking up and down these hills at speeds I cannot maintain on flat ground. Bo left mile 60 well in front of Chet and Joe. He is riding with regular tennis shoes on Joe’s old road bike. Joe and Chet overtake him just as I am driving up. Bo will continue for another 10 miles and then join me in the truck to talk about the many places around the world he has lived.
Joe and Chet ride another 90 miles and ascend over 10,000 feet. Bo and I drive several towns ahead to wait for them and are surprised how quickly they catch us. Twice they cover the distance so quickly we don’t expect them and they pass by us without us knowing.
We arrive in Ithaca and eat a feast made for kings. We talk politics, economics and banter a bit. Our bodies are tired but our minds still quick with wit.
While choosing a route for Wed we are careful to pay attention to the topography. Tomorrows roads look to have fewer hills, but then again it’s a two dimensional map I am using and I don’t know how well I would sleep tonight knowing tomorrow may be more difficult than today.