Sea-to-Sea NA Day 54 My team was on sweep today, but with 19 people since Grand Rapids we have enough so that all of us don’t have to help all the time. The ‘newbies were put on breakfast detail and the veterans divided between clean-up, loading and sweep. George, Rob and I took off somewhere before 9 with George setting a fast pace to start. As I warmed up after a few km I took the lead and we rode through the upstate NY countryside. At the first T intersection I came to there was not an C arrow. Checking the instruction we saw that we should have made a right turn a long way back and so we turned down that way. Rob had a good map, which we checked at the correct distance south and we figured out where the route was. Joining it we soon saw some riders making us feel better. We continued at setting a good pace past the first, second and the third SAG stops. We picked up Marty for a while till she stopped to take a picture and without me knowing it Rob slipped off the back (he is riding his full fendered touring bike). At the 86 km mark we reached our morning goal; the lunch stop put on by East Palmyra CRC. I had been using Harry’s gift of special Mango juice that morning as energy drink and have no other explanation for the 31+kph speed through the 86 km up and down the hills. It was a great stop with sloppy joe’s, beans, great potato salad and many delicious desert items. I ended up drinking 3 and a half cups of coffee. I think I better stop saying that I don’t like coffee because there were other choices available. After a long stop, waiting for Rita to arrive but it was taking too long, we set out on the last 50km for the day. Geneva is situated at the north end of Lake Seneca and we figured this would be the last town before the State Park so we decided to look for some refreshment. Having finished a pint we went out and got ready to ride again. George thought we would be able to continue along the railway track and find a place to cross but the road turned to bricks and then gravel after only a short distance. We turned around again risking our tires on the gravel. Arriving at the corner, George wanted to stay on the left side of the road on a bike lane but because of the oncoming traffic we had to ride close to the curb for the 100 or so meters. We both noticed the chips of glass spread all over the place. I tried hard to avoid all I could. As we set off down the road on the route again we saw Joe’s SAG stop after less than a km and thought we had better apologize for our earlier stop instead of his. We explained that had we know he was there we still would have done the same thing. As we pulled in George noticed his front tire was getting softer by the second. Sure enough he had a flat. He proceeded to change it without finding the cause. He said that he was sure it was a small piece and it would be OK. I was not so sure and told him that was wishful thinking. Off we went and sure enough, we were less than a km down the road and fisss went the tire again. He told me to proceed and he would go back. George always has a theory or explanation for everything but this time he wasn’t quite sure if it was a second hole in the patched tube he had put in, whether he had put the punctured tube back in or if it really was a second flat. I guess we will find out tomorrow. Last time I saw his bike before dark he had hung an inflated tube on it to make sure it would hold air. Rueben mentioned to me that some of the boys might be interested in a team time trial before the end of the tour. I offered a 100km ride with teams made up of riders from the individual ride plus maybe one other person who was not able to do the earlier ride. Initially there was interest but there seems to be some hesitation setting in late tonight. We will see what develops; at least this will be fodder for some good-natured ribbing if the young lads are not up to the challenge. We have not had our own Internet connection for weeks now and have depended on schools and neighbours for access to posting opportunities. I hope to post this tomorrow sometime but the pictures will have o come later.