1997 Novice Bike Trip

The MUST BE Bike Trip
August 3rd - August 8th

4H Camp Shankitunk
PO Box 184
Hamden NY 13782

607.865.6531
Year round
TRIP ITINERARY
August 3rd - 8th, 1997

Sunday - 4H Camp to Grand Gorge 30 miles
Leave camp ASAP after noon to travel along the Back River Rd, SR 28, Delaware Ave, Delhi - S. Kortright Rd, SR 10 and SR 23 to the Northern Catskills Occupational Center in Grand Gorge. We'll have a snack in Hobart and possibly a swim in Stamford if time and weather permit.

Monday - Grand Gorge to West Fulton 24 miles
An early start is necessary so that we stay out of the way of the summer sc hool held at the Occupational Center. Breakfast in Grand Gorge and then on along SR 30 to Mine Kill St Pk for a swim. After the swim, a picnic lunch and some hill climbing to the Hayes residence near West Fulton. We'll spend the night with the Hayes family. To reach the Hayes house we will turn off SR 30 onto Bear Ladder Rd and then continue along CR 4 to their house.

Tuesday - West Fulton to Cooperstown 40 miles
Rise and shine to cover the mileage along CR 4, SR 10, SR 165, CR 35 , Pete Hendricks Rd., Fish Rd., Hade Rd. and CR 33 to Cooperstown. Lunch near Roseboom most probably. Perhaps a late afternoon swim at a park just outside the village of Cooperstown. Laundry in Cooperstown. We'll stay two nights in the First Presbyterian Church.

Wednesday - Cooperstown Museums 5 Miles
A day of rest and recuperation in Cooperstown. Museums in the morning and a barbecue beside Otsego Lake in the afternoon.

Thursday - Cooperstown to Oneonta 28 miles
A beautiful easy ride following the downstream course of the Susquehanna River from its source in Cooperstown to Oneonta. In Oneonta we can swim in the city pools and in the evening we can catch an Oneonta Yankees game if it doesn't get rained out. To get from Oneonta to Cooperstown we will follow CR 33, CR 35 and SR 7. We'll stay in the First United Methodist Church.

Friday - Oneonta to 4H Camp Shankitunk 33 miles
To avoid the rigors of Franklin Mtn we'll follow Old Southside Drive , SR 23, CR 47, CR 11, CR 10, Elk Creek Rd, CR 10, Delhi - S. Kortright Rd, Delaware Ave, SR 28 and Back River Rd to reach camp. If time permits and enough interest is shown a guided tour of the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith is possible. We will arrive at camp before 5 PM and all campers must be picked up before 7 PM Friday evening.

Total 160 miles

The camp phone number is 607-746-2004. If you must contact a camper during the trip call camp and leave a messag e. Trip leaders will call daily to check for messages. Campers will write daily until Wednesday. They are not permitted to make phone calls except in emergencies.
Monday August 3rd
8:45 am - Some clouds this morning - a sprinkle of rain over night but not enough to lay the dust down. The clouds will give us some shade. - Bicycle Bob

The Participants
Arrival ST Cyclist's Name
11:25 PA Bob Thomas
11:40 OK Trevor Smith
11:43 MA Jed Porter
11:45 VT David Be rgstrom
11:47 OR Andrew Weaver
11:55 ME Gifford Meyer
11:56 NJ Matt DellGrottaglia
11:58 RI Jon Becker
12:02 NC Carrie Miller
12:07 CT Matt Mattson
12:09 NH Ron Caruso
12:10 MD Priscilla Ricco
12:10 DE Michelle Staron
12:19 MT Genevieve Weber

ST refers to the state abbreviation marked on their equipment - bowl, cup, spoon, knife, fork, straps, and bungee and the bags containing them

1:19 pm - We left camp at a very early time, bravely w alking out of camp since the camp driveway is so steep and full of loose gravel. We should have plenty of day light for the ride to Grand Gorge. When I use the italics it means that I have added the text at the time of keying in the journal with the idea that a little more explanation is needed for those not fortunate to have been there in person for the whole trip. - Bicycle Bob

2:06 pm - Well, our day started out a little wet. We didn't even get 2 miles! We are under a roof attached to a sheep barn (on the SUNY Delhi campus, before the golf course) We learned everyone's names and found out where everyone's from. - Matt Mattson

2:10 pm - We played a very simple name game saying the real name and the ‘trip' name of each participant twice with some gesture the person selected. Doing this ‘breaks the ice' a bit and really helps in getting to know 14 other names fast. Of course I have a huge advantage having been seeing the names since the applications got to camp in the spring. Everyone else has to learn the names on the spot... or else it turns into a "Hey you!" sort of trip. The names follow.

Perky Priscilla -
Sea Shell - motion of balancing on a surf board
Crazy Carrie - snap your fingers
Jumpin' Genny - jump up
Gargantuan Giff - raise your arms and be huge
Monstrous Matt D. - flex your arm muscles with your arms at your side like the Amazing Hulk
Dangerous Dave - raise your arms to shield yourself from him
Mighty Matt M. - raise arms and flex biceps
Angry Andrew - hold arms at your side but look angry and ready to raise them
Raptor Ron - wave arms like you are in hawk like flight
Just Jon - make sign language gesture that puts thumb on breastbone and little finger pointing to chin
Trevor Forever - twirl fingers of one right hand in a circle at about ear height
General Jed - salute
Bicycle Bob - spin hands in front of you as if pedaling with your hands
Mister Mike - pretend to shake hands (Mister Mike is Jed's father. He often helps with the pre-trip ride, the first day of the Novice trip and with transportation on the Intermediate and Advanced trips. The Porter's also open their home for us to stay at on the last night of the Intermediate trip. Mike rode with us as far as Stamford and then went ahead to Grand Gorge and eventually to Margaretville. Mike may lead or co-lead some bike trips in next summer.

Maybe Mike, Jed and I will get in a century ride (100 miles) before Jed goes off to the University of Maine at Orono this fall. A really challenging ride can be mad by doing the whole Novice trip in one day, without packs of course! I have done it once, but that was alone. You wouldn't believe how quiet the road can seem when alone as compared to traveling with 13 teenagers.)

3:59 pm - Well, 18 extra pounds sure does make a difference. The road is drying out. We stopped for a drink and a snack (along a nice flat topped stone wall that surrounds the Belle Terra Center in South Kortright - the snack was 3 packages of Fig Newtons - the drink - water) - Gifford Meyer

4:03 pm - We are now in the middle of nowhere eating and drinking where no one can hear you scream. (And for some reason Gif just screamed.) - J.D. Becker

Along the way between South Kortright and Hobart our path crossed that of a recently opened
‘rail trail' - where an old railroad right of way and roadbed has had the ties removed and t he surface made suitable for hiking, biking, horseback riding and sometimes snowmobiling. Some of the cyclists with wide tires and mountain bikes went along that route with Mister Mike while the rest of the group followed the paved road. It was neat to catch a glimpse of their orange bike flags as they bike between trees or along corn fields. The rail trail paralleled the road. The only things that slowed them down were the gates they had to open and close in a few places. The rail trail here h as a gravel surface. Some other rail trails have asphalt.

5:38 pm - We stopped at the pool but it was closed. A lady (up the hill from us in the park) was talking about her sex life. Thank goodness she left after 5 minutes. Whew! - Giff

The pool was scheduled to be open until 6 pm but when a thunderstorm passes through late in the day, which apparently was the case, they sometimes clear the pool and lock up. In 12 years it has happened to us twice this way. Besides missing our swim we were forced to find a place other than the pool water fountains to fill our water bottles. I located a laundromat down a long driveway near the pool. We filled our water bottles at the utility sink.

7:55 pm - So far the trip has been a lot of fun! We waited out the rain at a sheep barn.
Now we are at the place where we are staying the night (NCOC - Northern Catskills Occupational Center - a part of the BOCES system) and I think that we'll have a great time tomorrow also! - Priscilla

8:02 pm - We've set up our sleeping bags, and the boys get to sleep (in the same room with) a very strange dummy, because we're in the health care room. The showers are freezing! (The showers were really freezing. Due to renovations under way this summer while the building has no students in attendance the water heating system was disconnected. After biking 32 miles without a swim a cold shower is better than none. Apparently all agreed, at least they all took showers. We le t those with the longest hair go first so that their hair would be dry before going to bed errrr floor!)

8:21 pm Each cyclist was asked to finish the following statement to be sure that all had some record of their first day on the trip.

Now that my bike is loaded.....

I can make some new friends. - Mighty Matt
We can lead out on our trip. - Raptor Ron
We can start riding. - Crazy Carrie
I'm ready to go. - Sea Shelly
I'm wondering why I'm still at home. - Just Jon (Jon lives only 8 miles from where we stop for the first night.)
I'm thinking about how my legs are going to die - Jumpin' Genny
I'm heading to our next destination - Monstrous Matt
I'm finally away from my parents - Trevor Forever
It rides a lot differently - Dangerous Dave
We're read to go. - Angry Andrew
When going down hills you can really feel the need. The need for speed. - Gargantuan Giff

Statistics for Sunday's Ride

Distance - 32.6 mile s
Time with bikes in motion - 2 hr 55 min 33 sec
Average speed - 11.1 mph
Total vertical climb - 900 ft

Total vertical climb is not the same as change in elevation. My bike computer, an Avocet 50 (a model no longer in production) has a feature that records any change in altitude of 10 feet or more. The changes in the upward direction are summed up and you get a record of the combined height of all the hills that you have climbed. You could ride in a circle with a hill in it and come back to the same elevation, but you would have a record of the climb that you made during a ride. It takes considerably more effort to pedal a loaded bike up a hill than on the level so the total climb is a very interesting statistic to cyclists.

Monday August 4th

Novice Cycling 1997

Monday August 4th

8:36 am - It's Monday and it really feels like a Monday! It's cloudy with a little sunshine. Right now we are at a convenience store eating cereal. It is fairly cold out. It doesn't look like it's going to get warm today, let's hope that it doesn't rain! - Trevor Smith

9:21 am - Went down the farthest downhill I've been on ever. - Jon

Jon is referring to the downhill on NYS Route 30 just north of Grand Gorge. It was a good climb up out of Grand Gorge. We stopped halfway to take a picture with the impressive hills in the background.

9:23 am - The hill was OK but BB Hill and the Oquaga Lake Rd are like 10 times bette r! - Trevor

Between the descent of the hill and the swim at Minekill State Park was a short hike to Minekill Falls. There wasn't a whole lot of water going over the falls with all the dry weather but they are still neat. The boys found lots of flat rocks to skim across the plunge pool beneath the falls. The girls said throwing those rocks is a ‘guy thing'.

1:21 pm - We just came from the pool at Minekill State Park and we are at lunch. - Andrew

The cyclists found the pool cold and the showers warm.

1:35 pm - Nothing to do - Shelly

Between nothing to do and the hills mentioned below were three things. We had some fat tire cyclists take a trail while others took a road to the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project Visitor Center. The center has a number of interactive exhibits. Next to the center is the Lansing Manor. Most of the group took the tour through the Manor which was built by wealthy Dutch land owners who controlled 40,000 acres in 1819. The guide was very good and answered all sorts of questions that her interesting descriptions provoked the cyclists to ask. The third thing was a bike ride the length of the longest single span wooden covered bridge in the world. This bridge was damaged by the flooding in January 1996. It has been repaired and looks great now.

The hill referred to below is along the West Fulton Rd just after we got off the Bear Ladder Rd. The first stretch is so steep that about 4 or 5 cyclists had to walk a portion of it. We all gathered for a rest and to fill our water bottles at the West Fulton Post Office.

4:29 pm - Hills are the enemy! Death to all hills! The earth would be better off flat. - Genevieve Weber

4:33 pm - I think that I am going to die! We climbed about 700 feet! My legs are so tired. I could rest for a day. Quite a few of us stopped and walked but we're still here (thank God). I hope that we don't meet anything else like that. - Matthew Mattson

The end of the day Monday brought us to the Hayes farm, Sapbush Hollow Farm. The Hayes family have been active with 4H for years and when their children were 13 or so they offered to host the bike trip for a night. Their children are now both in graduate school but they still welcome us into their home. They shopped and helped prepare dinner a dinner of fresh corn, macaroni salad and hot dogs and hamburgers for our bunch of 14 even though they had two other house guests from Jap an, a niece and nephew visiting, not to mention their ongoing operations in organic sheep and chicken. Did I mention that Mr. Hayes is also a Professor at SUNY Delhi? They have a pool that they let us use to cool off. They have some very intelligent sheep dogs and just lately they have had to acquire some guard dogs to keep coyotes from killing their sheep and lambs.

We played a human knots game and did another exercise called "floating on the ocean". We turned in early sleepi ng in the open air on their large porches. Tuesday is the toughest day of our trip and we would need the rest. Little did we know that at 5:35 am one of the Japanese guests would start our day by taking a flash photo of us as we slept on the porch!

Stats for Monday's Ride

Distance - 23.66 miles
Vertical Climb - 1380 ft
Time riding - 2 hrs 12 minutes 31 seconds
Average speed - 10.6 mph

Tuesday August 5th

Tuesday starts by finishing the climb of the hill that shelters Sapbush Hollow. It is a considerable piece of work and uses most of the energy provided by the pancakes and rich eggs from range fed chickens. The climb spreads us out and we gather at the top to wait for all to arrive. Then we go down the huge hill to Warnerville one at a time so that no one has to pass another or brake for them. We gather again at the bottom we huge smiles on our faces. Riding your bike is fun!

9:37 am - Quite the downhill we just did! Definitel y the best I've been on. Kind of scary though, because you know if you hit a big pothole, you would hit the ground and disintegrate. But still fun! - Dave Bergstrom

9:43 am - We just got down this humongous hill. Matt Mattson said he kept an even 23 mph. - Ron

9:55 am - Finally! Got off that hill! Now we have to live through the steepest uphill today! (I'm walkin'!) - Priscilla

1:00 pm - We stopped at JP Pettey's house to eat lunch. He's rebuilding a real cool India n motorcycle and a dirt bike. - Ron Caruso

Just after JP's house is South Hill, called the Guardrail hill by us because it goes up without any curves along a seemingly endless guardrail. It is also tough because there isn't any shade on it, just pavement, lines and that guardrail. Fortunately, after you get up that hill you are rewarded by some nice flats and downhills that really help you move along toward Cooperstown.

3:02 pm - Takin' a break in Middlefield - first stop since a great lunch break at JP Pattey's house. JP and his wife, who we didn't see because she was at work, had soda, milk, applesauce and cookies for us. His motorcycle is running now and he has won a few prizes showing it. He has a new German shepherd dog too.

We stopped here in Middlefield because we could see rain falling from some clouds that looked like they were going to catch us. Here behind the firehouse is a 3 sided shed with room for all of us and our bikes. We could move in if th e dark rain clouds decide to soak us.

The weather is cool and we have a tailwind. Things could hardly be better. - Bicycle Bob

3:06 pm - Right now we're stopped at a shed behind the volunteer fire department. 3 of the girls had to go to the bathroom and fill up a water jug, so we went to the town clerk's house.

When we stopped at JP's house, I found out that he was born the same year as my dad. - Genny

3:13 pm - Jed raised my seat and I feel the need. The need for speed. - Giff

9:04 pm - Now that the longest but not necessarily the hardest day is over, I feel much more reassured about the trip. Tomorrow we get to tour Cooperstown. Today we went swimming inn Otsego Lake (at Fairy Springs Park on the eastern shore). It was very cold but we got used to it. Now that we are farther along in our trip everyone knows a little more about each other, and everybody knows the names. So far I've had a lot of fun on this trip staying at sheep farms, chu rches, and NCOC buildings. - Trevor Forever

9:20 pm - Little league moms are mean! We walked into the laundromat and it was a-hoppin'! Machines were spinning and these women were running around and cramming little baseball uniforms into every available machine. We found two machines free and 4 of us stood by them as Bob got coins and soap. Turned around for a second and one of the ladies had put coins, soap and some clothes into a washer before we knew it. - General Jed

Can you imagine that we got to eat pizza out at a restaurant with a father and son pair of cyclists going from Kingston, Ontario, Canada to Boston MA and nobody wrote a word about it?

Stats for Tuesday

Distance - 39.1 miles
Vertical climb - 2580 feet
Time riding - 3 hrs 45 min 57 sec
Average speed - 10.4 mph

Wednesday August 6th

7:26 am - up at 7:00 am. Hot showers at Cooperstown High School if we can get people rolling in time. - Bicycle Bob

8:4 4 am - We just came from a school and had hott (with 2 tt's) showers. Ahhhhhhh! Now Bob's getting breakfast. So long. - Giff

10:11 am - We just ate breakfast (on park benches in the open air overlooking Otsego Lake on a wonderful morning under the watchful eyes of ducks hoping for a snack while some gulls cried in the distance and boats bobbed at the docks nearby) We are just sitting around waiting for I don't know what. (Probably waiting for people to finish eating and clean their bowls a nd pick up things. If you do nothing else on the bike trip you learn to take care of your ‘stuff'.) But the bathrooms were very interesting! You can't tell which bathroom is the girls! - Priscilla

1:11 pm - We went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and then went to the Doubleday Batting Range. Trevor ( 6 ft 1 in, weighing 180, 14 years old) threw 75 mph according to the radar gun. Wow! That was a season record for his age group (13-15). - Giff

6:39 pm - Well, the water was free zing! Now we are getting ready for dinner. Matt Matson decided to throw the ball at me so..... I decided to beat him up! - Priscilla

We went back to the Fairy Springs Park for another swim and dinner of tossed salad, bread and butter and foil dinners made according to the individual tastes of the cyclist.

9:40 pm - We went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and we went to the Farmer's Museum. We played ‘town ball' for a long time. It was fun. - Andrew

9:45 pm - Bed tim e! "Dude, I know." - Giff

Town ball was a new one on me. Before ‘baseball' really settled down to the one game that we play now there were a variety of games and playing baseball could mean nearly as many things as could be meant by saying ‘playing cards'. In town ball you have 4 stakes instead of bases. A thrower pitches the ball 35 feet to a striker who stands halfway between home and first. If the striker hits the ball he/she runs to first. To get the striker ou t you have to either catch the ball in the air while standing or throw the ball at the striker and hit them while they are not holding onto a stake. One out and your half of the inning is over. You don't have to stay on the base paths and the game can almost turn into dodge ball if the runner gets too far from the stakes. The ball is just a bit larger than a hardball but is very soft and no one needs gloves. It doesn't matter which way you hit the ball, there are no foul balls. If the ball meets the bat you run! We had a great time with seven people on a side. We made teams by lining up shortest to tallest and taking every other person for one side.

Stats for Wednesday

Distance - 7.82 miles
Vertical climb - 280 ft
Time riding - 52 min 40 sec
Average speed - 8.8 mph

Thursday August 7th

8:26 am - Packing up - cleaning up - a cloudless sky - cool morning - Bicycle Bob

8:47 am - This is our last morning in Cooperstown. It is a nic e day. We are waiting for Bob and Ron to bring breakfast. We are down by Otsego Lake. We are all packed up and ready to go. - Mighty Matt

9:11 am - I bought 12 Premium Night Crawlers for $2.50. They came out of a soda machine like soda. I released them in the ground. "Free Willie" - Giff

9:16 am - Bob takes a long, LONG time shopping. Jed says he likes to talk to people, but I'm hungry! - Genny

1:47 am - We went to the car museum and there were lots of ol d cars.

Wow! Ha Ha! Watched a movie. - Shell

The car museum is the Corvette Americana Museum. It won an award in 1996 for being one of the top twelve museums in New York State. It is more than just a bunch of Corvettes as the owner, designer and curator of the museum explained to us when we entered. The man, Alan Shery is a Columbia University graduate with a degree in anthropology. He studied under the famous and influential anthopologist, Margaret Meade, famous for her work , "Coming of Age in Samoa".

With his Corvettes as a central icon he has created a multimedia time tunnel of American culture from 1953 to the present. The time tunnel has a number of rooms with one or two Corvettes in each room. Behind the car(s) in each room is a huge photograph of some landmark of the USA. The Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Arch of St. Louis, the Grand Canyon, the Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, and more are all there. In each room top ten mus ic is playing. In each room segments of popular TV shows and movies are playing on a TV screen. On a movie screen slides flash from important news events of the year. It is all as if you have just bought the car and you are living in the year it was built. Tunes, shows, and headlines all match the year of the car. Mr. Shery said that if you wanted to stay in each room long enough to hear each tune, see each TV segment and film clip and watch each news slide you had better prepare to spend three weeks in the museum!

There is also an Indianapolis 500, the ‘Old Brickyard' with pace cars and a brick floor. Next to that room is a movie theater with two movies usually showing. We watched some of "Corvette Summer".

After the museum we rode a few miles down to Milford and took a soda break in the shade of a large brick Methodist Church. It was unlocked and we were able to use the bathrooms too.

1:51 pm - Jed says that I'll be glad I wrote this in 10 years. It's the last night that I have to listen to people like Jed snoring and whistling in their sleep and in two nights I'll be sleeping with pillows. Real pillows! All right! - Carrie Miller

2:55 pm - Lunch time. Can't wait till I get to go home and a have a bed with BIG pillows - Shell

3:15 pm - Went to sit down but there wasn't enough room (on the picnic table bench) so I sat on the ground to eat. Gen asked if I wanted her to move her stuff but I said, "No." She asked why and I said, "No thanks, the ground shapes to my butt and the bench hurts my butt." - Ron C.

3:16 pm - Giff is making Ron look for Corvettes in the woods. - Monstrous Matt

Upon reaching Oneonta we went to Neahwa Park for a swim. The pool was super clean and nearly deserted. Some of the boys went off the diving board. The dip felt good even though the water was a bit cold. On our way to Oneonta we were passed by a number of adult cyclists. We later learne d they numbered 53 in all. They were riding from St. Alban's VT to Scranton PA on a tour called the Perimeter Tour. They were riding empty bikes and were raising money to help find a cure for cancer.

After the swim we went to the Oneonta YMCA. At the Y we were able to get hot showers. Cyclists always seem to appreciate a hot shower.

Next we went to the First United Methodist Church and set up camp in the church library. I went and picked up the necessary groceries for a taco dinner at the P&C store across the street. We all pitched in cutting the vegetables, slicing the lettuce and chopping the cheese. Then we cleaned up and packed away the mess kits for next year's group.

10:24 pm - Well, it is the last night of week. It is hard to believe the week is already over. We just have to go to Delhi. It seems like we just started. - Mighty Matt

10:35 pm - We just game back from the Oneonta Yankees (single A ball, but the starting place for some grea ts like Don Mattingly) baseball game. I got two of the Yankee's autographs. It was fun. - Andrew

10:40 pm - We went to a baseball game and at the end almost all the players shook my hand. Now I call it, "The Sacred Hand." - Ron

Stats for Thursday

Distance - 27.85 miles
Vertical climb - 850 ft
Average speed - 11.3 mph
Riding time - 2 hrs 27 minutes 4 seconds

Friday August 8th

7:25 am - Just 5 minutes till everybody has to get o ut of bed. The weather outside is delightful, but it may get a bit warm before we see Delhi.

After considerable heated discussion last night folks decided this must be the "MUST BE" Bike Trip - must be, you know? Tacos last night for dinner and today, since the mess kits have been packed away we are going to enjoy a Friendly's breakfast special - a 3 egg omellette with a choice of filling and toast and home fries for only $2.99, yum, yum! - Bicycle Bob

11:10 am - We a re closer to my home town than Delhi for some obscure reason. We might be going to Hanford Mills Museum. - Jon

11:18 am - Wow! - I've only been with the crew for about 3 hours but it seems like I've been with ‘em the whole week. (Jeanne, who has helped lead trips to Quebec, Montreal, and through the Catskills joined us for the ride to Delhi. She had the luxury of a nearly empty bike. But she did put on her personal panniers and carry the rolls we were going to eat at lunch.)

Breakfast at Friendly's was awesome. I drank a whole pot of coffee, so I should have enough fuel to get to the top of Elk Creek Rd.

My big job is to keep the "buns" from getting squished. Bob is talking with his millionth person of the trip. He knows almost everyone in the three county radius. - Jeanne

12:38 - Carrie's got dirty teeth!

We're enjoying the shade under the weeping willow at the Hanford Mills Museum. The terrain has been gentle and rolling so far!

Did you all see the giant rooster in a cage that was also a mail box?

We saw some Harley motorcyclists at the convenience store. One couple was from Wisconsin, just across the border from Dubuque, Iowa and the other couple was from Fly Creek, New York. Today they were headed for the Catskills. Bob gave them some special spots to stop and some nice roads to go down. They didn't seem interested in trading bikes. - Jeanne

We had a nice tour of the mills. Unfortuna tely low water prevented the guide from running the huge overshot water wheel but they could run other mill equipment with an electric motor placed just where the Hanford brothers had placed one years ago for use in winter and in times of low water past.

The guide made a barrel top and also showed how belts were moved from pulley to pulley and repaired. He demonstrated a special device to cut handle holes in wooden crates. A chance to turn a hand powered stone grist mill brought most of our group forward to give it a try.

12:39 pm - Too bad I have to go home to a bed and pillows and warm showers! Oh, well! It was fun, and I had a great time. I'm not going to sit on steps anymore. We are at Hanford Mills now eating lunch. I liked all the jokes and some stuff people said. - Sea Shell

12:39 pm - We just ate lunch at Hanford Mills, the last meal of the trip. Soon we will be home with all our beds and pillows and we won't have to sleep on the floor any more. - Matt DellGrotaglia

12:40 pm - It's been an awesome week and it's kind of too bad that it's almost over, but there is always next year. We've met interesting people and all learned something new about each other or ourselves, like my fidgeting. - Carrie Miller - Crazy Carrie

12:41 pm - It's been a great trip. I wish I could work next summer as a leader but it's not looking good. If everything works out I'll be working as an Assistant Forest Ranger in the Catskill park. Maybe a f ew years down the road I'll be back and some of you might be around. We'll see. - General Jed Porter

12:45 pm - We stopped at Hanford Mills and had roast beef for lunch. - Ron

12:45 pm - The pond that's next to us (the mill pond that stores the water to run Hanford Mill's water wheel) is really low and full of green algae. You can see the bottom of it. Soon, after we eat lunch we're going to look around the Hanford Mills Museum.

The hills aren't too bad today, and I hav en't had to walk once. When I get home, I'll be happy to be able to sleep in a bed, but sad that I won't be able to see some people on the trip again. - Genevieve Weber

12:45 pm - Well, it's the last day. I guess that I'll miss Carrie, Pam-Pam, Perky and Genny. Oh, and the guys. Twirly-boy, keep on surfin'. Munster Matt, learn how to count your gears. Jon, must be. Flagboy, fix your flag. Ron, enjoy your Corvette. Andy, have fun with your bat. Carrie, cook at Larrie's hair. Pam-P am, enjoy your seat. Perky, cut your nails. Genny, keep on pedaling. Mighty, have a good life. Jed, pick up the pace. Bob, has to be. So long. - Giff
email for Giff: CannonH800@aol.com

ps Carrie brush your teeth.
pps No, no, no, nooooooooo, don't do that! You'll scratch the Cannondale. - Giff
12:45 pm - Well, the last few hours of our bike trip. I guess I really miss everybody. Crazy Carrie, Sea Shell, Genny Light, Priscilla, Giff, Ronald, Andrew, Biker Dude Matt, Mi ghty Matt, Jon, but not Dave, I'll still see him, and I'll especially miss Dej and Super Bob. KO? KO? OK! - Trevor Forever

12:45 pm - We just finished lunch at Hanford Mills Museum. It's the last day of the trip. It will be nice to be home, but I will miss people from the trip. The trip as great. It was a nice challenge, and a great way to meet people. I am definitely going on next year's trip. - Dangerous Dave Bergstrom

12:45 pm - Why are we here, there or lack thereof? Who knows? We are at Hanford Mills, the middle of nowhere, where no one can hear you scream. (And for some reason Giff just did.) - Jon email for Jon: cbecker@wpe.com

12:46 pm - The end of the trip is near. Our roast beef lunch is slowly digesting. Everybody is writing their last journal entry. This has been a good trip. People rode safely, the weather was good, not too hot and rain was rare.

I hope that you all consider going on another trip next year. When you get your journa ls all the addresses of the cyclists will be in them.

If you would like to have a reunion and photo swap keep this in mind. All bikers from all the trips are invited to the Pit Run in Oneonta on Sunday October 5th. There is a 10K running race and a two miles fun run/walk. There is a chicken barbecue lunch. We could go for a bike ride after the lunch. I know some great hills near Oneonta! - Bicycle Bob Thomas

email for Bob: thomasrl@oneonta.edu

12:47 pm - Today is th e last day of the trip. I think the trip was fun. A lot of fun. - Andrew email for Andrew: sportkid32@aol.com

12:47 pm - We are having lunch at the Hanford Mills Museum. We are only a few hours from Delhi. We are going to tour the museum in a few minutes. It is hard to believe it is over already. Well, bye everyone. - Mighty Matt Mattson

4:14 pm - Right now we are stopped at Fitch's Bridge. Bob was right, it does seem like we just left! It has been a lot of fun and I hope to see some people on next year's trip. That is, if I go! C-ya! - Perky Priscilla

At the covered bridge we read our last journal entries and downed a few more cookies. Then we played a few more rounds of human knots at the request of Carrie. Then it was back on the bikes for the final ride to camp. We arrived just a few minutes after 5 pm serenaded by a man playing a mandolin as he sat on the guard rail on NYS Route 28 just outside of Delhi.

Stats for Friday

Distance - 32.2 miles
Riding time - 2 hrs 49 minutes 58 seconds
Average - 11.4 mph
Vertical climb - 1300 ft

Totals for the six days of riding

Distance - 163.3 miles
Vertical climb - 6230 ft
Riding time - 14 hrs 45 minutes
Average Speed - 10.6 mph