Hey again everybody! Today was good.
We did the baseball hall of fame and the farmer's
museum. I'm still a little tired, but after another good nights
rest, and an easier day
tomorrow, I'll be find, especially with friday's homeward bound
desier. I don't really feel
like riding tomorrow, but we're going to the soccer hall of fame,
so I'm looking foward to
that. The week started out pretty bad, and got better as we went.
TTFN,
Tim
Hi,doin ok haviing a good tiime today
was our ogff day and we went to the baseball hall of
fame and the farmers place the rest ov thr trip is easdy.well
g/g and i love you guys.jeff
If you haven't already figgured it out,
this is Tim. Everything is fine, and I had some free
time so I decided to write you. I can't be too long, so I'll make
it brief. Today is a rest
day, and tomorrow is mostly downhill. Yesterday was the hardest
and longest. Friday is hilly,
but not as long. We're going strait to Lake George upon return,
so I won't be back home 'till
Monday. Jason insists on doing his column, so here's what's on
his mind: hi it is nice that
you no longer respond to my e-mails i have something else to tell
you but cant so e-mail me and
i will tell you
Luv ya'
Tim
P.S. Don't write anything embarising in responce, it gets read
aloud.
Tim andTony:
I brought a palm pilot on the biketrip so that the campers can
have email during the six days
of the trip. I t would have been neat to have such a thing back
in the 70s when we were biking
across the country.
Bicycle Bob
ps Please write back - they think all
my contemporaries are too old to know how to type, let
alone use email.
The little thing only weighs about 6 ounces and goes for a month
on two AAA batteries!
Please reply to both addresses then your
reply hould be posted to the web page set up for the
trip.
It is at:
http://employees.oneonta.edu/thomasrl/4Hbiketrips.html
later,
blt
Hello. i am good. the hills are geting
to me. i dont realy want to go to tims house. i am realy
tyerd and could sleep for days. i dont care who picks me up i
just want to see you people. tim
understands. i want to go there with lots of power so i can do
everything. please come and get
me. i have rea;y thought it over. dont come and get me if i say
so tomarow. well talk tomarow.
tim and i are the only ones writing in the book. lve jason
scroll down. Hi Mom + Dad, I'm at Cooperstown
in the 4-H building. I'm having lots of fun. Today
was our hardest day, we rode 40 miles and up some very big hills.
It is about 8:30 Tuesday night.
Tomorrow we're gonna ride around Cooperstowm and go to some museums
and stuff. How's Fish
Creek. See you soon.
Hey everybody! We're here in Cooperstown,
just after the longest and most difficult part of
the trip. The steepest and "hardest" hill in Bob's vision
was about 1/2 a mile with no
flatening out at all, not even a small let up. Everyone made it
up without walking. The
second hill, which was longer but had some let-ups. Tomorrow [wednesday]
is a rest day. We
can ride as little or as much as we want because we are staying
in the same place. That means
that we can leave our packs here too! Bob says we might go to
the soccer hall of fame on
thursday. Thursday is all mostly downhill and not a long ride
at all. Jason was really tired
today and thinking of taking a rain check on lake george, but
he seems ok now. Gotta' go.
We're having ice cream.
Love,
Tim
Today I biked many hills and did 40 miles.
I feel better and cant wait for tomaror. Got to go
love Ryan.
I was talking to news guy and he said
that george bret is going in to the baseball of fame.
isnt that cool. wel i still want you to pick me up on friday.
well got to go. lpvejason
ow i was realy suprised when i saw that
u e-maild me. tim was very proud to say that he talks
to you. everyone thought that we where going out but i said that
we where realy good buds.
well the riding is good. this palm piolt is realy hard and i cant
see what i am doing so please
dont make a big deal about it. well time to eat hope all is well
in new paltz if you write
again tell me how you and hobo are. well wright later.-jason
We are a couple miles away from mine kill. We are stoped because someone has a flat tire.
Talk to you later love Ryan.:
I forgot to tell you that after u left, one
of the guys asked Bob, with a very concerned look
on his face, ''um, where's that couple? We can't leave without
them.'' he was worried about
you. Gotta go, this isn(t easy to write with. Love megan
Hi! l hope u get this. Did u get my post card?
It is monday night.
We are staying at this farm:
i have to go.
Love you
scott
Hello, i am good. we went up a big hill. I am sleepy. Well qot to go. Love Jason
Hello from camp!
Just saying hello love you
scott
This is cool hard bike is GOOd and fun may not type again love u jason.
Ok, this
is hard, so
bear with me.
it's sunday night, and we're
takin' showers and watching
ESPN. everything's going pretty
good.
we did 32 miles today. tomorrom we
only have to do 27 miles with a
whole day to do it. we can recieve mail, so
just hit reply and i'll get it eventually.
love ya', Tim
Todays ride was a nice, great,rlde. We took the rail trail for alot of the ride. I am now geting ready to go to bed.
Hello from camp!
Just saying hello
love you
scott
Well, Here we go! A first from a Shankitunk bike trip. I am carrying a 3COM Palm III computer. Cyclists will be able to send email, hopefully on a daily basis to their parents and the email will be posted on this web site. The newest messages will be inserted at the top. That way anybody who knows of this site can get the whole report as soon as it is posted.
Please use the link below to let us know what you think of the idea or to address any questions about our trip to the cyclists. Please excuse any errors we are all new to this endeavor.
Eleven Cyclists
and
The Road
4H Camp Shankitunk's
1999 Novice Cycling Trip
July 18th - 23rd
4H Camp Shankitunk
PO Box 184
Hamden NY 13782
607.746.2004 - In Session
607.865.6531 -Year Round
12:00 noon at camp
I have always said that the hardest part of the trip is getting
out of camp. We have to put flags and panniers on all the bikes.
Load the panniers and weave the straps to hold the sleeping pads.
Mess kits labeled with state abbreviation's are assigned to each
cyclist. Medical forms and final payments to camp are made. Copies
of the medical forms are made so that the camp can have one on
file. Water bottles are filled and emptied and filled again. Finally
we get to walk not ride up the steep gravel road out of camp.-
Bicycle Bob
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53/140 = 38 |
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50/110 = 45 |
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50/90 = 56 |
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75/240 = 31 |
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65/120 = 54 |
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60/110 = 55 |
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63/120 = 53 |
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55/134 = 41 |
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50/100 = 50 |
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54/128 = 42 |
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59/120 = 49 |
2:37 pm Fitche's (covered) Bridge just north of Delhi
Left camp at 1:45 - good start - Nice tail wind - some clouds
- eating apples - getting ready for the name game (results are
shown above) Mr. Mike and Reckon Beck are along on their Opus
IV tandem. All had lunch but two. - Bicycle Bob
4:05 pm on the lawn of The Hidden Inn, South Kortright
Ha! I am the first one to write in the book. So far we have 9
counts of road kill - disappointing! Well, gotta go! - Racin'
Jason
Just before the red covered bridge we had a golden retriever follow us for a good mile. We yelled at it to go home but Bob had to stay back and hold it until we were out of sight. - Trekkin' Tim
We just passed Belle Terre - a drug rehab facility and 2 men skipping out on duty were laying down on a stone wall in the shade. There's a nice tail wind helping us out on the hills. - Jarrin' Jeff
We are at the Hidden Inn and have gone 15.6 miles. - Flyin' Tyler
We are eating Fig Newtons at the Hidden Inn. So far we have gone 15.7 miles - Skillful Scott
It's 4:20 pm and we're at the Hidden Inn. We've ridden about 15 miles from 4H camp. Riding has been good so far. - Cool Cory
It is 4:20 pm and we are at the Hidden Inn. We have about 15 miles done. We have been eating a lot of Fig Newtons. Now we are on our way to the pool in Stamford. We are here waiting for some punch because the nice employees offered us some. - Rampagin' Ryan
6:38 Stamford pool
Just got off the rail trail. Good ride. Talk later - got to go
food shopping. - Racin' Jason
7:05 pm departure delayed by dark clouds and thunder - under
the Agway porch
Hi! Me again. Our road kill count at 11. 6 miles from the place
where we will spend the night. Bye - Racin' Jason
Rail trails bite! - Trekkin' Tim
We took the rail trail from just above South Kortright to the
pool in Stamford. We got off at the pool to swim, shop and send
some mail. We got back on the rail trail from Stamford almost
to Grand Gorge. The rail trail is the bed of an old railroad.
It is nearly flat so it saves us a lot of hill climbing. It is
free of cars. It has lots of shade. One drawback is that the surface
is gravel and sometimes there are puddles or a bit of mud. We
saw deer along the trail and one almost ran into
us in its hurry to cross in front of us. - Bicycle Bob
Hi! Bye! - Racin' Jason
They are counting cars. I see a bumper sticker that says, "Don't have a cow!" - Racin' Jason
A while later - same place
Jeff was saying stuff about someone's butt. I think he liked it.
Why do I feel like I am the only one writing? Well, I guess ‘cause
my mom told me to write for memories or something like that. Grown
ups are weird. Bob is an exception. - Racin' Jason
I got a flat on the rail trail. It was a very slow leaker so I tried just pumping it up and going on because a storm was building off to our right - but that didn't work so I finally had to stop and change the tube. Finally we were getting so close to Grand Gorge that it seemed that we should switch to Route 23 before we passed our destination. When we got out on 23 it was clear that we had passed the custodian's house so I sent Megan and the guys to the NCOC and I went back to let the custodian know that he should come down and unlock the school building for us. - Bicycle Bob
8:30 pm NCOC - Northern Catskills Occupational Center
It seems that Jason and I are the only ones writing. It's storming
outside and Bob's trying to find the Tour de France bicycle race
on TV. If anyone laughs about me cutting my finger on the first
pepper I'll smack'em! I'm going to go watch the Tour. P.S. Jason's
glad that he doesn't have to clean up. - Trekkin' Tim
It was a pretty bad storm. Some parts of Oneonta lost electric from 10 pm until dawn. It flet good to be in a nice dry building even if they were showing some stupid drag race in the Tour de France time slot. - Bicycle Bob
9:45 pm
I get the third shower because I made the food. Well kind of sleepy
so adyouss (adios) or however you spell it. - Racin' Jason
Earlier we rode on the old rail road. (We even found an old rail spike that we persuaded Mister Mike and Reckon Beck to put in the pack of their tandem.) - Cravin' David
10:28 pm
I love the rail trail. It's neat. - Marvelous Megan
Final road kill count for today 14. Tomorrow will be a good ride. - Racin' Jason
This day was...
Good. - Jarrin' Jeff
Interesting - Trekkin' Tim
Marvelous - Marvelous Megan
Skillful - Skillful Scott
Good. I liked the tail wind. - Bicycle Bob
Cool. - Flyin' Tyler
Great. - Rampagin' Ryan
Just for the record our dinner was tossed salad, bread with
garlic butter, angel hair pasta with tomato sauce and an optional
side of sausage. We cooked 3 lbs of pasta and had some left over.
We also had extra salad and bread. Megan and Jason did the shopping
in Stamford and we hauled all the groceries in our packs to Grand
Gorge. We had lemonade over ice to drink and some kind of cookie
for desert. I opened the large glass doors and slid the screen
in place to let the room cool off to a comfortable temperature.
I showed folks who were interested how to use the Palm Pilot hand
held computer and after everyone was in bed I used the office
fax line and an 800 number to send out their messages. Some bounced
back due to errors in addresses - but most went through and a
co-worker started putting them on a web page so that parents and
friends could check on our progress daily instead of waiting two
or three days for a postcard. This was the first trip that I have
ever tried to do the WWW thing with, but it is a good bunch of
pretty intelligent guys, plus Megan is good with email so I think
that it will work out. - Bicycle Bob
Stats - Statistics for the day
Distance - 31 miles
Average traveling speed - 10.6 mph
Total climb - 740 ft
8:45 am Grand Gorge Country Store
We are now finishing off our breakfast (cereal and juice) and
waiting out the rain. - Rampagin' Ryan
We bought a USA Today to catch up on the Tour de France. Not too much has changed. Lance Armstrong is still in the maillot jaune (the yellow jersey of the race leader) and tomorrow is a reat day. We wrote out post cards and I bought some more black electrical tape to use to hold things together should it be needed.
Halfway up the grade out of Grand Gorge we stopped for a photo
opp. The hills that make up the gorge are pretty impressive. Then
we had a fun downhill. Megan went ahead to make sure that we all
grouped up at the bottom. We are traveling in three groups. Most
often I lead the first group of four.. Jason, being the only camper
who has been on one of our bike trips before is doing a good job
leading the second group which has three including him. Megan
rides last in the third and last group with four in it. By having
a leader at the back we can make sure that no one straggles or
misses a turn.
- Bicycle Bob
9:46 am along the road between Grand Gorge and Minekill Falls
Jason got a flat when he was going down a hill. Now Skillful Scott,
Megan, Ryan and I are waiting for Bob to get back to fix it. -
Flyin' Tyler
Jason got a flat on the road (NYS Rte 30) going downhill. Now we are waiting for him to get it changed.
Jason got a flat. Just tried catching Bob - yeah right! As I was sprinting towards the backs of the first group I heard a flop-clunk-splat. It sounded like the tire pump in the spokes of the tandem. I was , "Like great!" My pack had fallen off. There was a school bus behind me. I figured that could catch him better than me. So I told the driver what was happening. I put my pack back on and started riding. Then I figured out that my rear derailleur wasn't working. Great again!! Well, I caught Bob after he stopped when he noticed that the group behind him was out of sight. I told him what was going down and he went back to fix the flat. Then, the good part, I actually fixed my own bike. It wasn't that hard - but still! That's the end of my story. - Marvelous Megan
Just after the ‘lesbian bar' as Jeff put it. Jason hit some glass or something and got a flat. We sat there for what seemed like forever until Megan caught up to Bob and he got back to us. Now while we wait on some road side rocks water's flying and the others are trying to get trucks to honk. - Trekkin' Tim
I just got a flat. It stunk. I just want to say to Jeff, "Good riding!" It is raining. Rain stinks. - Racin' Jason
1:13 pm
1:13 Minekill State Park - North Blenheim - Gilboa Pumped Storage
Power Project
We were just at the Minekill State Park swimming pool. They had
a high dive. It was really fun. Jeff saw some girls that he liked
in the pool and on the way out on our bikes he was looking sideways
and waving to them and the cyclists in front of him stopped and
he ran into them! The girls and all of laughed hysterically at
him and his face was beet red. Well said. - Cool Cory
Just so it is not forgotten let me fill in on a few things
we did besides stop to fix a flat. After the
flat we rode up to the folks sitting on the rocks. We got everyone
moving again and rode for just a short ways when a storm swept
down upon us. I led the group to an open barn door but a sign
on the door warned that the barn was unsafe so we rode on further.
The rain didn't slow up much on our account. The next shelter
we could find was a tent keeping the sun off a serve yourself
vegetable stand. We stood inside there for quite a while until
about ten minutes after the rain stopped. It is always good to
allow a few minutes for the rain to drain off the road or else
you get soaked by the spray from the passing cars and trucks.
Our next stop was Minekill Falls. There should be a picture in almost everybody's journal of the group at the bottom of the falls. The water was really gushing because there had been rain during the night. After the falls the sun came back in good force and we went on to the swimming pool. It costs a dollar per person for swimming. The North Blenheim - Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project Visitor Center was where we ate lunch and toured the center. Just as we were organizing lunch another storm came up so I went into the visitor center and asked permission to move the bikes and the cyclists underneath some party tents still up after the antique car show that they had had the day before. The folks at the visitor center look forward to seeing our group each year and they were happy to let us use the tents. It poured while we ate our lunch of cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion sandwiches. We had some lemonade to drink too.
In the visitor center we first saw an orientation film and then went through the exhibits. Some of them have pedals or cranks that you can turn to get an appreciation for how cheap and easy electric power is compared to muscle power. Most of us tried but nobody could pedal the exercise bike fast enough to peg the meter. I think that they need to have some gears on it. While we were in the visitor center a third downpour drenched the area.
The visitor center has some free postcards so we bought twenty cent stamps at the North Blenheim Post Office just down the road. At the some end of North Blenheim stands the longest single span wooden bridge in New York, if not in all the US. We made a quick tour of that and had a quick snack there. From the covered bridge we across beautiful Bear Ladder Rd to Schoharie County Rte 4 which climbs up to West Fulton. This bunch of cyclists took that hill in stride. They are really in good shape! We all wrote postcards to mail at the tiny West Fulton PO.
We made it to Sapbush Hollow Farm early and went for a swim in their circular above ground pool. The pool felt great and we had fun making a whirlpool by running in circles around the outside of it. After a while we turned against the current and tried to get it going the other way. Finally some of the guys started a game of ‘monkey in the middle' with a ball that we found in the ditch during the day. The Hayes family pulled out their barbecue and cooked us some hot dogs and hamburgers. We had fresh sweet corn, baked beans, potato chips and soda too. In the morning they did pancakes and fresh eggs from range fed chickens! - Bicycle Bob
5:50 Sapbush Hollow Farm - The Hayes Family farm
Well we got here after the big overrated hill! Jeff does not want
anyone to write about him so I won't. I am very hungry and tired.
I hope we slip inside our sleeping bags soon. That is a very good
song by Z-Z Top. Well, I am rambling on. Bye - Racin' Jason
We just reached Hayes Farm. The hill after Bear Ladder Rd wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. Gotta eat now. - Cool Cory
Jeffery is a sweet and generous person and ran into the person in front of him while saying, "Good bye!" to some girls. Everyone started laughing because they knew that they like Jeff. - Flyin' Tyler
The last climb was very long. When I got to the top I thought it was still going but after there was a nice downhill. I knew it was over, thank goodness. - Jarrin' Jeff
A while after dinner some of the guys went in for a second swim. - Bicycle Bob
8:30 pm
Roadkill count at 36. - Trekkin' Tim
Butt....... Butt. - Jarrin' Jeff
Monday's Stats
27.2 miles
1480 ft climb
10.7 average mph
39.5 maximum speed
8:15 am Sapbush Hollow Farm
We are at the Hayes sheep farm. I have not seen any sheep. Those
dumb dogs don't help. The Hayes are good cooks. - Racin' Jason
After a good breakfast we got on the bikes and started climbing. It is about 4 miles to the top of Warnerville hill. We gathered at the top and wen just over the crest to stop for a group photo. Then Megan went first and each of the others went alone on a very fine two mile glide down the steep side of Warnerville Hill. We gathered at the bottom of the hill and went on to a large super market where we got a snack and some stuff to eat along the way to Cooperstown. We had some green grapes, some fresh donuts and some milk right on the spot then packed the rest away for later. - Bicycle Bob
12:10 Jim Pattey's Log Cabin
We are just past Dorloo. The night before we made a whirlpool
in a pool. We left the farm at 9 pm and went up hill for about
2 miles and went down over 2 miles. We are almost halfway done
for the day. Now we are heading to Cooperstown. - Flyin' Tyler
Last night was great I slept on the sofa and slept great. I'm all energized for the long trek today. We're about halfway now - about to do a big hill. - Trekkin' Tim
The guys did a great job on what we call Guard Rail Hill -
it is long and straight without a rest
and going up it offers no view - just a seemingly endless guard
rail. - Bicycle Bob
2:32 Middlefield Baptist Church Steps
Movin' along at a great rate. We had lunch at the Pleasant Brook
Hotel - with cups of ice and two pitchers of Pepsi to wash down
the cheese and crackers and pepperoni. PB&J was offered but
no takers. We used the tables and chairs on the porch with the
owner's permission. We got our water bottles filled and were able
to use the bathrooms. It would have been perfect sitting there
in the shade of the porch in the cool dry air that comes on a
day after storms have cleared the air in summer were it not for
the roar of a big machine - a huge machine - a huge roaring machine
that was being used to blow insulation into the walls of an old
house across the street. The big diesel roared at 3/4 throttle
during our entire stay. The noise must make for a long day for
the insulation crew.
On the church steps where we are now it is cool and quiet. We
are eating apples and ginger snaps. Some of the guys are reading
the names on the tombstones in the graveyard just to our left.
- Bicycle Bob
2:41
We ate lunch at the Pleasant Brook Hotel and we are now at the
Middlefield Baptist Church. I can not wait for the lake to swim
in. As we were going we sang many songs. - Rampagin' Ryan
8:10 Otsego County Cooperative Extension Education Center
We stopped in Cooperstown for pizza and to do our laundry. Towards
the end of our stay a large group of teenagers from New Jersey
filled the patio. Jeff was feeling his hormones and jumping and
staring at the girls there. The whole time from then on we were
trying to come up with pick up lines for him. As we were leaving
Jason made his move on one of the guys because the girls had looked
away. Jeff did get a girl to wave at him though.
Besides that the day was very hard. I'm really tired and looking forward to the rest day and Thursday which is mostly downhill. Megan wants me to tell about our showers under the hose. She liked looking at my washboard abs. - Trekkin' Tim
Megan gave us showers. I think she liked seeing teenaged boys squeal because the water was cold. Bob went to get ice cream but I don't know if that is all he got. Write later. - Racin' Jason
8:53
We have been playing a modified version of pictionary w/Scott
drawing. I was really the only one guessing what he was drawing
until he drew a rather modified smiley face. Needless to say those
pictures weren't exactly for young eyes. - Marvelous Megan
I just wrote my mommy (some email). - Racin' Jason
I am surprised that Megan can survive with all the farrting going on! Whew! It really smells. - Racin' Jason
Roadkill at 62. - Trekkin' Tim
Tuesday's Stats
40 miles
2840 ft climbed
10.3 average speed
10:30 am - In the park adjacent to the National Baseball Hall
of Fame
I am the bike lock while Megan and the boys are in the Hall of
Fame. Last night we had ice cream - a choice of either Breyer's
vanilla or chocolate chip cookie dough. I think all the sugar
in the ice cream made the boys restless because even though they
asked for an early lights out they just couldn't seem to settle
down. Finally when things got quiet a grey cat that had been around
earlier came up to the screen just above my head and started to
meow. It was waking everybody up so I gave it a good squirt from
my water bottle right through the screen. It didn't come back.
Presto gone oh! No more kitty oh!
This morning we had cereal, juice and bananas for breakfast at the picnic table behind the center. Then we went to Cooperstown High School to get hot showers. Almost everybody felt clean, dry and comfortable after our hose baths compliments of Megan last night - so only two went in for hot showers.
Most folks went over to the playground and climbed on the wooden castle. I read up on the Tour de France in USA Today. I read the good news that Armstrong was doing well. He lost a little time to his rivals in the mountains but was still holding a commanding lead of over 6 minutes on the man in the number two spot. If he does well in the time trial Saturday he should be wearing the yellow jersey triumphantly into Paris on Sunday.
Last night was cool and comfortable but I am told that the heat and humidity are due to return. This group is composed entirely of strong riders so I think that we will do fine no matter what weather comes out way.
When the guys and Megan get out of the Hall of Fame they will write postcards and I'll shop for lunch foods. Then we will move out to the Farmer's Museum and tour that. In past years we have had a barbecue at Faery Springs Park but they have priced it out of our reach. Instead we will cook our dinner at the Cooperative Extension where we are staying. I am thinking of a dinner of macaroni and cheese, a green vegetable and a tossed salad. For lunch it will be a choice of turkey or roast beef sandwiches on fresh kaiser rolls. Enough for now. - Bicycle Bob
2:20 pm after eating lunch at the Cooperative Extension Center
We were at the Cooperstown school playground and that fat kid
that we nicknamed ‘Jack o'Lantern' threw a big rock that
chipped some paint off David's new Trek bicycle. He got put in
the ‘time out' zone for an hour. - Athletic Aaron
On our way from the high school to the Hall of Fame we stopped at the Bassett Hospital Medical Arts Center to have a look at the oldest bike in Otsego County. It is a bone shaker on display in a case on the ground floor. It is a huge beast of a bicycle with wooden wheels that have steel - yes steel tires. The frame is brass - looks like solid brass. The pedals are attached to the front wheel directly to the axle just as with a child's tricycle. The seat is metal and we have to hope that years ago there was some covering provided to cushion the rider who in the 1870s when the bike was current would have been riding on cobblestone or gravel roads - since in those days macadam had not been invented. There was a leaf spring under the seat. There was also a place to rest your feet if you wanted to take them off the pedals. Oddly there is no plaque to tell you who donated the bike or how exactly it came to be there. - Bicycle Bob
5:30 back at the Center after the Farmer's Museum visit
We just got back from the Farmer's Museum. Jason played Dr. Doolittle,
talking to all the "aminals". Megan was looking at a
college guy making a fence. This other guy had some cool old toys
and a lady in a cabin gave us some "wood water."
At the Farmer's museum we saw wallpaper being made by hand. We saw and read about the hoax about a giant stone man ‘found' in upstate NY. The cabin mentioned above was formerly a Seneca indian house from near Buffalo, NY that was just moved to the Farmer's Museum this spring. Some of the animals we saw were sheep, chickens, cows, and oxen. A blacksmith was hammering away at something. A big exhibit in the main barn was devoted to the hop growing industry that was big in Otsego County around 1900. - Bicycle Bob
7:45 at the Center
Well we have two more days left. We are rockin' to Limp Bizkit,
by far the best band in the world. We had a good time in the 4H
place. Megan once again gave us showers. I think that she loves
it more than last night. I am looking forward to tomorrow's ride.
It sounds cool and easy. Well, write later. - Racin' Jason
Wednesday's Stats - the rest day
4 miles
flat
9.8 mph average
Today is Thursday. - Skillful Scott
When I bought food for dinner last night I always picked up most of what we needed for breakfast this morning. We packed up and cleared out from our home of two nights - wrote a large thank you note to the staff and headed down to the lake front park. We ate a breakfast of cereal, juice and fruit while ducks and ducklings wandered around the picnic benches that we sat on. Megan made a last run to the Post Office and we headed out of town stopping for a second to visit the Velosophy Bike Shop.
9:42 at the bike shop
I got a flat on the way to the bike shop in Cooperstown.
Note to Bob - the admission tickets to the Hall of Fame are in the sleeve of the journal - remember to include them in the journals you make after the trip is over - Marvelous Megan.
Good thing that we went to the bike shop. Try as we might we couldn't get Cory's tire to seat properly on the rim. We deflated and inflated it about 6 times. Finally we just put another higher pressure tire on. With a high pressure tire his bike will roll easier. Of course he will have the handicap of carrying the old tire. The flat was caused by an ordinary office style paper staple. Our third flat of the trip. - Bicycle Bob
12:07 Portlandville
Jeff did it again! We parked our bikes on a bridge to have a snack
and Bob made sure to say, "Don't drop anything off the bridge."
Well Jeff forgot and ten minutes later he dropped a $20 bill in
the water. He then changed under the bridge and swam to get it.
It was rather funny. - Marvelous Megan
The first order of business upon reaching Oneonta was to head up to Wilber Park and take a dip in the pool. It felt great to cool off. The pool was just opening and wasn't very crowded at all. After I had a quick dip I walked over to my office on the SUNY Oneonta campus, borrowed a digital camera and phoned in an order for pizza so that the hungry troops could sit down to a meal as soon we arrived at the premises. - Bicycle Bob
2:50 Oneonta - Alfresco Restaurant
We are now eating lunch at a real nice restaurant called Alfresco.
We ate pizza, drank soda, drank water and sang "Happy Birthday"
to the owner, named Jerry who turned 40 years old. We are now
about to go to the Soccer Hall of Fame. - Rampagin' Ryan
4:30 Soccer Hall of Fame
We're about to leave the Soccer Hall of Fame. It's not as good
as I thought. It's expensive, small, and cheap. The cool things
like the games, you had to pay extra for. But we did play some
indoor soccer, and Jason, Jeff and I kicked butt when we decided
to fight back against the football players. - Trekkin' Tim
After the Soccer Hall of Fame we took three digital photos to add to the WWW page and then went to Professor Gerrit Gantvoort's house. He rides bike with me and sometimes with the 4H camp cyclists a lot. We used his hose to clean the bikes a bit. They were pretty dirty from riding after those rainstorms on Monday. I had thought once of having folks clean up the bikes at the Cooperative Extension center in Cooperstown, but I forgot about it and didn't remember until today.
With the bikes cleaned we turned to cleaning ourselves. The Oneonta YMCA is very cooperative and lets us get hot showers for one dollar each. Half of the group went in while the other half kept an eye on the bikes. When they came out the other half went in for their showers. We started walking over to the Methodist church where we were to stay for the night. Clouds blew up that looked to drench us so we rode the last part.
In the church we put our bikes in one Sunday school room and rolled out our sleeping bags in another Sunday school room. I went to the supermarket next door and bought fixings for a build it yourself taco dinner. I also made another trip for fresh ziploc bags to store away the messkits for the winter and rented the PG movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy!" We often watch a movie on using one of the church's VCRs if the Oneonta baseball team is not in town or if the game is rained out. The movie is very fitting since one of the main points of the money is how little ‘stuff' one needs to live a good life. We are very near the end of a week of traveling with only the ‘stuff' that we could fit on our bikes. - Bicycle Bob
On the delivery of good behavior the group was offered a breakfast at Friendly's Restaurant in the morning. - Bicycle Bob
Thursday Stats
36.9 miles
760 ft climb
11.4 mph average - very fast day!
8:00 am at a picnic table outside the church
Megan held a meeting while I returned the digital camera to my
office and took the movie back to video store. I left a note at
the office asking a coworker to put the digital photos on the
web page, you can see them at:
http://www.oneonta.edu/~thomasrl/4Hbiketrips.html
click on the Novice 1999 Journal link
- Bicycle Bob
Trip ideas for next year's two week trip - go to:
Hershey Park
Niagara Falls
Ohio
New Jersey Shore
New York City
Quebec
Martha's Vineyard
Atlantic City
How to make the one week trip better:
charge more and eat our more
flatter, better routes
get new panniers
- meeting notes taken by Marvelous Megan
So far on this trip I have written 13 times and this is my 14th. - Racin' Jason
9:49 am Outside Sport Tech bicycle and sports shop in Oneonta
Well, I'll get my final entry in now - so everyone else has time
later. This trip has been great! You guys are great riders and
great people. I've had so much fun on this trip. Also, I must
add that being the only girl (again! - second trip of all guys
this summer!!) could've been worse but you guys made it tolerable.
I advise you (like a leader should) to keep on riding and always
be safe. Keep in touch; I hope I always get only good news from
you.
Overall it's been real. - Marvelous Megan
We biked along old Southside Dr out of Oneonta. When we reached
the end of old Southside we had to take NYS 23 for awhile. The
last store before Hanford Mills Museum is on NYS 23 so we stopped
there to buy some ice and cups to use at our last meal on the
road. The meal was a choice of either ham or tuna sandwiches.
The water cooler at Hanford Mills had strawberry and kiwi flavored
water. It gave a different edge to our instant iced tea. We ate
at a picnic table in the shade of some huge willow trees by the
side of the millpond. We ran out of bread before we ran out of
sandwich makings. I was sure that we had more bread left from
the day before that somebody had packed. When we got to camp a
few hours later the bread turned up.
After our meal we watched a short video about the Hanford Mills.
The video was followed by a guided tour. The tour was very thorough.
We went through every room in the mill and even the basement.
They ran some water over the mill wheel so that we could feel
the whole building thrum and tremble as the belts and pulleys
sprung into action. The guide demonstrated how barrel tops were
made, how handle holes were punched in wooden boxes, how the grain
was ground and routed, how the sawdust was blown into bins and
removed, and many many other things. - Bicycle Bob
2:30 pm Hanford Mills Museum
Skillful Scott dropped the blue kitchen bag and jumped under the
fence just before it rolled into the Hanford Mills millpond. -
Athletic Aaron
Hey everybody! It's been great. Be sure to email me. Hafa gud tay! - Trekkin' Tim
Bye everyone. I'd give you my email address but I don't have one. - unsigned
Unsigned - I just want to say that you don't need to own a
computer or pay a company to give you an email address. If your
public library will let you have access to the internet, then
you can get a free email address from www.yahoo.com, you could
check your email anytime that you visited the library. Not everyone
who has email checks it four times a day.
The ride out of East Meredith where Hanford Mills is located is
hilly and hot. As usual these cyclists had no trouble with the
climbs. The reward for completing the climb is a wonderful downhill
run of at least 10 miles - all the way to the Delaware River.
At the river we made a left and went up to Fitche's Covered Bridge
- closing the loop that we started last Sunday afternoon - just
an hour ago.
- Bicycle Bob
4:10 pm Fitche's Bridge (again)
Well guys you were great cyclists - best group of riders in ten
years or more - you could improve in the off bike aspects of traveling
- but couldn't we all? I'll miss you. Have a safe summer. Consider
coming to the Pit Run for our reunion on October 3rd 1999. You
can run or walk, then eat and then go for a ride. I'll send some
details with the journal and put something on the web site listed
above. Happy Trails to you! - Bicycle Bob
4:15 pm
I won't forget this trip. - Cravin' David
I will miss biking on the trip and all the fun I had. I also will miss all the downhill rides, hills, and jokes. - Rampagin' Ryan
We read the journal for the last time at Fitche's Bridge. At camp things get very confusing all at once and it is nice to take a few minutes at the bridge to eat the last snack and finish up the journal. - Bicycle Bob
5:25 pm back at 4H Camp Shankitunk
Final road kill count - 100 even. - Trekkin' Tim
Your reward for reading so far - a photo of the group making their way along the rail trail between South Kortright and Stamfold.
NOVICE BICYCLING TRIP
4H CAMP SHANKITUNK
July 18 - 23, 1999
Sunday - 4H Camp to Grand Gorge 32 miles
Leave camp ASAP after 1 PM 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
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. 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 Dorloo 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 Otsego County Cooperative
Extension Education Center.
Wednesday - Cooperstown Museums 4 - 30 Miles
A day of rest and recuperation in Cooperstown. Museums in the
morning and a barbecue beside Otsego Lake in the afternoon. The
mileage we cover depends on our energy level. The bikes will not
be loaded for this day's travel.
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 32 miles
To avoid the rigors of Franklin Mtn we'll follow Old Southside
Dr., 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 by 7 PM Friday evening.
Approximate 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 message. 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.