Really, I prefer 2 wheels. And tail winds

All things being equal, if I could ride to work (better yet ride AS work) everyday, I would.  Of course that would make lugging sample bottles of wine a little difficult and it would take me 2 days just to get to Buffalo.

Which would be a little impractical...

So I have to content myself with getting the bike out on the road or trails when I can.  I should qualify that a little bit.  Don't think I jump on the bike anytime there's a half an hour window in the day (although I should).  Ironically, the older I get, the more of a baby I become.  I don't go out in the cold, wind and rain like I used to.

Which is why I have been enjoying the warm, dry and often still weather we have been having in upstate NY this fall!  Especially since I want this blog to be about what you see from a bike as well as from a car.

This is the bike I have been riding for a while now.  It actually belongs to my neighbor
Eric, who has been kind and incredibly generous in lending it to me.  
Eric raced on a high level amateur team in Britain back in the 80's and 
this TI Raleigh Team was his racing bike.  Back in the day, it was the baddest thing 
on the road, and it's still better than most bikes out there today! 
 I'm lucky to have the chance to ride it!  
Thanks Eric!!!! 

I headed out on a short ride the other day, even though there was a good wind blowing (so brave!) with my camera phone in my jersey pocket and immediately discovered several things:

      1. It's much harder to take a picture from a moving bike than from a moving car.

This picture may be pretty, but it is supposed to be of the 2 tiny lambs in the middle of
frame.  They are both wearing what look like little red sweaters, which is funny if
you think about it.  You know, sheep in sweaters?  I didn't realize until I got home
just how small they appeared in the frame.  Maybe they'll be there next time I go out. 

     2. It's a lot easier to slow down or circle back to take a photo on a bike than in a car.  

     3. I really hate headwinds.  Okay, I knew that already, but I'm making a list here.

     4. When you are riding "out and back", headwinds turn into tailwinds.

WHEEEEEEE!!! 
Yes, that is mph and this was actually taken on a slight up hill, so well done wind!
And yes, I know that "WHEEEE" is not dignified. 

     Yeah, I knew that too.  But I needed an excuse to use this picture.


     5. My average speed on a ride is a lot lower if I'm looking for pictures to take.

That last one is a good thing in a lot of ways.  I used to race (very slowly, actually) in triathlons and when I went out for a ride, the goal was always to go faster than before, which meant keeping your head down and you mind focused.  Not a lot of sightseeing.

It's still hard not to focus on average speed; I actually make rules for myself on how often I can check it.  But I have been enjoying riding just for regular exercise and the different views the bike affords.  Thinking about photo ops makes that even better and easier.

In the wine business, we talk about micro-climates all the time; riding a bike out in the country is a great way to experience them as the temperature, smells, wind and even the humidity change as you ride along the road.  I'm finding that the less attention I pay to the speedometer, the more I notice the road and what's around it, and that's a good (if obvious) thing.

Speaking of the road, one of the nice things about riding around the Ithaca area is the roads themselves.  Sure, there are plenty of rim destroying pot holes but one thing we have more of than many places is good wide shoulders, especially on some of the busier roads that head out into the country.

Nice wide, shoulder.  It even makes riding on Rt 13 (near the airport) feel safe
with lots of room to maneuver when needed. 

Of course we have our share of poor roadways too.

Bad, narrow shoulder (Hanshaw road, near Sapsucker Woods Road).  Makes riding a little nerve
racking.  Going off the road here to avoid a car can easily lead to a wipe out!

But overall the shoulders and the sheer number of cyclist you see on the roads here abouts helps to make this a very bike friendly area.  Most major road resurfacing or repaving projects lately have included new and wider shoulders, with more on the way.  Plus we have lots of great hills to climb.

And plenty of beautiful views...

I know what you're thinking, why not lose the speedometer altogether, really focus on the world around.

Let's not get Crazy!

File Under: The Heisenberg Principle in Everyday Life

Put way too simply (and probably inaccurately), the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the act of observing an event affects the outcome of that event.  In the context of the blogosphere, we can restate it as "Knowing that you may write about something totally affects.....Everything!"

That realization hit me soon after leaving Ithaca for Rochester on Thursday morning.  Call it the "Blogenberg Attention Re-direction Principle" or maybe the "Heisenblog Self Absorption Principle".  As long as it doesn't require me to account for the velocity of a photon in a vacuum, any title will do.

Whatever name you give it, the blog factor did affect my thinking.  Like any normal day, I headed out on roads I've driven hundreds of times before.  But this time I had a camera on the seat next to me and thoughts like "what can I take pictures of today" or "which side of the lake has the best light" and "is there anything interesting I might be able to say about that" whirring around in my head.  I found myself thinking about the drive in ways I never had before and visualizing 5 minutes down the road for spots that might be good photo or comment opportunities.

Which in hindsight sounds contrived and self indulgent....but this is a blog after all.  As a reader, you take your chances anytime you load a page.

I needn't have worried.  Pictures present themselves and something to say flows naturally from there.  Plus it was a classic upstate New York fall day with the sky changing from threatening steely grey to brilliant blue every few minutes and filled with fantastically dramatic cloud formations.  I'm not talking about the fluffy balloon animal clouds of summer that remind you of dragons and poodles, but the gathering storm type that makes you look over your shoulder, just to make sure nothing is descending from them.

Classic Upstate NY fall sky over Cayuga Lake

And again, just south of Aurora

Once more, with feeling

We have clouds year round of course but there is something about the fall variety that is special.  The weather in fall tends to be windier, wetter and colder.  Maybe that combines somehow to make clouds that just seem bigger, darker and somehow more theatrical.

From when I was small, I can remember my parents (both American historians) talking about the dramatic nature of the upstate sky and whether or not it had played a role in the religious fervor of the 19th century known as the "Second Great Awakening".  Activity in the communities of Western and Central NY was especially vigorous in terms of revivals and the founding of new religious movements, most notably Mormonism in Palmyra, NY.  In fact, our little part of the world was referred to as  "The Burned Over District" because of the extreme zeal and number of new movements started here about.

I don't know what role the clouds had in all of that.  They certainly have never made me speak in tongues or want to found a religious movement (although I have been thinking about starting the Church Of The Flying Stuffed Monkey, but that is not cloud related).  They do make me stop and look at the sky every now and then.  I think I may even have seen Zeus peeking out from behind the most dramatic cloud banks every now and then so maybe...

But back to what was to be seen last Thursday.  In my last post, I had the advantage of Lake Champlain or the Green and Adirondack Mountains as the background for most of the pictures.  Thursday's trip was more about what an ordinary day looks like.  And most days it looks like the New York State Thruway.

New York Thruway toll booth...gotta love E-ZPass

NY State Thruway seen over the dashboard

Probably 250,000 of those million miles I've driven have been on the Thruway.  The monotony and regularity of the road is a big part of why I try to seek out new routes whenever possible.  Still, the Thruway goes through beautiful country and the camera has shown me that you can get a new take of a familiar view, just by freezing what is normally seen at high speed.

Corn field on Rt 318 at 50mph.  Okay, I admit it, this isn't from the Thruway.  Sue me.
Rt 318 is how to get from Rt 20 to Rt 414 and then to the Thruway.  This field is less than 2 miles from the toll booth, so I feel justified in using it.

Getting passed by an 18 wheeler in the rain on the way home

Hopefully, creating a static moment from a panorama of motion can give a different perspective.  Or at least capture something that is cool looking.

Note on safety.  The pictures taken when the car is moving are not actually aimed.  I never look through the view finder but just point the camera in the general direction of what I want to capture and press the button, taking a lot of shots very quickly and hoping to get lucky.  I go back and pick out the good ones later, once I've stopped.  If I miss something, no big deal, I'll be back on most of these roads soon enough.

So how will I account for and combat the "Blogenberg Principle"?  I guess I won't.  Except I will remember  to put the camera in the car and to just wait for the pictures to suggest themselves.  I only have to push the button.

On a side note for those who read the last post, the last time I filled my tank the auto-shutoff clicked at 9.2 gallons (11.2g tank).   It was a bittersweet moment....

File Under: Be Careful What You Wish For.

Caveat to Readers (if there are any): This is my first post.

I've thought about blogging since the first time I ever heard the term (when? who knows,  10-12 years ago?) but could never decide on a topic.  I work in the Wine Biz and writing about wine seemed like a natural, but that felt a little to much like "real" work and I could never bring myself to "opinionate" on the grape, at least not in this forum.

So, on October 18th, 2010, I decided to write about where I spend A LOT of my time, namely the roads I ride and drive on virtually everyday.  Fortunately, as a traveling salesman and regular bike rider, I get to vary my route quite a bit and have the opportunity to explore those roads that may not be the most direct, but always seem to beckon....

OK.  Decision made, but what to write about in my very first post?  Life has a funny way of handing you answers sometimes.  This is where the title of this post comes into play.  No worries, nothing bad happened.  But hopefully it makes for a good story.

On the 18th I needed to make a round trip drive from Ithaca to Burlington .  It's about 6 hours each way.  A good portion of the trip has no cell coverage and when you hit the scan button on the radio, it sometimes take 5 minutes before it lands on a station with decent reception, at least the way I go.

Whenever possible (as time allows), I try to choose a route that avoids the big interstates or that has the most interesting views and places to stop.  For this trip, choosing to go through the Adirondacks on Rt. 8 yields a double bonus.  Not only is it beautiful, it is actually about 50 miles shorter than taking the big roads, although it takes about the same amount of time.

Along the way the route gave me some fabulous fall foliage and I got a look at the first snow of the season on the tops of the Adirondack & Green mountains.

Green Mountains behind Lake Champlain

Adirondacks from the Northway

Foliage

What it did not afford was regular and consistent access to gas stations.  But more on that later.

One of the best things about this route is that it requires a ferry ride across Lake Champlain.  There is a short (3 minutes or so) ferry at Ticonderoga/Crown Point that is free and will run 24 hours a day until they finish repairing the Champlain/Crown Point Bridge, but I like the Essex - Charlotte Ferry.

It takes about 20 minutes but the view of the lake and both sets of mountains is pretty hard to beat.

Essex, NY from the ferry observation deck

Looking north up Lake Champlain

Vermont foliage and the Green Mountains

Adirondacks from the Lake

Ferry Landing in Charlotte, VT

Even the little Scion is adorable, mid-lake.

The ferry ride is a nice break, lets you stretch your legs and gives your mind a chance to wander a little bit.

That could be where the trouble started.

I got on the ferry for the return trip with less than 1/4 tank of gas, thinking I've got about 75 miles to safely find a gas station.  No big deal.

But the Ferry is SO relaxing and beautiful and such a great place to take pictures and I'm thinking about how this could be a great part of the blog I've decided to write and what should I write about anyway and I was reminded of a great waterfall and old mill I'd seen in  Wadhams on the way up that I really wanted to stop and take a few pictures of...

Falls on the Boquet River in Wadhams 

Old Mill in Wadhams, no idea what is going on inside....

...and is that really a bakery on the corner in Wadhams (it is and called the Dogwood, but it wasn't open so I still don't know anything about it) and I could probably go a few more miles and I'll just get on the Northway and there must be somewhere to stop on Rt 9 before I get to Rt 8 and so now the gas light is flashing but I don't really need to worry..........

Just a quick bit of history here.  I've always taken that flashing "you need gas" light as more of a guideline than an absolute.  I take pride in running on fumes and always believe I can "feel" how much gas and miles are left in the tank.  I even text an old work buddy every time the automatic shut-off at the pump doesn't kick in until it is within a few tenths of the tank capacity (most recent text: "11g shut-off in a 11.2 tank!  BOO-YAH!"  He told me not to gloat).  Needless to say, I've run out of gas many times over the years including, but by no means limited to, the first drive into town with infant first daughter and wife in the car, more than once on the NYS Thruway (where it is illegal to walk along the road which means you are supposed to call a tow truck...ha!) including once on the way to an appointment  I was late for already that led to me pushing my Ford Taurus nearly a mile  to the rest stop (so much for tow trucks), driving on Rt 17 in the Catskills where I was able to make it to the top of a rise (despite the bucking of  the car every time I hit the gas) which allowed me to coast to within 50 yards of a gas station so maybe that doesn't actually count as "running out", and of course many, many times "just a few" miles from home, including an incident  not 3 weeks before this post.


.........and I'm really sure there's a place at the next intersection or the one after that and the little stutter in acceleration when I step on the gas pedal is nothing and I can squeeze out a few more miles if I put it in neutral down every hill and there's JUST GOTTA be a place in Wevertown....

There is not a gas station in Wevertown.  There is a US Post Office and a lumber yard and something called Beaver Brook Outfitters but there is no gas station.

I pulled up next to a woman getting in to her car at the Post Office in Wevertown and asked. "Where is the absolute closest gas station?"  4 miles up Rt 28 on the right.  Perfect.  I can make that.  All that coasting has surely given me an extra 4 miles.   Maybe it will be a repeat of the Catskills episode, and I'll just coast in.......and I would have....had I been able to make it another 2 miles to the top of the hill outside of North Creek.  From there I would have glided like a (insert your own poetic image here) into the station.

1.5 miles north of Wevertown I finally and irrevocably  ran out of gas.

A nice lady saw me pushing my car into a handy parking lot and gave me a ride that last 2.5 miles and dropped me of at a conveniently located Stuarts, where I bought yet another small gas can for my collection (yes, I have bought many, nobody loans them any more) plus 2 gallons of gas.  Then I started the walk back to the car.

Unless it is really cold, snowing or raining, I won't hitch hike to solve a gas problem.  If someone stops and offers a ride, fine, but otherwise the walk is part of the penance for insulting/ignoring the gas gauge.  So I set a good pace up that hill that would have given me the oh so satisfying coast into the station in the hope that I could make it back to the car before the sun goes down.

About 3/4 of a mile from the car, another nice lady stopped and offered to take me the rest of the way, so, following the rules, I accepted.
.

I emptied the little red jug into the car and went on my way.  None the worse for wear and with the perfect story for my first Road Work blog.  Almost as if I'd planned it.

Have I learned my lesson?  You'd think so, but if you read a similar post sometime in the future, don't be surprised.  I won't be shocked at all if I have to write it.

Oh, and while I filled the tank later, I texted my buddy.  The message was simple:  "Piper Paid!"