Day 43

Hamburg, NY to Canadaigua, NY -- 95 miles Canandaigua is one of the small towns in the Finger Lakes region of western New York. Lee and I biked in this area about 10 years ago when we came up here to do a ride called Bon Ron Roulet. It's really beautiful. This was a long day but the weather was spectacular for the first 70 miles or our second SAG stop in Avon, NY. The forecast was for afternoon showers but it was such a clear gorgeous day that I asked Paula who was riding in the van because she had crashed the day before to carry my rain jacket for me -- big mistake! We passed another milestone today when we hit the 3,000 mile point of our tour. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with my today to capture the moment. I was afraid we'd run into rain (which we did after the lunch stop in Avon) and I didn't want to run the risk of getting Melissa's camera wet. I already had to replace a cell phone that died after it got wet just from sweat! Clark, Jim, Tracy (staffers), Paula (Sacramento) and Scott Hlady (Moline, IL) were there holding up the 3,000 mile sign and cheering us on with cheerleader poms and funny hats and disguises. It was such an exhilarating feeling to see that sign and realize that we'd all ridden that many miles on our bicycles! The reason Scott was in the van today was because he had gotten up during the night to answer his phone and broke his 4th toe when he ran into the dresser -- ouch! Beverly, one of us riders, is from an area around Rochester so today's ride was along the roads she rides all the time. She said we had to eat lunch in Avon at a place called Tom Wahl's. It's like a big Whattaburger and it lived up to its reputation. They had their own homemade root beer that was great. I've become a big root beer fan on this trip! We sat around a visited a little too long and got into a pretty big rain about 5 miles out of Avon. About 5 or 6 of us huddled under a Mobile gas station awning until the worst of it was over and then finished up the last very hilly 20 miles. We got into Canandaigua just before another storm hit. We had to wait about an hour and a half to get into our rooms, though, and that was pretty unpleasant since we were wet. Dinner that night was across the street at a big grocery store called Wegman's. It was the most unbelievable grocery store I've ever seen. There's a big food court with all kinds of buffets -- enormous salad bar, Chinese food bar, sushi bar, etc. They told us we could go through the line one time only so we better get all we want in that one trip. They weigh your plate(s) at the register and you pay so much per pound. You should have seen some people's plates (mine!). It was the best place we've eaten on the trip in about 3 weeks. After dinner I got a decaf latte and walked around the store for about 45 minutes just looking at everything. They have Wegman's all over this area. They're similar to Whole Foods but have more to choose from. I sure wish Little Rock had one!