Nor'easter in New York

Albany to Whitehall, NY. Wednesday, June 7. A while back, Mary Beth said we had several guardian angels on loan. Today, we met a few of them.

Let me preface all this by saying that when we went to sleep last night, the forecast was for overcast skies, temps in the mid-60's, and light wind. By the time we woke up, a nor'easter had formed and the forcast had changed to rain pretty much all day. This, and we had planned to ride a bit further than usual, to Whitehall, a distance of about 75 miles, because we had good information that the route to that point was relatively flat. Even though we had said we would not set out in the rain, we decided to go anyway because we had the gear and the rain was not coming down that hard, and we thought we might be able to stay out of the heavy stuff.

I'll cut to the chase; we got about 23 miles, to Mechanicville, before we stopped for a break and a late breakfast at a place called Bubbles. Almost immediately, Eileen Sullivan introduced herself; she was there having lunch with her mom (Rita) and her friend Shirley. Eileen grew up near here and after several years in Boston, moved back here, and is proud of the area - she offered to drive us up to the Saratoga Battleground historic site, and also to Saratoga, to show us around.

We were already having second thoughts about our plan for the day, and the offer to be shown around by a local sort of swayed us towards the idea of stopping a bit short of Whitehall, near Fort Edward, just another 22 miles, so we accepted Eileen's offer.

Eileen first drove us up to the Saratoga battleground site, apologizing for the lousy weather along the way - I would guess that the view on a clear day is spectacular - and telling us about the deer that live in the park and some of the history of the battlefield. At the visitor center, we watched a short film about the site. The events that took place in this area were some of the most important in swinging the advantage to the colonies in the Revolutionary War; had the British succeeded in separating New England from the rest of the colonies, the future of the rebellion would have been critically damaged.

Eileen then drove us up to the city of Saratoga, where horse racing is a prominent activity, and where Skidmore College is located. We drove past the racetrack, through the campus of the college, past numerous beautiful houses, and by the mineral springs. All the while, she regaled us with stories and tidbits about the region.

The rain still had not let up, and when we got back to Bubbles (where we had left our bikes), Eileen suggested that we could go get her mother's car, a large Lincoln Towncar, and put the bikes and trailers in that, so she could DRIVE US TO WHITEHALL.

You read that right; she offered to drive us the remaining 50 miles or so to Whitehall so we could spend the night there, as we had planned last night. Under the circumstances, we were inclined to at least see if our stuff would fit in the car.

We drove over to Eileen's brother's house, where the towncar was parked. There, we met Michael and Darlene, who were gracious and entertaining hosts, inviting us in to talk. Perhaps we looked less a threat than the four Algerian students that Eileen told us she had brought by a few years before - that's a whole 'nother story, a pretty funny one, too.

Darlene and Mike were very fun to talk with; Mike started out as a nuclear physicist, before going to law school, and then becoming a computer scientist, so he knew why I had gone to Idaho while in the Navy when it came up. Darlene had pictures of their two children; somehow we got around to a story they had heard, or seen a report on, about a family with 16 kids that took a road trip to the Grand Canyon. We all marveled at that, perhaps most at the patience the parents must have had to have 16 kids in tow. We exchanged mailing information, and we gave them the URL of our blog (so they would know who Eileen had brought home THIS time) before we went out to look at the car. In the rain.

We took a look at the towncar, and it looked like there would be enough room, as long as someone (me) sat in the back with the bikes. So, off we went back to Bubbles, and wedged all our stuff into the car. The trunk we had to secure with the bungee cord ordinarily strapped across the top of my trailer - both trailers managed to fit in the trunk - and then I sat in the back with the bikes. We needed to remove one wheel from Nancy's bike and both from mine to make them fit, and then I assumed the most comfortable position I could under the circumstances. The rain continued unabated the entire time.

Now, wedged into the back seat with two bikes in partial states of disassembly, I got pretty dirty. The bikes had traversed more than 20 miles in the rain, and both were just covered with road grit and dirt. I tried to imagine how nice a shower would feel, and how I would be able to convince Nancy that my jacket would have to be washed (despite the threat she says is posed to the waterproofing by washing). Meanwhile, Nancy and Eileen chatted cheerfully all the way to Whitehall.

So, now we know an angel by name: Eileen Sullivan of Mechanicville, NY. Without her extraordinary help, we would have had to ride another 25 miles in moderate rain and increasing winds, and only to Fort Edward (South Glens Falls, really), with a potential arrival time in the neighborhood of 8PM. Maybe. Eileen made our plan of getting to Burlington by Friday night remain plausible, AND showed us around some of the things we would have missed otherwise. We would like to think that we would have made it to Fort Edward, but the assistance on a dreary day was irresistible. Besides, this trip is not as much about riding EVERY INCH OF THE ROUTE as it is about the experience of meeting people and seeing the country the way you can't see it from the freeway. Today we met those goals, and met a wonderful group of people. We just have to smile at how lucky we have been, at how many good people there really are.

Despite the rain, we intend to continue tomorrow; our decision to bypass New England now seems like a good one, but we have little choice but to pedal on through the rain tomorrow if we have any hope of reaching Burlington by this weekend. Kurt, Holly, we might be wet and dirty when we show up Friday night. See you soon!