Upstate NY Part II

Yesterday's hilly, 60-mile ride in cool weather from Syracuse to Utica was pleasantly uneventful. Today's short, 40-mile ride on to Palatine Bridge was marred by both a flat tire (easily fixed) and cold, rainy conditions (not as easily fixed). My spirits were buoyed today, though, by yet another demonstration of the generosity of strangers: A grandmother offered to buy me dinner, which simultaneously reminded me of the kindness found in America's heartland, as well as made me realize how haggardly I must have appeared in order to generate this sort of spontaneous sympathy. I thanked her profusely and finally convinced her that I really wasn't some random, down-on-his-luck itinerant.

Sadly, rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, too, but I should hopefully be able to hit the road the day after, marking the final stretch of my Tour de America as I turn south at Albany with only a few more days of riding left.