going to be a rainy day. going to attach this pic to show the filth on my bike as this blogs thumbnail photo
slept well last night. my single ear muff over earbuds/earplugs worked flawlessly
i wore a thin buffwear hat under my sun hoodie shirt. the hood on the sun shirt is long enough to help block the light in the morning too. there were some nearby houses that had their backyard security lights on all night.
the sun hoody is long sleeved too, makes a good sleep shirt. warm enough for upper 40's/low 50's but still cool enough to have the quilt on top. I just slept with socks and underwear only under the quilt, I was plenty warm. woke up to rain around 3:30, but i was dry inside.
sorry the orientation is all wrong. the phone app kind of sucks sometimes when attaching photos.
when i pitched the tent last night, there was a young black man at the camping area too . No bike, just walking carrying a ton of bags. I didn't press, but my gut tells me he was probably between homes. maybe got kicked out of wherever he was and didn't have the money to take his stuff to a friend's house, so he got the idea to carry all his stuff and walk the path to his friend's place.
right before i went to sleep, i got out of the tent to retrieve my bike computer at one of the charging poles the town has spaced out along the camping area by the canal (should have taken a photo)
i saw he was seated at picnic table, sort of slumping over it like he was resting. I don't think he had a tent.
like i said it rained pretty hard for 10-15 minutes overnight. when i woke up this morning he was no where to be seen. i noticed 1 of the 2 bathrooms was always locked. I suspect he grabbed his stuff and camped out in the bathroom.
i used the other one this morning , even took a shower, and left their suggested $20 donation. none of the downtown shops/diners were open, so i biked on to the next main town. found a kwik stop gas station and bought some stuff for breakfast and ride snacks. I've biked 15 miles so far and haven't seen the guy with the bags. i think he was definitely in the bathroom sleeping.
got a couple nice photos before the rain started. right now having lunch at Albion's McDonalds . there was a car wash i passed on the way here, so I stopped and paid the $3 to rinse off all the grit on my bike. i'll have to do that again probably tonight or tomorrow. the bike and the bags are getting muddy with all the rain, which has been off and on since 9a.m. my rain jacket and pants are doing the job though. no worries. the bags are dry inside too i'm sure. just gunk on the outside. i'd risk just riding rt 31 to brockport, but the spray from passing cars will be worse than the dirt and muck from the canal path.
if i continue to go slow i may just camp at Brockport. today's the only rain day, and I don't need to be a hero. my butt is doing better today, but a lower mileage day may be better for it.
An afternoon hiding in my tent from the rain doesn't sound that bad right now. if i get a slow start tomorrow the Sun will have dried the canal path out some. maybe i'll kill time going to the Lowe's in brockport to get a usb power station/battery charger. looked online via the lowe's app, they have some for $30. there may be a hotel there too. odds are if i stop in Brockport today, i wouldn't get to Syracuse until late Saturday, but i can meet up with my folks Sunday if that's the case. Better to accept the conditions and go a little slower than risk the trip imho.