FLCC> FLCC Cape Vincent Tour Day 2-Long Point Sate Park

[Brenda Smith]

Day 2 (Sunday), I again awoke at 6am and stumbled out to the kitchen
to see what was going on and to get in the way of the cooks preparing
breakfast.  This morning, it was scrampled eggs, fresh fruit, and
toast.  Around this time, I realized I must be having a good time,
because I've felt no need to enforce my "don't talk to me or even look
in my general direction until I've had at least 2 cups of coffee" rule
that I use with my co-workers.  I mean, I still wasn't speaking
coherent thoughts that early in the morning, but at least I wasn't
experiencing my usual morning grouchiness!  This day, I opted to go
for the 43 mile ride down to Long Point State Park.  There was a 75
mile option down to the historic town of Sackett's Harbor, but there
were a couple of valid reasons why I felt I shouldn't do the 75 mile
ride.  One was an injury/discomfort issue I had aggravated in a big
way the day before and the other was the fact that I needed to be back
at the hostel by 4:30/5 to do my kitchen duty, and I knew I wouldn't
finish the 75 mile ride in time for that.

This group, when we began, entailed Andrejs, Steve and Bonnie Powell,
Laurie, Trudy, Marcie, Sara, Lauren, the 2 Mary's, Debra, Cindy, and
Steve Grossman.   Scott, Jim, Cliff, and Eli, in spite of his hand
injuries, headed out for the 75 mile option.  Isabel and Jason also
did this, but left about a half hour later than the first four.  Our
group almost immediately broke into two smaller groups, as some of us
headed into town to pick up Sara and the 2 Mary's, and to go to the
little "French" cafe and load up on pastries.  Did I mention that I
managed to not lose any weight on this trip, but I didn't gain any
either??  I think that's pretty good, considering that I ate enough
food for about 5 people!!!  On our way to town, we passed Scott, Jim,
Cliff, and Eli, heading back the way we came.  They seemed slightly
embarrassed and told us not to ask....   We learned later that they'd
headed off on the wrong road first thing and had to turn around and
come back after some gentle (or not so much) persuasion that they were
headed in the wrong direction on the part of Cliff.

Andrejs and I led the pack up a hill--yes, there were a couple!--out
of Cape Vincent.  Andrejs seemed to have finally found his cycling
legs this weekend, as he was riding much more strongly than he has
been this season.  He noted it too, saying this was the first time
he'd been feeling good with the cycling this season.  The first stop
of note came when we saw Lauren, who had been with the group that
headed straight out instead of going to town, standing by the side of
the road.  At first we thought she had a mechanical issue, but then
discovered she was taking photos of two bison in the field next to the
road.  Sara tried to entice the bison over with calls of "Here boy!
Here boy!" and a handful of grass, but they seemed extremely
uninterested in her offering.  After we took photos, we moved on.

As we were riding, Steve P. noticed a stationary bike by the side of
the road.  He mused that if I hadn't gotten enough mileage in, I could
stop and ride the stationary bike for a while to extend my ride.  But
apparently great minds think alike, because later on, while recounting
the ride to the others at the hostel, I learned that Trudy, from the
earlier group, had done exactly that!!!

Soon we were at our halfway point, Long Point State Park, and we
stopped and ate a picnic lunch.  Afterwards, we continued on down a
road that was smoothly paved, but was virtually only one lane.
However, there was hardly any traffic, so it was not a big deal.  Down
here, the landscape was more interesting, as the route we took
followed the shoreline of Lake Ontario for quite some time.  The sky
was so blue, and the light so strikingly clear, that the water was
reflecting deep shades of aqua green and blue.  It almost seemed as if
we were on a trip in the Carribean.  This was probably the most
beautiful and memorable stretch of riding from the entire weekend.

All too soon, or not soon enough, depending on how sore you were, we
were heading back to Cape Vincent.  We passed the bison farm once
again, and climbed back up the two or three hills.  They seemed much
bigger on the way back.  Mary B. noted that a crossroads at the top of
one of the hills was aptly named "Huff Rd." as we were huffing and
puffing our way up that hill.  Finally we reached the top of the
elevation gain and began the easy descent back into town, where we
once again visited our favorite little French cafe for more goodies.
Eventually, we headed back to the hostel for showers and dinner and to
recount our day with everyone else, and finally.....  sleep.

On Monday morning, the weather looked pretty iffy, and there was about
a 20mph headwind gusting.  Most people opted to simply hop in their
cars and head back home, including me.  But I think Isabel, Jason, and
Trudy headed out for a short 23 mile jaunt around Cape Vincent.  As
for me, the drive home was a long 2.5 hours, but I was happy to be
back when I finally got there!  But now I am rather wistful about our
trip, and I am definitely looking forward to doing something similar
next summer!!!

~Brenda