Erie Canal Tour Travel Day 1

TRAVEL DAY:

I had intended to leave home at 6 AM for the drive to Albany NY to get there in time for the Woman’s World Cup beginning at 11 AM.   There is also the Gold Cup final at 9 PM. This could be a wonderful day for US Soccer.  Then again, it could be a disaster. The ladies are playing Holland for the title of World Champion.  That’s unusual for a US team because many of our teams simply win our league, and declare ourselves World Champion. Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, Patriots.  The Revolution doesn’t, well hasn’t yet one a title.  It could happen.  Some day

BEST LAID PLANS:  There are time when it just doesn’t work out.

The plan was for me to stay overnight in Albany and meet Brandon at the airport on Monday when his 2 PM flight arrived.  We were to drive to the Amtrak station and board the 4 PM train to Buffalo.  Lo and Behold, that train has been cancelled.  Now we will take the 7 PM train and arrive in Buffalo after midnight, bike three miles to the hotel and catch a few winks before beginning our bike ride back to Albany on the Erie Canal.

THE CHAOS OF THE BIG BANG:

Things happen in life that may you wonder.  Some call it coincidence, which is crazy, some call it divine intervention, which is just stupid.  Things just happen with no rhyme or reason.  For instance.  Brandon was riding home from the Driveway Series Criterium in Austin TX.  There was a guy on a bike waiting who struck up a conversation.  The subject of blogs came up and Brandon asked if he knew amidnightrider. “Are you Brandon?” he asked.  “Whoa” said Brandon.  It was A Dude ABikes. When Brandon got home he send me a text.  “Guess who I just ran into?” I went through the list of his past lady friends, people I met in Austin, relatives etc etc.  A Dude ABike was not on either my short of long list.   To keep this long story short, they both got a kick out of the meeting.

CRAZY GUY ON A BIKE  A web sight for touring bicyclists from around the world

I found crazyguyonabike.com in 2005 during the internet boom.  When you though you were alone in your fantasies, illnesses, hobbies etc, search engines could find you sites where there were thousand or even millions of like minded people.  It’s a site I use for easy access to all my bike tours, beginning in 2007. I’ll be linking this blog to crazy guy for the next couple of weeks.