Back to the hills. Legs felt much better today. Maybe they needed the sunshine and some hillwork? It's great to be in the trees and the northeastern terrain. Getting out of Rochester was a bit hairy but the roads for most of the day were nicely paved with decent shoulders. I enjoyed riding today but began to miss some things like knowing I'll have a bed to sleep in, Q-tips, shampoo and control over the temperature and duration of my showers - little things. I was a bit cranky today and took some of that out on Eddie but most of it out on those hills. We will be leaving civilization for a couple of days in eastern NY - nothing like WY or IA but we might not be able to find a Super 8 with OLN to watch the final stage of the Tour de France. I'm looking forward to a beautiful day tomorrow. I think I'll sleep well tonight in the cool evening air.

Eddie got a new tire today because he couldn't keep his inflated anymore. Highlight of the day - the Putneyville Pickle - great chicken salad sandwich and met 2 sets of local cyclists. The sandwich took a little while to make but yum. It's a cute town too nestled along the banks of lake Ontario.

We met another cross country bike rider when we were leaving Rochester this morning. Mike was riding without much baggage and his wife was following up driving support for his trip. He started on June 21 so he's moving a little faster then us. We bid him adieu on the route just outside of leaving Rochester.

Once we were in the countryside we stopped at a great produce stand to pick up some cherries. The lady working at the stand mentioned a group of young guys that had passed earlier this summer. We found out that she was referring to the guys riding for the Michael J. Fox foundation. It was nice to feel that passage of time thinking about them when we met up in the middle of the country. We biked away with our handlebar bags filled with cherries and happily munched on them as we road on to Lake Ontario.