Yes, it Rained!

We met the bikers at our designated spot. Brian Krause, navigator for the group, called just after we arrived at the meet point to say they were just leaving their "lunch" spot & would be along in a while (about 4 miles down the road I think). During the half hour or so we waited for them it started to sprinkle (& was a little chilly for my taste), so after getting the bikes off the rack & ready, we climbed back in the car to wait out of the wind. The first person we saw coming along with Michael Caine (area minister from the NY Metro area - the one who suggested I ride) and 2 others. He introduced us; we chatted for a few minutes, as it started to sprinkle & then we started off.

Our spot was most of the way up a hill on Rt 20, but there was still some up grade to go before the crest. I'd been a bit worried about starting out going uphill, but it really wasn't so bad. Michael's 2 friends got ahead of us, but Michael rode with us & we chatted. Some of the time we were in single file, sometimes 2 & 1 and sometimes all 3 abreast.

Going down the first big hill we hit 25 mph -- nice! It started to rain a bit more & shortly was raining quite steadily. The worst part of that (besides being just a bit chilly) was having glasses all spotted up. Gordon knew of a "short-cut" before a left turn from Rt 20 to Rt 98. It cut the corner quite a bit, got us off Rt 20 & away from the large trucks; in fact away from most traffic. We joined Rt 98 a bit South of where the "official" and full-of-traffic turn was. Then just before we got into Attica, Gordon told Michael about another short cut. This one avoided the main intersection in Attica & took us by back roads onto the road the church is on -- past some very nice looking houses & lawns. By the time we got to the church the rain had stopped & we had begun to dry off a bit.

We had to wait until Harvey & Vanessa arrived at the church with our car (& dry clothes, as well as our part of dinner) before getting out of our wet-but-drying clothes. I did take my shoes & socks off & that helped a lot. The one thing neither Gordon nor I brought was an extra pair of shoes, so we ended up putting on dry socks & then got back into our wet sneakers. It was still better.

The ride was not as hard as I'd feared it might be. There were 2 or 3 hills I puffed up, but not much slower than Gordon or Michael. The down hills were nice & the flat places & small rises were just fine too. The traffic, especially trucks, splashed us quite a bit, but since it was raining anyway much of the time, it was hardly noticeable!

The church provided a dinner of spaghetti, vegetarian lasagne, chilie, 2 salads (1 mine) about 3 kinds of bread, apple sauce, several choices of things to drink, then cookies for dessert. After dinner Brian presented a PowerPoint on alternative transportation ( or why biking makes more sense -- my words, not his). It talked about Portland Oregon being the most bike friendly city and how some others are working on accommodating bicyclists. We have to bring awareness to people about it. After the program Vanessa said she thinks she'll start biking to church! (someone asked whose church has a bicycle rack -- one or 2 of those there). I said I was willing to do that too. Then she started thinking about perhaps getting the youth to bike to the Regional Youth Event next summer (2010) which is being held in the middle of PA.

Anyway, a good time was had by all. It was a positive experience. Hopefully I won't be too muscle sore. I did notice that when I went upstairs a few minutes ago, I definitely felt it in my legs. Good -- it means I've been doing something!

The group is asking for prayers for no rain for the next week as they continue on to Grand Rapids.

Rain on Wed?

The new weather forecast is calling for rain on Wednesday -- showers & thunderstorms in the morning & then again in the afternoon. Well, the ride will be "interesting" anyway. I would think that the group leaving from Canandaigua will be a little slower getting to Attica than they might be if it were clear weather. So -- rain pants & jacket (& sweaty) or not (& soaked)? I'll opt for the rain gear. Don't know what Gordon will wear. Maybe the forecast will change before Wednesday.

Ready for a Bike Ride

On Wednesday we plan to join the bicycle riders who are on their way from Syracuse NY to Grand Rapids MI to the UCC General Synod. Wednesday they will be riding from Canadauiga to Dunkirk. It is our plan to meet them 10 miles before they arrive in Attica and ride that way with them. Then we'll stay for dinner and the program they will be presenting on alternative transportation.

Today we decided we should do an experimental bike ride to get ready for the expected 10 mile ride on Wednesday. The route we took ended up being only 7.7 miles, but I think it will do. Our muscles felt it at the end, and we proved we could do it. I had been planning to do this, then yesterday Gordon said he wanted to ride too, so we planned out a simple route to do today. We went from our house to Yorkshire right onto Rt 16, down a hill & up the other side to Schutt Rd. There we turned right & rode back toward town (a few hills on that road). We followed that until it hit Rt 98 near the Fire Hall, then turned toward Main St & down to Park St & home. It took us a bit over 50 minutes.

We were pretty satisfied with ourselves I think. After changing out of sweaty shirts & drinking lots of water & having some food, we set off to do the rest of our afternoon errands. We needed to buy a new coffee maker (our old one suddenly broke & spilled water all over the counter). We also went to Buckwheats garden store and bought vegetables plants for our garden & some flowers for the barrels in front of our house & enough Impatients for 2 hanging pots for the front porch. These were all thanks to the Mothers Day gift certificate from Barb. It was the first chance we had to go and use it & we still have some money left for later purchases.

Before supper we planted the veggies we bought & fixed the flowers & they look quite nice. Later they will spread and look even better.

A very good day indeed.

50 years isn't so long

This afternoon Gordon & I were talking (I don't remember what, exactly) and something came up about 50 years ago. I think we must have been talking about cars or car companies, but I'm not sure. Anyway, he said he'd been driving for 50 years! It's only been 49 for me; my parents wouldn't let me get a learner's permit until I was 17! Then I got to thinking about what other things were like 50 years ago -- I was 16. Somehow it doesn't seem all that long ago, at least sometimes it doesn't.

I'm sure everyone is tired of those "do you remember when" things, but I just feel the need to put it down here anyway.

How Much things cost in 1959
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.01%
Average Cost of new house $12,400.00
Average Yearly Wages $5,010.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 25 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,200.00
Movie Ticket $1.00
Loaf of Bread 20¢
1 lb coffee 77 ¢
Postage stamp .04¢
Kodak Movie camera $67.50
Ladies Stockings $1.00

1959 was 50 years ago this year
1959 the unemployment problems eased to 5.5%.
Television programs included "Rawhide", "Bonanza" and "The Twilight Zone", movies included "Some Like it Hot", "Ben Hur" and "North by Northwest".
Alaska was admitted to the union and became the 49th state and Hawaii was admitted to the the Union and became the 50th State.
The Boeing 707 Jet Airliner came into service and little girls loved the Barbie Dolls made by Mattel.
Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba.

Some other things:
St Lawrence Seaway a joint US / Canadian venture is completed linking the great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean
NASA introduces America's first astronauts to the world including John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr.
First Pictures Of Earth From Space Taken By Explorer 6
US Launches first Weather Station in Space

I'm not wishing we were back in 1959, or that I was 50 years younger. Just remembering events that I hadn't realized were that long ago.

I have yet to write anything about the NY Conference UCC's Annual Conference in beautiful Silver Bay. Maybe tomorrow.