Soggy Starts

Ferocious rain storms have caused a bit more adventure than I bargained for. But right now I'm at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, mostly dry, and have shelter for the next three and a half hours. After that, I'm headed for the laundromat. After that, who knows.


Picking up where I left off, I departed the Hillside Firehouse Tuesday morning and cycled along Route 9 until Livingston. Then it started to rain, and I heard thunder in the distance. I called my Mom to check the weather, and she said the storm was expected to last for days, so I decided to suck it up and and try to make into Hudson or somewhere close, maybe hide out in a diner if it got really bad.


A mile from Hudson, the wind and rain picked up, and the lightning began crashing closer. Flying down a hill with the rain hitting me like pebbles, my glasses acting as a windshield without wipers, I thought, I've got to get out of this. Sopping wet and cringing with every lightning strike, I wheeled my bike across a lawn to a nondescript blue-gray building with no visible signs of what it contained. It had an awning above the front door, and that's all I cared about.


But as I rolled my bike up the walk, there happened to be a woman peering out the glass. She appeared surprised to see me out there and opened the door to let me in. Her name was Lisa, and she was saying to me, "What are you doing?" as she somewhat reluctantly led me into her office. We got to talking about my predicament. Before I knew it, she was making a phone call to hook me up with her friends Joe and Linda, who lived on a farm just north of Hudson, about five miles away.


By about 4:30 PM, the rain had subsided and I had my directions. I thanked Lisa and her coworkers, and was on my way. I hadn't made it even a mile before my rear wheel for some reason became impossible to turn, and I found myself squatted on the side of the road trying to figure out what the problem was. I kept releasing and retightening the wheel, hopping back on and trying to get moving again. Every time, the alignment would slip left, and I'd be stuck again. I thought it might have had something to do with riding in the rain. Then the storm returned.


After a struggle involving all my stuff falling into the mud twice, getting dirt in my mouth, and in the process getting soaked all over again, a pickup truck pulled into the parking lot. I saw a hand wave through the wet, foggy windshield. It was Lisa. She ran out, and before I could even explain, all of my belongings were being tossed into the truck, and we were off to the farm.


On the way there, Lisa told me she had been on her way home, and it was a lucky thing that I had broken down where I did, because if I had gone another mile, Lisa would have turned and never seen me.


Joe and Linda turned out to be an interesting couple. They spend their days working at a soup kitchen in Hudson, regularly feeding at least one hundred people. They have an extra house on their property that they are working on turning into a shelter for disabled veterans. They offered me a shower, dinner, and a couch to sleep on, all of which I graciously accepted. The next morning, I was on my way.

Thanks Joe and Linda!


I was on my way by eight a.m., and to my relief, the sun shone all morning and early afternoon, and the sky was a promising light blue.


On the bridge over the Hudson River into Albany, I met a group of four Canadian bicycle travelers from Ottawa. We exchanged some greetings, I gave them a map I no longer needed in the direction they were going, and they gave me a Canadian flag pin, as today is Canada Day. I had no idea!




Once in the city, I decided to take a detour and visit my old high school. To my delight there were plenty of people around who remembered me. It was great to catch up with folks I haven't seen in three years.