First Contact
A Thursday evening drive down a narrow gravel road led to a wooded hillside in Ionia, New York, where the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science was holding its monthly meeting. Small observatory buildings dotted the grounds, a vanilla sheet cake marked the club's 145th anniversary, and members in planet-covered shirts discussed telescopes, software, and the night sky. After a presentation on cosmology, everyone drifted outside to point telescopes toward Jupiter while daylight faded over the fields and woods surrounding the observatory.
Training Day
A 38-mile training ride along the Auburn and Lehigh Valley Trails. Green tunnels of trees, old railroad bridges, a cheeseburger and a beer at Creekside Inn, memories of a biker bar from another chapter of life, and a yellow recumbent trike appearing between the trees.
Scouting Boca
A train ride north to test the roads, the rhythm, and the people. Boca is designed. Hollywood improvises..
A Short Ride and a Long Tree
A ride from Geneva toward Waterloo on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail ended seven miles in when a fallen tree blocked the path, sending us back to Geneva for wine by the lake instead.
The Hours Between Showers
A forecasted three-hour break between rain showers was just enough time for Serge and me to ride fifty miles along the Erie Canal on the Empire State Trail.