Auto Immunity

Greetings hairy and hairless folk,

We jolted out of Ithica New York with the idea of making it half way to Utaca. The intial climb out of Ithaca is probably a solid 10% climb. Then as we got lost, twice climbing the same hill and ending back up at the road we were just riding on (both climbs were at least 14% grades), our day got a tad bit longer. Though getting lost just means that fate, if real, can only happen.

Back on track and biking into Cortland, a mere 25 miles from Ithaca, we came up to a Brockway truck show. "Should we stop?" The words were said by all of us, and the reply was all the same. "Yes." As we strolled slowly through Cortlands Main Street checking out all the trucks we got bombarded by some roller derby girls, just a great thing to happen in any situation.

"HEY! You guys look like you want to go to our bout tonight?"

"Well, we are just kinda passing through... We weren't really planning to stop, we are just checking out the truck show." We replied with some hesitation.

"Where are you guys biking from?" Their question rising like all the other times before when people see our loaded bikes and supreme gusto.

"California! We actually left Ithaca this morning and we are planning on making it to Utaca tomorrow. So we are only 25 miles into the trip and that would make it a 70 mile day tomorrow if we stayed..."

"Well, you should come to our bout tonight anyways.' All the while knowing inside that, of course, we were already planning on going either way. 'I have a backyard you can crash in! And there's an after party, then an after after party at my house!" Hook line and sinker, we were staying!

The bout wasn't until 7, so we cruised around Cortland getting internet and just hanging out. We made our way to Dana's house, the roller derby girl who was letting us crash at her place. She wasn't there but she said we could take showers and get cleaned up before we took off for the bout.

6:30 rolled around and we made our way to the roller derby. The "Royal Pains", the home team we were there to watch, are undefeated. This bout was their closest match, pretty much neck and neck the whole time... It came down to the last two minutes when the Royal Pains, with flare and gusto, came back and got the crowd cheering as they scored points and more points! Undefeated still, the Royal Pains are a team to be scared of!

The after party was at a bar just down the street, we had some pizza and beers and celebrated the Royal Pains royal victory. There was a band, $1 spankings from the team with either hand or paddle and merriment enjoyed by all. As it got a tad later in the night, it became time for the after, after party. We made our way back to Dana's house and continued the celebration long into the night. Games were played, laughs were shared, delicious pumpkin pie pudding shots were had, and team Wisconsin held up like Roman pillars in flippy cup. Eventually, everyone either left, or made their way to sleep somewhere and the night ended.

Come morning, we awoke pretty late but enjoyed a great breakfast of strawberries, blueberries, bacon, and bananas! Dana and Erin hooked us up with some munchies for the road, and then we said our goodbyes and set off! Before we left Cortland, we stopped at NY Jets training camp and watched Mark Sanchez throw passes and Tim Tebow screw up throwing passes. We didn't stay long though, it was getting to be past noon and we had 70 miles to go until Utica, so we hit the road.

Along the way to Utaca we stopped at DeRUYTER (our original plan for the night before) at their fireman's picnic and had some AWESOME BBQ chicken, noodles, beans, bread, and the best part of peaches and cream! We were full, tired, and didn't want to bike another mile... We all wanted to sleep, but we had to continue.

We were going to get to Utica late as it was, but we decided unknowingly to take a wrong turn and get lost again. Thus, turning a 70 mile day into an 80 mile day! WAHOO! We can't complain though, the scenery of the NY countryside was beautiful, the air cool, and the road smooth.

As we finally got to Utaca, it was around 9 p.m. and we already had a place to stay at Bill's house. His son we met in Ithaca and said he could stay with his dad in Utaca. So we got to his house, changed, and went out to grab a some grub. Thanks Dave for contacting your dad, and thanks Bill for the food last night, and the coffee this morning!

It is getting to be another pretty late start, and we still have to go to the post office to get some cookies sent to us from Daphne, someone we met at the JA Conference! WOOP! We love cookies! Thanks bunches Daphne! So as always to everyone, Thanks for keeping posted as we keep you posted. We are 9 days from Portland, then another 8 days from Portland as we continue our journey deep into Maine for our celebratory ride. It is time to get those donations in, so don't wait, DONATE!

PLEASE DONATE BELOW, ITS AS EASY AS 123!

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