Little Falls established the first cheese industry in America in 1861. Herkimer (County) cheese was sent to New York and Europe. In 1866, 380,000 pounds were sent by rail. Today, it looks like an old industrial town, although one keeping up with the times. There is a river festival this week with many activities.
We had a pleasant ride in the country today. And even though we’re on country roads, there are many turns. I counted 44 intersections where we had to make a decision. This is another change as we move east. --- Our route sheets point out and caution against every railroad crossing we encounter. So if you ever need an inventory of north-south railroad tracks in the northern US, get a set of ABB maps.
Have you figured out the photo in the upper right corner? It’s of the World’s Smallest Church (floor 51 x 81 inches – seats 2 people) in Oneida, NY. It is in a swamp called Mason’s Pond. And since boats aren’t allowed in Mason’s Pond, if I wanted to go to church, ‘guess I’d have to walk on water. But I don’t want to show off.
The hotels along the way have been nice to us. It is very common to arrive and find a cooler of bottled water and rags to clean the bike. We’ve had cookies on several occasions as well as pretzels, bananas, ice cream, donuts and even a cooler of beer. The local motel here in Little Falls is tonight giving us a wine and cheese party before dinner.
We’re aware that our days of easy cycling – almost no hills and tail winds – is about to end. Saturday and Sunday’s itinerary shows as much climbing as in the mountains out west. In fact, Sunday’s elevation gain is the highest of the entire trip. And we know that the grades on the Appalachians are much steeper than the Rockies. -- Tomorrow, however, is still supposed to be pretty flat. But it doesn’t look like it. It looks like the we’ll have to climb out of town no matter which way we go.
Day 46, 81 miles, 1,236 feet climbed, 5.6 hrs. 3,465 miles so far
4 days remaining, 310 miles remaining
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