July 27 – 76 miles from Brantford, ON to Niagara Fall, NY,
including a few extra miles around Niagara Fall, ON to see the falls. Easy riding through more farms, mostly
with Norm, capped by the falls. In
some ways, the tourists are as interesting as the falls. There were throngs of them, in
all colors and manner of dress (saris, chadors, Japanese tourist hats.) In the US and Canada, Niagara Falls is
somewhat of a second string tourist sight, but for the rest of the world, the
falls are a big deal - in particular, tourists from India and China. In fairness, the falls are beautiful
and impressive in their power.
However, after you look at them for 30 minutes or so from a variety of
angles, there is not much else to the sight, except to pay money to see yet
another angle (i.e. from the base on the “Maid of the Mist”, from a helicopter,
from the top of the Skylon tower, from the back in “Niagara’s Fury”, and more)
or to go eat and gamble.
Had my first bike problem (other than the one flat) – my
bike computer died. It was water
resistant, but apparently not designed to be immersed in water, which in effect
it was in the storms of yesterday.
So Jim, the AbB mechanic installed a new computer, and once again I know
what I’m am doing while riding.
July 28 – our day off in Niagara Falls. George and I took a “busmans holiday”
riding 34 mile to the charming tourist town of Niagara-on-the-lake, ON. There is a lovely bike path from
Niagara Falls, along the Niagara River canyon rim, to Niagara-on-the-Lake (the
lake being Lake Ontario.) We had
really good salads and wine for lunch – easily the best lunch of the trip – did
some wine tasting and a vineyard, stopped for ice cream on the way back, and
finished the day with a fine steak.
Overall, a very civilized day.
July 29 – Niagara Falls to Rochester, NY. The ride was 83 miles, but it
seemed a lot less. I rode through the rolling farmland
with Jim and Little Bill, and we arrived in time for lunch, In the evening, I visited my Uncle Jon
at his assisted living apartment in Rochester. I explained about the trip to
him and two of his friends over a very good meal at the facility dining
room. The visit meant riding
an additional 12 miles, much of the time over what was the worst road yet of
the trip, in terms of bicycle safety – West Henrietta Ave, which has no
shoulder, wheel snagging storm drains, trucks zipping by, potholes, no usable
sidewalk, lots of vehicles turning in and out of stores, etc. The Rochester area needs to work on
becoming bicycle friendly.
July 30 – 94 miles to Syracuse, NY. Some 20 of the miles were along the old
Erie Canal bike path, which was lovely.
A long, uneventful day – warm, but not too warm, humid but not too
humid, fast but not too fast, hilly (after leaving the canal) but not too
hilly, etc.
Thoughts: Group
Dynamics Redux
This group of 50 some odd riders has now been together, with
a few changes, for over 6 weeks.
We have gone through both tough days and wonderful days - rain, lightning,
heat, wind, accidents (none serious), long climbs, angry pick-up truck drivers,
dogs chasing, bad hotels and worse
food; but also cool clear skies, brilliant dawns, majestic mountains, lazy
streams, buffalo herds and amber waves of grain, as well as a few really nice
hotels and meals and a few celebrations.
Having come 3,300 miles together, we know each other’s cycling strengths
and weaknesses, but recognize that, by any standard, we all are pretty good
bikers to get this far. There is a
solid comraderie, with nicknames and hosts of inside jokes, as with any bonded
group.
Surprisingly (to me), there have been no breakdowns (at
least in public), no screaming sessions, no overt anger, no tears, and precious
little nasty gossip or backbiting.
Even the few unpleasantries have been, to a good extent,
ameliorated: Delaware John (as
opposed to me, the guitar player) apologized for singing an overly sarcastic
song at each birthday announcement; and Stu and Cheryl have come out of their
anti-social shell a bit, offering advice to the group about the western New
York (their home turf) and leading a ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake (which George
and I went on.) Better yet, there
is a high degree of empathy between riders - there is a sense that most any rider will go out of their
way to help you if you need help. So overall, I have to say I am impressed with
the maturity of the group and the way the dynamics have worked out.
Cliques have formed, as you would expect. Generally the cliques are based on
rider strength – i.e. the faster riders ride together all day, so naturally
become friends and form a clique, and similarly for the slower and middle speed
riders. Another factor is
roommates (where assigned.)
People know everyone else’s clique, but generally there is not a sense
of “in crowd” – perhaps the group, mostly 50+ professional adults, is simply
beyond this. It is interesting to
note that cliques have not formed based on factors outside of cycling, such as
wealth, geography, profession or other interests, except that the four under-30
riders coalesced based on age (perhaps just so they could talk about music and
have someone who understands who they are talking about.) We are bikers on this trip and the
world revolves around cycling, so that is the basis of relationships, not to
mention most conversation.
Quite a few people came on this ride with a partner –
spouse, significant other, or same sex friend (none homosexual, or at least
none overt or out of the closet.)
These pairs always belong to the same clique and usually ride with each
other – perfectly natural as they came together because they like to ride
together. On the positive side,
there have been no break-ups and quite a few of these pairs have loosened up -
they now feel free to ride separately and have independent relationships with
other group members, which is a sign of a healthy friendship. However, some pairs (Cheryl and Stu,
the Brits) have still remained “chained” to each other, so to speak, which has
had the effect of less group interaction and thus fewer friends and a less rich
experience. A lesson here for
anyone in a relationship.
Another surprising aspect, again at least to me, is that no
rider has surfaced as the group leader, either by the group casting them into
the role or by self-promotion. The
group has deferred to the official AbB leader, Mike Munk, without developing a
“social leader” as you often find in classrooms or workplaces. Early on, Big Tom kind of took on a
leadership role, not without some discontent amongst the group, but he left the
ride in Minnesota. Since then, Big
Bill and Delaware John have acted as leaders in certain situations, but nothing
approaching a group leader. Not
sure why it worked out this way, but again I suspect it relates to the maturity of the people on the
trip.
There are a number of distinct personalities like in any
group:
- The
loners – like to ride alone, have few words for others and seem content to have
it this way.
- The
workaholics – still connected to the office, take some business calls and do
some work. The most pronounced
example is Big Bill, but then he is the prime mover in his own, very successful
business.
- The
competitors – have to be first out in the morning, first in in the afternoon,
and with the fastest group. There
are 3 distinct members of this group, with others having some tendencies. Interesting that the most pronounced
competitor has also become one of the people the group comments/jokes about
most. Over sll, this is not seen
as a desirable type.
- The
party people – not so much of this, mostly because we have to get up so early
in the morning and alcohol is not conducive to good riding. But you can see some would like to do
this a lot more.
- The
social networkers – again not as many of these as I expected. But some, like
Little Bill, try to be friends with everyone. But over time they have toned things down and I think they
are well liked for their efforts.
But beyond these and maybe a few other types, most of us
kind of do our own thing without artifice, being our true selves, but always
being respectful of others and not causing waves. Most of us (myself included) simply let the relationships
happen as they will. For most,
again including me, I think things have worked out pretty well and we simply
enjoy the group. As I said,
largely a mature group of secure, intelligent people, bound together by a
strong common interest, a common goal – a good way to get a strong, cohesive
group.
(Note; the positive group dynamics is also fostered by
having a homogenous social background – in this case white, prosperous, well
educated, mostly politically and socially moderate to liberal, with little
fundamentalist religion. Such
social homogeneity is a good way to get a strong, cohesive group but a bad way
to run a large organization or government, where diversity of thought and
experience is important for fairness and long term success.)
