Friday July 19:  Syracuse, New York to Little Falls, New York
Distance:  79.9 miles
Total time:  6 hours 29 minutes
Riding time:  5 hours 15 minutes

Today's was another sweet and glorious ride through upstate New York.  We heard the dire reports of temperatures in the high 90s and heat index in the 100s.  While it was warm and humid to be sure, the sky was overcast most of the day which kept things more comfortable.  The route was scenic, the roads were mostly well-surfaced, and we enjoyed the Tailwind of Mild Yet Consistent Gratification for most of the day.  We rode with Sean and Andy from the UK early on, but soon joined the larger UK peloton and for most of the day we rode in a nine-man pace line.  I strategically stayed near the rear, meaning I had seven or eight guys breaking the wind that I could draft behind.  It's amazing how much easier it is to cycle like this.  We were barreling along at 18 to 22 miles an hour much of the day.  The pace line looked like this.  That's me at the back, enjoying the draft.

Our hotel was full of "car guys" - Syracuse was the fourth city we've stayed in that was hosting a classic car show.  Most of the car guys fit our demographic, and the cars are mostly our age or older.  Here's a classic Pontiac GTO.

And I'm not sure exactly what this is, but it's early '30s.

Early in the ride we came upon this - the purported smallest chapel in the world.  This is the third or fourth smallest chapel in the world that I've seen.  But this one is the undisputed smallest chapel in the scummiest pond in the world.  None other is even close.

And as the sign indicates, you can arrange to visit the chapel if the spirit moves you.  The spirit did not move us today.

In our ongoing efforts to take in the necessary calories to sustain our mileage, we find ourselves eating things we wouldn't normally eat.  Here's Jamie attacking a very large chocolate covered donut, without a hint of defensiveness or guilt.  That's chocolate milk in the other hand.

And here we are, not much later, at Dunkin' Donuts.  They didn't have root beer floats so Michael's consecutive day string came to a sad end.  But he managed to wolf down a frapuccino and a sandwich.

Today was a another day for milestones.  We passed the 3,500 mile mark on our 43rd day of cycling.  Here's the traditional milestone photo.

 300-odd miles to go in our remaining four days on the bikes.  Tomorrow looks to be another relatively mild day - 77 miles and not too hilly - before we hit two big climbing days as we cycle through Vermont and into New Hampshire.  Everyone is affected by the "looming tour-end blues", the mixed feelings that accompany the end of an adventure like this.  Everyone is ready to get home - I most certainly am - but I'm not sure anyone is really ready for this to end.  It's truly the adventure of a lifetime.