The Cookie Ride

A couple of times each year, we travel to Fair Haven, NY for a laid-back 30 mile ride on the rail-trail. Fair Haven is located a bit west of Oswego on route 104A and is a charming little village located on one of Lake Ontario's bay shores. Due to the Memorial Day weekend, the Jeffina had put in a lot of saddle time and this ride seemed like the perfect recovery ride for this day. The rail-trail itself is home to many swampy and marshy areas which makes it a haven for mosquitoes, but also for other types of creatures, such as turtles, snakes, beavers, and an occasional wild turkey. The weather south of Syracuse was predicted to reach in the low 90's so we headed north towards the cooler waters of Lake Ontario and to keep our legs spinning. The best part of this ride is the Fly By Night Cookie Shop located right next door to the home of Jeff's good friend, Brandon. Brandon deserves a couple of sentences here because he was the one who introduced us and came to our wedding, as well. For quite a few years, Brandon and Jeff (who are about the same age) regularly duked it out during races and it was always a toss up who would beat the other on any given day. Today, though, we all embarked together for a fun ride with no competition and only friendly conversation based on all the years that we have known one another.

The ride itself was fairly uneventful, but afterwards, we commenced to enter the Fly By Night Cookie shop next door. As we did, we were all sharing with one another the type of cookie we wanted to purchase and take home. I am a fan (and great lover) of Bonnie's world famous "P.M.S." cookie. No, you don't have to be a woman to enjoy this cookie. You only have to love chocolate, more chocolate, topped off with mint icing. Jeff was more focused on other varieties and even picked up a loaf of homemade multi-grain bread made earlier in the day by the hand's of Brandon's partner.

After swarming the cookie store like a bunch of ravenous cyclists, we walked back to Brandon's place and basked in the sun sippinng on beer and water with lemon (for me) as we enjoyed the brisk lake breeze coming off the water's edge. Jeff and Brandon even tentatively planned a trip to the Kingdom Trails in Vermont later this summer and spoke of learning the banjo.

For anyone riding (or driving) to Fair Haven, this mystical little store is a must to see and the surrounding community is just as charming.

Tomorrow, we are headed to Rochester for another training race. I have a lot of miles in my legs and will definitely feel somewhat fatigued, but Jeff is riding great, feeling great, and looking to do well.

Enjoy the photos of the day.

Together, we are Jeffina, crakin' out the love, crankin' out the miles for Crankskins.com.