Our trip across New York has been across rolling hills called drumlins. Drumlins were formed by glaciers and are a little like ocean surf with a steep side on the northern slope followed by a gradual slope on the south. Stopping for lunch in Fulton we met a fellow traveler named Joe Martin who is traveling from Bar Harbor to Seattle, his blog, if you are interested is
vizzionquest.tumbblr.com. He lives in Seattle, shipped his bike to Bar Harbor, and is now riding home. He said he had to wait a couple of days for his bike to show up, but otherwise getting to Bar Harbor was fairly easy and his bike arrived unscratched. Our logistics problem is the reverse and we still have not settled on how we are getting back home; plane, train, or automobile. Bicycling back, or taking a boat through the Panama Canal, as Christian suggested, have both been ruled out.
Greg
— Sent from my Palm Pre
Rochester New York has a great bike trail system. The trail along the canal is paved and signed very well, still we got confused when we came to the intersection between the Erie Canal and the Genesee River, the river and canal look a lot alike. A crane on a barge was removing hazardous drift logs while a few people watched from a bridge above the crane. We stopped and talked to Karen and Jonny, to get directions to the canal. We ended up talking to them for quite some time. They were very helpful with directions and interested in hearing about our trip. One more example of how great it is meeting people on this trip. When we reached Palmyra (of Joseph Smith fame) we left the trail and rode north, on roads again, to Lake Ontario. We have now seen all 5 Great Lakes; Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. This area we are riding through was important in the early 1800’s as a shipping port for coal, but lost importance as a port after the Erie Canal was completed. One of the claims to fame around Sodus Point was the fact that the village was burned, except for a single building, in the War of 1812. Since next year is the 200th anniversary of the War, it seems as if both here and in Canada that interest is increasing in the War of 1812 history. Today Sodus Point is a major recreational area. On the walls of our lodge are lots of pictures of fish and references to ice fishing and hunting. It has been cooler today, a little respite from the heat that makes pedling easier.
Greg
— Sent from my Palm Pre
This morning was a little cooler as we left Lockport. We entered the Erie Canal by the museum and were on a trail just a few feet from the canal for the rest of the day. The Erie Canal, built with muscle and no concrete, was a marvel for it’s time, it was called the 8th wonder of the world. It seemed strange to follow a path that’s been in existense for 185 years and yet still doesn’t show up on GPS. The path beside the canal has been improved, but is still not paved. And instead of barge traffic, the main water use now is tourist boats. There are a lot of little towns in existense because of the canal, and of course, roads and bridges crossing the canal. We stopped to watch as a boat passed a lift gates near one of these towns. Afterward we talked to the bridge liftgate operator. He said the canal is open 12 hours a day and that he runs 2 bridges. When he gets a call he drives to whichever bridge to operate the liftgate. He told us he rode his bike across the US, from San Diego to St Augustine Florida 8 years ago. As we were talking, another canal employee walked up. We had seen him earlier walking on the opposite bank. His job was to inspect the levys every day for leaks. If they find a leak they drive a sheet of steel down so that it promotes silting in around the leak. Also, we learned that in the winter the canal is drained, and the canal is winterized. Every few miles there are hydraulic gates suspended above the water; their purpose is to stop and limit the flow of water if there is a catastrophic leak. There is a single historic road which goes under the canal instead of over, it’s called culvert road. The culvert is 7 feet 6 inches at the top, it’s rounded, one lane, and leaks water a lot. Pretty amazing to have been there for over 185 years. After noon it started getting warm again, we stopped for the night in Spencerport.
— Sent from my Palm Pre
Riding today was world class along the Niagara River Recreation Trail. The trail is beside one of the most scenic drives in the world. The trail would sometimes be part of access to driveways, and at one point was very congested with yard sale traffic. There were quite a few bicycles on the trail going both directions. We were traveling downstream towards the falls and about a mile away could see mist rising into the air that looked like steam. As we rode closer more and more pedestrians were on the trail until just before the falls it was impossible to ride and we just walked our bikes. When we got our first glimpse of the water just disappearing over the edge into the mist it was hard to imagine that massive fast flowing stream with all it’s hydraulic power just suddenly dropping away into what looked like nothing. We parked our bikes and went over to the viewing area which is not ten feet from the edge of horseshoe falls and just watched the water flow over the falls. There were hundreds of people around, looking over the edge, some posing while their friends or family would take their picture. As we continued downstream we would stop and look again at the falls from a different angle. We could also see a steady procession (one every 10 minutes or so) of Maid Of The Mist boats full of blue raincoated people getting close to the falls. We could see their faces looking up at us sometimes. The boats would power up into the mist and then let the power of the stream turn them around to head downstream so the next boat could approach. We rode on along the trail toward the Lewiston Bridge where we will cross into the United States. There is no pedestrian crossing on the bridge so we get onto the highway and eventually merge with cars that are nearly at a standstill, 4 lanes across and several hundred cars long. We can easily walk our bikes across the bridge and then through customs. We had no trouble entering Canada and we have no trouble entering the United States. Randy and I both got enhanced Drivers Licenses so we wouldn’t need a passport. The rest of the ride to Lockport New York, another hour and a half, was in mid 90’s heat. When we arrived, we checked into our motel then walked downtown to see the Erie Canal and the locks downtown. On the walk Randy notices that most of the curbing is not concrete, but is quarried granite. The canal and locks are impressive, but curiously the canal runs at an oblique angle through town just slicing through streets as if the canal and the streets each are built according to different patterns that don’t really fit together. We crossed the United States widest bridge at one intersections, then asked some people where to get a good dinner. Molinaros Italian they told us. We finished dinner and walked home. It was a great day.
Greg
— Sent from my Palm Pre
Yesterday our bikes were locked inside the bar until 11:00 in the morning, so we made alternate arrangements and carried our bikes and trailers upstairs to keep them inside our room. It made it a little crowded but we wanted to be pedaling again by 6:00 because of the heat. The bar wasn’t that busy last night but tonight they did a pretty good business downstairs, they have karaoke every Thursday and Sunday night. We could hear some pretty good singing in our room above the bar until 2:00 this morning, at 5:00 we got up for the day.
Our route today continues along the north coast of Lake Erie. We had one curious thing happen today. We stopped at a convenience store in Selkirk and the proprietor told us we could get a really good breakfast at the corner and that then we should turn right on Erie Street because the scenery was great, even though our ride might be a bit longer. We did as he suggested; we stopped for breakfast, then turned right on Erie Street and rode south. He was right, the scenery was spectacular and it was a bit further, but before we even realized what was happening we were back on highway 3 again, pedaling east, and the odometer said that the little bit further we had ridden was actually more than 8000 miles! Apparently our average speed today was about mach 1.5. If you don’t believe me, check out the map of today’s ride. The map only shows us riding south on Erie Street for one block! There are things that are beyond explanation.
We ended this day riding along a bike path beside the Niagara River with a spectacular view of Buffalo across the water. One last night in Canada.
Greg
2guysbiketrip 