The forecasted storms arrived a little later than expected, at 3:00 am instead of 2:00, but the late start didn’t matter much: it was still raining steadily when I got up at 5:15; when I walked through the mucky field to carry my duffel to the truck; when I returned to the campsite, rolled up …
Erie Canal Day 7: “You’ll always know your neighbor, you’ll always know your pal…”
Today’s ride marked the first time that I’d ridden this far on seven consecutive days; my previous adventures on the Grand Illinois Bike Tour all ended after six days. The one week tally stands at 374 miles; with a 27-mile milk run into Albany tomorrow, I should just break 400. The day began wet: it …
Erie Canal Day 6: Numb Along the Mohawk
(Apologies to John Ford, Henry Fonda, and Claudette Colbert for another bad pun.) My tent remained intact and my gear remained dry during the apparently serious storm that swept through Rome yesterday afternoon. I say “apparently,” because I was indoors at the time, sitting in a pew in Zion Episcopal church, typing my blog post …
Erie Canal Day 5: Living (but not sleeping) on the edge
It’s been my habit—maybe as far back as Boy Scouts—to want to pitch my tent a little bit away from other tents. Depending on the size of the campground, that’s not always possible. On this trip, despite there being more than 500 tents serving more than 700 campers*, I’ve been fortunate in being able to …
Continue reading "Erie Canal Day 5: Living (but not sleeping) on the edge"
Erie Canal Day 4: Halfway
Yesterday, in Seneca Falls, I was joined in the afternoon by an old and dear friend from Rice days, Michael Tinkler, who drove over from his home in Geneva. He’s been teaching art history at Hobart & William Smith Colleges there for more than twenty years. We would see each other occasionally when I lived …
Erie Canal Day 3: Gear me
Each day, there has been a complication involving gear. I’ll begin, though, with a confession: I have a significant problem with over-packing. On any given trip, I generally bring home several items of clothing that go straight back into the dresser, unworn. This trip is likely to be no different. Part of the reason is …
Erie Canal Day 2: [Any]port is the norm.
Not sure that pun works very well. The point I’m trying to make is that “[Insert name here]port” is a rather common naming convention for towns and villages along the canal. Yesterday, we passed through Lockport, Gasport, and Middleport; today’s route took us past Brockport and Spencerport, to our destination at Fairport. Lessons Learned, chapter …
Erie Canal Day 1: “Git up there, Sal”
(Ok, I promise: I won’t use lyrics from the classic elementary school folk song for the entire eight days of the ride.) Saturday, I spent the morning visiting in-laws: first, Pam’s mom and dad, and then her brothers and sister-in-law. It was a gorgeous summer day, the kind that made me fall in love with …
“The other side of trying”
Tomorrow, I begin my second big cycling trip of 2023: the Erie Canal trail, all the way from Buffalo to Albany. It’s an organized ride sponsored by Parks & Trails of New York. Although I don’t (yet) know anyone else who’s riding, there should be a couple hundred other cyclists on the trail. Like the …
Rideworthy 