Day #41: I "Heart" New York

Today's Route: Holley, NY to Sodus, NY (84 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 2258

Evan (my Warm Showers host from last night) rode along with me this morning for just over 40 miles along the Erie Canal. It was great to have a riding buddy to chat with. Evan saved the walkers, runners, and bikers along the trail from having to listen to me sing off-pitch Brandi Carlile songs.

Me & Evan.

Along the canal, we saw a few folks gawking at the water. We joined in the gawking and noticed that an abandoned speedboat was floating down the river, slowly sinking.

The sinking speedboat.

A guy in a scull rowed up next to the sinking boat and informed us that the identification numbers had been scraped off the side of the boat. Hmmm...suspicious!

We came across a sign on the far side of the canal that made me laugh like an immature 7-year old. The sign read: "ANAL CONSTRUCTION AHEAD." Ha! Someone had cleverly scraped off the "C."

The digital zoom ain't so great.
You'll have to trust me on this one.

Approaching the town of Pittsford, we noticed a number of cycle tourists. And a good deal of them were children. How wonderful to see little kids carrying panniers on their bikes, experiencing the pleasures of cycle touring!

When we arrived in Pittsford, I noticed a few bikes with Adventure Cycling safety triangles on the backs of the bikes. Oh my gosh! Another Adventure Cycling tour out-and-about! How cool to have run into my second ACA tour while on this trip!

This was the "family fun" tour from the Erie Canal to Niagara Falls. The group was on their second day of the tour. I met the tour leaders, Blue and Sue. (How nice to have leader names that rhyme!) We chatted about our trips, touring in general, and guiding tours. It's always great to build the network in the touring community.

Blue & me.

I had expected that the trail along the Erie Canal would be nicely shaded. 'Twas not the case, except for the few final miles I rode before I exited the trail.

The route started to get hilly as soon as I got off the Erie Canal. Woohoo!

As you may know, I can't stand riding rollers. They are pointless. But I love me some mountainous terrain!

It seems that the northeastern states don't really comply with any "grade" rules; they just pave roads right over the hills, rather than gently winding the roads through the hills, as they do in the west.

I'd say that tackling the hills out east is more like riding a bunch of mini-mountains. Which totally floats my boat. Sure, you're throwing it into an easy gear and doing lots of pedal rotations to get up to the tops of the hills. But once you get to the top, you are rewarded with a nice, long, refreshing coast downhill. I love that!

Suffice it to say, I'm really enjoying the riding in New York.

Arriving on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Tonight I am camping in the yard of a Warm Showers host in Sodus. He is away for the night, but he offered his yard for my tent and his hose for water. Tonight is an opportunity to recharge my introversion batteries and to rest my body from a few back-to-back days of long riding.