June 25, 2023
Bonding over Wisdom Mosquitoes
Macedon to Middleport
Today was a day filled with variety. After a sound night’s sleep I slogged four miles into Fairport for breakfast. I ate at Riki’s, a family restsurant that I ate at in 2004 on my Erie Canal west-to- east tour. Country fried steak, home fries, two eggs over east, Texas toast, and coffee. It was the best diner breakfast I’ve had on this trip.
After eating I hit the canal trail. It was warm and muggy but that didn’t diminish the trail traffic one bit. When I wasn’t dodging people, I was riding through massive gaggles of Canada geese. There were goslings of every stage of development mixed in with the adults. The goslings seemed to be older the further west I went.
The path in most places was hard packed dirt with crushed limestone and geese poop on top. I’m serious. I’ve never seen so much geese poop.
Pittsford was the next town. It’s a bit bougie and the canal was very busy so bikes are shunted off to the town streets, past all the cute little shops.
After Pittsford came the great Rochester bypass. The trail is paved but in pretty nasty condition. Root heaves, some marked, some not, gave me plenty of jolts.
The canal trail mixes with other trails in this area so I am grateful that somebody thought to put yellow arrows on the pavement to keep through riders on course.
After Rochester the trail conditions improved. I waved at a passing packet boat. O watched rowers learning how to use a shell.
I stopped and talked with an eastbounder. Mike had started in Los Angeles. He was headed to the Gaspe Peninsula then onward by plane for two more months in Europe. I noticed that his hand had tremors. I didn’t ask but wondered if he had Parkinson’s.
I stopped in Spencerport for lunch and bought some water and food at a grocery store. The humidity has been rising and I didn’t realize that I was getting dehydrated.
The next couple of hours featured some wonderful riding on the canal. Ah, but storm clouds were looming ahead. After Brockport it started to rain.
And rain and rain. The trail surface became harder and harder to ride on. The added resistance of the wet limestone slowed me considerably.
A woman was waiting out the rain under a bridge. She told me of a new hotel near Medina just a few miles further. After a few more miles of slogging I looked it up on my phone. $150+ tax. Nope.
As luck would have it, a few miles later the rain came to an end. A tailwind started nudging me along. And the trail seemed to be dryer with each passing mile. The sun came out.
I met up with a group of two adults and three kids, aged 14, 13, and 10. They were riding the trail end to end, west to east. They had gotten soaked just like me and seemed to be having a blast. Having a childlike attitude helps on days like this.
After some very tough trail riding through Medina, I came to Middleport where five eastbounders were discussing next steps. One of them learned from a bridge attendant that riders could camp on the opposite side of the canal with electricity, bathrooms, and showers for a $20 donation.
By now, the ground had dried and the sun was still shining so I joined them in camp. It turns out they one of them had been through Wisdom, Montana the same day as Corey, Mark, and me last summer. He and his friends were riding east and we were riding west. He swears he remembers seeing us go by. None of us remember him but he knew details of the day: a stranded father and son trail riders, a bazillion mosquitoes. What a weird coincidence.
I had pizza for dinner and finally got in my tent at 9:30. It looks like tonight will be dark and stormy. And tomorrow will be stormy too. I booked a bed in a hostel in Buffalo for tomorrow night. But first I need to finish the canal and then slip into Ontario for some waterfall fun.
Oh, and The Mule hit 72,000 miles today.
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 1,931 miles (3,108 km)
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