To Alexandria Bay

July 23, 2021

So to take all the suspense out of the tale right away, we aren’t going to Chrissy Beanz for breakfast after all. When I wake up it’s not even six yet, and Rachael’s already been up for awhile. Chrissy’s place doesn’t open for an hour yet, and we discuss whether to walk the mile there or get the bikes out. In the meantime I have a first cup of coffee and Rachael keeps thinking. She surprises me by suggesting that we just skip the Beanz, have a snack now, and second breakfast later somewhere up the road.

A second second breakfast! I’m in immediately of course. I never really warmed to breakfast at that CB place anyway - maybe it was the awkward distance, or the limited menu, or just the dumb name. We pull up the map to look for candidates and find Clayton, a small resort town thirty miles into our 41 mile ride. We find a promising spot overlooking the water which looks great. It’s off route a bit, but that just adds appeal - we needed to round up our distance anyway.

I finish my coffee, have a bagel and peanut butter, Rachael has some instant oatmeal, and then we pack up. While Rachael finishes up I head down to the basement to retrieve the bikes. We’re in only the second place of the tour that won’t let us bring the bikes inside, which is wierd. It’s a huge place (a converted barracks from the war years, I think), our room is huge, and there are only a few guests. Bikes inside? Uh, uh - maybe you could just lean them against the wall outside, she suggests last night when I ask?

They’re inside anyway though, tee hee. When looking for a likely wall with an overhang (none exists), I peek in the back door on the basement floor and see a laundry room with a perfect, bike sized nook right next to it. No one will ever notice, so we put them there and lock them together.

And they’re still there I disturbed this morning. I unlock the bikes and roll them outside, load mine up, but still Rachael hasn’t arrived. Maybe she got lost? I head back up to the room and she’s just about to leave. She’s got a problem though - she’s done something to her back. It really hurts, she can’t really carry her panniers, she’s not sure she can even ride. Very concerning - she’s never complained about her back before.

We feed her a couple of ibuprofen, I carry her bags down from the room to the bike and load it up, and then she tests out the ride. It hurts, but she thinks it might work if we go slow. Good thing we have a flat, easy day ahead of us.

Leaving Sackets Harbor. Did I mention yet that it’s a perfect day for a ride? It’s only about sixty degrees, not much wind, and the sky is perfect too as you can see.

About a mile into the ride and the news is good. We’ve been biking slowly, rolling down the flat, empty road at about nine or ten mph, Rachael setting the pace, when I notice that our rate is gradually inching up. Another mile and she stops to adjust the camera and I ask her how she’s doing. It still hurts, but is getting better as she rides. Looks like we’ll be fine.

And we are fine. Three hours later we roll in to Clayton, biking at a nearly normal pace. Even the two short climbs haven’t really slowed her down. Her back is still stiff, but not like the start of the day - riding has improved things, as often happens in my long experience with stiff backs. Which is wonderful news, obviously. For her, for us, and also for the fact that we would have missed this delightful ride otherwise.

Crossing another Mill Creek, for about the tenth time this tour. How many Mill Creeks are there in the world, do you suppose?

Just a fence I liked. I don’t remember seeing one with a build quite like this.

Crossing the Black River and dropping into the village of Dexter. One of the two climbs of the day is ahead on the other side, a 62 footer at 4%. A good first test, which Rocky aces.

There’s a small hydroelectric dam and falls on the Black River at Dexter. It’s been here since the early 1800’s.

Today’s ride is much more interesting and enjoyable than yesterday’s. For one thing, the shoulder is adequate.

The photo doesn’t quite capture how pretty this stretch was. The road is margined by a long, three colored ribbon: chicory, Queen Anne’s lace, yellow whatever.

A pretty scene on Fox Road. Nice, but no foxes. Can’t have it all, I guess.

No foxes, but this is very nice. There must be water around.

Near La Fargeville we pass this pair working the fields. We’ve seen caution signs here and there to watch for horse-drawn buggies, but this is the first we’ve seen on this tour.

And, a hundred yards down the road, here’s the second.

Another field of haystacks! Of course - I should have made the connection yesterday. Amish country.

Barn of the day. You don’t see many with blue highlights for some reason. Goes nicely with today’s sky.

Video sound track: Juvenescence, by Yasmin Williams

Just past eleven we arrive in Clayton and make our way to the waterfront to Bella’s Bar. It’s been a spectacularly pretty ride getting here, but the meal is really the highlight of the day. We’re seated at a table outdoors on the back patio, with a view overlooking the near channel of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It’s a terrific place for a meal - I have a heaping pile of corned beef hash and Rachael has the scramble of the day - and we both enjoy the amazing, warm freshly baked bread while we sit and watch small boats and cormorants pass by under the comfortably warm sun. Idyllic.

A second second breakfast! What did we do to deserve this? Oh, I remember - we’re celebrating 2,000 miles!

This is only the near half of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It’s split here by a string of long islands, with the primary channel and the international border on the other side.

Bella’s is an amazing place, for breakfast or a later meal. If we lived here we’d be down all the time, I’m sure. Clayton as a whole is very impressive too - a small place, touristy but not overly so. Knowing what we know now I wish we had booked ourselves into this town instead. We’re staying in Alexandria Bay though, another resort town twelve miles down the seaway - twelve flat, quite fast miles with today’s tailwind.

When we arrive in Alexandria Bay we’re a bit disappointed. It’s really spoiled by tourism, at least on this weekend. It’s the premier spot for visiting the Thousand Islands, as this part of the seaway is called. a paddle wheeler depart for tours on the river to cruise past the islands, there’s lots of lodging, tons of restaurants and bars crammed into a small town. And it’s the weekend, and a gorgeous one at that, so the place is packed.

We’re here for two nights, staying at the very basic Ship Motel. We’re here for two nights because it’s the weekend, and two night stays were mandatory at every place in town. We’d rather be in Clayton, but we’re lucky to be staying here at all - it’s a good thing we booked a room long ago, because the town is sold out.

They call this area the Thousand Islands for the obvious reason, as you’ll see if you look at the map. The tourism guide says there are actually 1,864 islands in the Seaway here, and then adds more detail. To qualify a for the count an island must be above water 365 days of the year and support at least one living tree. Tom Thumb Island, with exactly one tree and only a few square feet of land above the water line, barely makes the cut.

Also, none of these islands is split by the international border. The border zigzags between them here, so that each island lies entirely on one side of the border or the other.

Also, they’re nearly all privately owned.

Here’s an island, one of the smaller ones: Casino Island, right in front of Alexandria Bay. Open to the public, and connected by a small bridge.

Here’s another just upriver: Cherry Island. Large enough to have a boat dock and a half dozen elite properties.

Sunken Rock Light, on Bush Island. Obviously not one of the elite 1,864, but I’ll bet it could have been. They probably cut it’s only tree down to clear space for the light.

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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 1,200’; for the tour: 2,039 miles, 60,100’

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 2,039 miles (3,281 km)

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Kelly IniguezWe are adopting your weather aware strategy in departure. It has been raining heavily with strong winds all morning. We are going to a late breakfast and then checking out. I've never left at noon on a 67 mile day, today I will! I hope the day will go well with a full stomach. I"m thinking an omelet instead of oatmeal?

I have occasional back pain. I had some issues at the beginning of the school year, too much time in the bus seat. I discovered if I ride a minimum of ten miles a day, that kept the pain away. I'm happy to hear riding helped loosen up Rachael's back also!
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3 years ago