May 22, 2021
Day 17: Fairfield, NY to Pittsford, NY
Lake Ontario, The Erie Canal, and a Little Rain Must Fall
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Climbing Today; 2,267 ft Climbing to Date; 41,142 ft
So many things happen during a full day of riding that are worth mentioning, but sometimes the day is so long and hard that by the time you clean up and get ready to write you have forgotten the finer points. It helps me to look at the map and try to remember each segment, and so; here we go.
I set the alarm for 05:30, but I was up 5 minutes ahead. We did NOT want a repeat of yesterday's heat and were anxious to start a bit earlier. Microwave instant oatmeal and hot chocolate was our breakfast fare, then we loaded the beasts and managed to depart at 06:45. This is our earliest departure to date; all it takes is 1 day of struggling in the heat to make you a believer in early starts. Here's a look back at the modest cabin we stayed in last night (per request from the wife who asked to see some of the places we stay).
We were hoping for the cyclist tradition of "second breakfast" today, but we weren't willing to venture far from our route because we knew we already had a long day ahead of us. Part of the day was going to consist of riding on the old Erie Canal towpath which has been converted into a long bicycle path, and most of this is surfaced with fine chat and gravel. We have relatively wide tires (for bicycles, that is), but still a soft surface is slower and requires more energy to overcome the additional rolling resistance, so we knew it was going to be at least a little more difficult. The point is that we didn't want to venture off our route for even 1 mile to find breakfast, because that would add 2 miles to an already challenging day. We were disappointed that no restaurants were available on our route through Wolcott - there was a pastry shop, but we wanted some "real" food and after the great cinnamon rolls made by the Amish girls yesterday we were tanked up on pastries - so we passed on that opportunity. Much of the route today went through farming country with lots of apple orchards and other agriculture.
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Leaving Wolcott we rolled on to Sodus Bay and began to circumnavigate the western side of it. A pickup truck slowed to talk with the window down, then the driver pulled in front and stopped so we could chat better. Joe had done a week-long tour with his daughter and was very interested in our journey. Joe lived about 1/2 mile ahead and told us which house was his and emphasized that if we thought of anything we needed by the time we reached his house to stop and let him know! Joe's kindness qualifies him as being what is known as a "trail angel," folks who are unusually kind and helpful to touring cyclists. Thanks Joe, we appreciated knowing that you were there for us if we needed help.
We worked our way towards Sodus Point. The homes here and all along the edge of the lake were particularly well cared for and had well maintained lawns. Here's a bit of unusual bicycle art; the blades attached to the spokes catch the breeze and make the wheels spin.
As we entered Sodus Point we stopped to use Google maps to find a restaurant - a passing motorist saw us stopped and asked if we needed help finding something, then directed us to a nearby breakfast restaurant with outdoor seating. Everybody was wanting to help us today! We tanked up at the eatery, then couldn't hardly get away because lots of folks wanted to know about our adventure and peppered us with questions - people see the bikes with gear and then notice that a couple of old guys are piloting them, and once we tell them we are attempting a coast-to-coast trip they really get curious. It's nice that folks care, but we were trying to get away without being impolite. The ride from Sodus Point to Pultneyvile was very nice, and every house had a well manicured deep green lawn. Here's some interesting history along the way;
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The Great Lakes are amazing - they appear to be an ocean because you can't see anything but the horizon. So while the rest of the U.S. may face water shortages, I don't think there will be any shortage of fresh water in this area of the country.
The remainder of the day mostly consisted of steady work - we had a ways to go and we were anxious to try and beat the storms. We stopped in Williamson for lunch, then cranked away and worked our way down to the Erie Canal. Doc had talked to a bike shop about his front brake not working properly, and they said they could attend to it if he could get there by 4:00pm. So Doc boogeyed on ahead and I followed behind. The shop Doc was headed for was in Fairport, so he needed to ride the canal trail to get there. I rode the trail as well, until the storm clouds developed. The trail is a packed chat/dirt/gravel surface along much of it's existence, and it was fine when dry but I didn't want to get caught on it when wet, so when the clouds developed I hopped onto Route 31 which is a bicycle route that parallels the canal. Anyway, Doc and I split up and met at the hotel later. We both got a bit wet today - Doc more so than me - when the rain started to get serious I was able to pull into a Lowe's and hide out under the lumber loading drive for a few minutes until it passed. The RV&E Bike Shop in Fairport took great care of Doc, and Andy from the shop was willing to stay late if necessary to be certain that a touring cyclist was taken care of, so here's a shout-out to those kind folks! This whole day was just one kind stranger after another offering us help - the folks in New York are OK by me! Here's a few shots from the remainder of the ride today.
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ACA Maps. FYI, the Northern Tier route we are following was mapped by the Adventure Cycling Association and consists of 11 fold-out maps. Each map contains about 14 map panels that average 28 miles in length; there are 153 map panels in total for the entire coast-to-coast trip. Because we read from left to right, map panel #1 starts on the west coast and map panel #153 is the final segment on the east coast. Since we are traveling east to west, we started with map panel # 153 and are counting our way down as we move westward. Hopefully you aren't confused by this explanation of the ACA map system. We are currently on map panel #131, so we have completed 22 map panels to date. I'm sure you will sleep better now that you understand this.
As usual, we will close out today with some video snippets, because, well, why not? Good night folks, we have an even longer day tomorrow so it's another early morn for us - what else is new?
Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 777 miles (1,250 km)
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3 years ago