Cycling the Erie Canal - Day 2 - Medina to Pittsford

Today was another great day on the trail. 53.4 miles completely on the canal trail from Medina to Pittsford. The section from Albion to Genesee Valley Park is a section I've ridden before, and the section from Brockport to Long Pond Rd.  I've ridden many, many times!  But the section from Medina to Albion was new to me and there were many things to see. 

My friend, Denise, met me in Spencerport and rode with me to Genesee Valley Park, about 12.5 miles. It was so nice of her and it was great to have a familiar face to ride with for a bit. All the cyclists here are so friendly and nice, but many are here in couples or groups of some sort, and I'm here by myself, so I appreciated riding with a friend for a while. 

That being said, I am so enjoying this whole experience!  I love soaking up the "ride culture" and being part of all the activities in this huge communal campground. Now, no one in my family should take that to mean I now like camping or want to routinely go on camping trips, but I'm happy and comfortable and there is a great deal to be said for fully immersing myself in this complete experience. And I can safely say this now that the rain has stopped and my gear and I are dry!

Here below are some photo highlights of my day. Tomorrow it's on to Seneca Falls. 

Some sights to see in and around Medina

This great waterfall

This rather large apple

Some great architecture and Medina sandstone

The only road that goes under the canal

Other Sights Along the Canal

The Chamber of Commerce and some Merchants set up an unofficial rest stop and information booths in Albion and in other villages. One private family even set out coolers of water at the edge of their yard along the canal. These pictures are in Albion. 

This adorable bike shop, Trailside Bikes, in Hulberton

At the Holley rest stop

Brockport

Spencerport, where my biking buddy, Denise met up with me and we rode together to Genesee Valley Park

The great rest stop that the City of Rochester put on at Genesee Valley Park

Some additional sights between Genesee Valley Park and Pittsford

This guy had just caught a huge fish in Pittsford at Shoen Place.

Some Sights in Our Tent City

My wet tent upon my arrival in the rain. It did stop not too long after so everything dried out. 

The shower truck. This was a new experience for me, but it feels so good to take a shower after a day of riding, I was up for it. Not too bad!

Some jugglers. First with regular pins and later in the evening with fire. 

I love the way these folks are using their bikes to hold up their clotheslines!

The new type of campfire we all sit around in the evening!  I meet the same people here each night. 

Cycling the Erie Canal - Day 1 - Buffalo to Medina

What a fantastic first day I had today, despite the little downpour of rain I had leaving Lockport!  It started off with everyone gathered at The Nichols School in Buffalo. After breakfast and a welcome, we all hit the road. How cool it was to have a mass start like that, with the Buffalo police manning all the intersections for us. We rode down to Lake Erie and along the Niagara River for a while and then met up with the canal. We were in and off the canal trail with some riding on roads too. It was cloudy, and sometimes breezy, but a nice temperature and mostly dry. 

In Lockport I visited the Canal Discovery Center with a short multimedia presentation about canal history and the "Flight of Five" canal locks in Lockport that raised (or lowered) boats 50 feet up the Niagara Escarpment. Then I also toured the Lockport Caves. This was a manmade cave through which water from the canal was run, to use hydro power to run a series of factories. We actually entered the cave through one of the huge pipes that brought water down to a water wheel that powered mill stones to grind wood pulp. This was a very interesting, very cool tour. I had heard about the Lockport Cave but had no idea why it was created or what it was used for. 

Leaving the cave tour is when I hit some rain, but it only rained heavily for about 20 minutes, then was a very light drizzle for a bit, and by the time I hit Gasport, it was no longer raining. And by the time I made it to the afternoon rest stop in Middleport, the sun was peeking out. From there it was a short distance to our tent city in Medina and a refreshing shower and dinner. There is even a cycle powered ice cream truck and a smoothie-mobile here in the tent city!

This evening there was a great presentation about canal history and now I'm sitting in a cool breeze by my tent listening to music from the live performers in the center of the tent city. Once I finish this blog post, I'm going to hit the recharging station to charge up my phone. 

I'm trying to be very good about eating regularly and drinking lots of water as I go. Both are kind of hard for me, but I know how important they are so I'm trying to make a conscious effort. And by the time I got to dinner, I was very hungry and at a full plate!  At dinner I sat with a very sociable 12 year old who is also making his first Erie Canal Tour. He is from Lansing, Michigan and is riding with his grandmother with his grandfather manning one of the sag wagons. We had a terrific conversation while we ate!

Below are some pictures from my first day. Not sure if I'll be able to resize them using the Blogger app on my phone, so they may be large. Sorry about that. 

Cycling the Erie Canal 2014

Well, I've been away from my blog for a while, but I haven't been away from my bike!  I've ridden 795 miles since May 1st, enjoying commuting by bike to work and other places, riding solo and with friends, organizing a weekly group ride on Fridays from the end of April until the end of June, enjoying the outdoors and the sunshine, and preparing for the Cycling the Erie Canal Bike Tour.  After looking forward to it and eagerly anticipating it for the past year, the time has finally come!  Sunday morning, at 8:00 AM, I will be on my way to a great new adventure!

I am all at once incredibly excited and a bit apprehensive!  I've never done anything like this before, and to set out on a grand new adventure like this, without a friend or family member with me, is definitely outside my comfort zone.  But I certainly won't be alone!  I know I'll make new friends.  There will be so many new experiences and I've made my mind up to just relax and go with the flow and put my whole self into it, take advantage of every opportunity, and see where it takes me.  

I'm going to try to blog each night about that day's adventures and share some pictures as well, assuming I can get my phone charged up each night sufficiently.  So stay tuned for more!

On the Road Again

Well, spring has been very elusive this year!  Immediately following my ride on March 7th, we fell prey to weeks and weeks of more cold, snow, wind, and generally very wintery weather!  So, no outdoor riding for the rest of March for me.  I did manage to log 217 miles indoors on my trainer though, so all was not lost.

Today, April 1st, I finally got back outside!  It was a little warmer, in the low 50s.  I joined 2 friends and we did laps in a senior housing tract in the Village of Hilton.  Just a nice easy ride with great people!  We clocked about 8 miles together.  Then, as my friends went home, I too headed back towards my house, but being outdoors on a bike again was too much to resist.  So I took off on the familiar village bike route and did another 5 miles on my own.  I can't begin to put into words how great it felt to be outdoors riding again, minus all my winter gear!

I've signed the 30 Days of Biking online pledge to ride my bike every day during the month of April.  I've also registered for the National Bike Challenge again, which begins in May.  I'm so hoping the weather keeps improving so that the majority of my miles can be outside miles!

Enjoying a Spring Day

Today was a glorious day that makes one believe that spring just might really be around the corner!  It was 45° F and sunny, with no wind.  The roads were dry and snow free.  It felt so good to be outside riding instead of inside on my trainer!  First time in 2 weeks!  And the best part was being able to dress light weight.  Instead of my winter riding gear, I was able to wear just a thin turtleneck with my new bike jersey (that I won from The National Bike Challenge) over it.  I wore jeans and sneakers and didn't need gloves or a balaclava or a skull cap under my helmet.

I had one of my longest rides this winter, nearly 13 miles and I increased my average speed by almost 2 MPH!  And since this morning I did my longest indoor ride to date (8.35 miles), I'm feeling just a little bit proud of myself today!

Please spring, keep these days coming!  I ache to go for longer and longer rides outside in the warmth and the sunshine!