Stats for
the day:
Depart Verona Beach State Park, NY 8:00 a.m. Arrive Weedsport, NY 5:00 p.m.
Trip
mileage – 493.7 miles
Today’s
mileage – 58.13 miles
Time on
bike –5:05:01
Average
Speed – 11.4 mph
Max speed –
29.5 mph
What a difference a day makes. After yesterdays woes of finding a bike shop and then waiting to get the fix we needed, today proved productive in mileage and all without injury/breakdown. Oops, I forgot that Nola's shoes did break, so a trip to Payless is in the cards for tomorrow.
We left Verona Beach State Park under clear skies and no wind. A thankful respite from yesterday's gale force breezes. A seven mile trip to McDonald's got us both breakfast and WiFi in order to post the late entries to the blogs. Thank you for your patience, as we don't always get Internet access where we camp.
When we made it to the trail, we had twenty five glorious miles of tranquil but dusty path before we were dumped back on surface roads. At one point, a young man passed us and literally left us in his dust. One can now imagine how the wagons at the end of the wagon trains felt while forging west in the old days. Eating dust is gritty, but does provide a source of very course fiber. Tune in to later posts to see how that comes out!
As we traveled along the old Erie Canal, you could almost see the horse drawn boats, pulling passengers along the calm waters as they lounged on deck in the sun, or took to cooler spots of shade. The laughter and merriment would ring through the woods and fields, mixing with the dull thuds of the hooves of teams of horses on shore. What an experience that must have been. A lazy inland cruise of sorts.
The Trail ended, for the time being, in Syracuse, NY. With directions provided by Google Maps, we managed to navigate through city streets, construction, and traffic, all while playing leapfrog with a city bus that seemed to stop at almost every corner. But the driver never buzzed us, so that was nice. Our route took us by a very beautiful Cathedral in downtown Syracuse. A very imposing structure.
Just the other side of the city line lies the town of Solvay, NY. There we found a comfortable little gazebo nestled in a manicured park, a perfect place for lunch. We were lucky because it had power outlets in the gazebo so we could re-charge the phone and computer before heading out again. Just a bit down the road we stopped at the local fire station to refill water, but no one was home. Must have been out doing tankers or something. Anyway, a local Sheriff Deputy told us that the local youth center was just around the corner and up the hill. We could get water there. It's always up a hill! This one wasn't too bad though.
Back on the road again, and we made it to our next section of Trail that lasted for fifteen miles. During this ride we came upon a small, well kept memorial rest stop dedicated to the memory of a local man, Bryan McNeill. He died in January 2010 of an Aortic Aneurism. What a lovely spot to memorialize a distance runner, which he was. We enjoyed the spot quite a bit.
We finished up the day by rolling into Riverforest Park Campground, setting up the tent and cleaning the bike from all the trail dust accumulated over the day. Knock on wood, we enjoyed a day of carefree biking and look forward to more to come.
Now, its a few beers at the pub, a cheesecake (or two) for desert, and posting the blogs. Tomorrow is another day of riding with a plan for 61 miles, and a stop at the shoe store so Nola can get some retreads for her feet.
What a difference a day makes. After yesterdays woes of finding a bike shop and then waiting to get the fix we needed, today proved productive in mileage and all without injury/breakdown. Oops, I forgot that Nola's shoes did break, so a trip to Payless is in the cards for tomorrow.
We left Verona Beach State Park under clear skies and no wind. A thankful respite from yesterday's gale force breezes. A seven mile trip to McDonald's got us both breakfast and WiFi in order to post the late entries to the blogs. Thank you for your patience, as we don't always get Internet access where we camp.
When we made it to the trail, we had twenty five glorious miles of tranquil but dusty path before we were dumped back on surface roads. At one point, a young man passed us and literally left us in his dust. One can now imagine how the wagons at the end of the wagon trains felt while forging west in the old days. Eating dust is gritty, but does provide a source of very course fiber. Tune in to later posts to see how that comes out!
As we traveled along the old Erie Canal, you could almost see the horse drawn boats, pulling passengers along the calm waters as they lounged on deck in the sun, or took to cooler spots of shade. The laughter and merriment would ring through the woods and fields, mixing with the dull thuds of the hooves of teams of horses on shore. What an experience that must have been. A lazy inland cruise of sorts.
Just the other side of the city line lies the town of Solvay, NY. There we found a comfortable little gazebo nestled in a manicured park, a perfect place for lunch. We were lucky because it had power outlets in the gazebo so we could re-charge the phone and computer before heading out again. Just a bit down the road we stopped at the local fire station to refill water, but no one was home. Must have been out doing tankers or something. Anyway, a local Sheriff Deputy told us that the local youth center was just around the corner and up the hill. We could get water there. It's always up a hill! This one wasn't too bad though.
Back on the road again, and we made it to our next section of Trail that lasted for fifteen miles. During this ride we came upon a small, well kept memorial rest stop dedicated to the memory of a local man, Bryan McNeill. He died in January 2010 of an Aortic Aneurism. What a lovely spot to memorialize a distance runner, which he was. We enjoyed the spot quite a bit.We finished up the day by rolling into Riverforest Park Campground, setting up the tent and cleaning the bike from all the trail dust accumulated over the day. Knock on wood, we enjoyed a day of carefree biking and look forward to more to come.
Now, its a few beers at the pub, a cheesecake (or two) for desert, and posting the blogs. Tomorrow is another day of riding with a plan for 61 miles, and a stop at the shoe store so Nola can get some retreads for her feet.
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