Thanks for reading my travelogue! If you haven't read Part 1 (Albany to Port Byron), you can find it here.
Next up: riding from Port Byron to Buffalo!
Day 6: Port Byron to Pittsford
(58 miles, 889 ft of gain, Strava Map)
The following morning after spending a night at my Warmshowers (WS) hosts' home, I met Mary for breakfast around 7:30 AM. Equipped with mugs twice the size of a normal one, she brewed a giant batch of coffee from locally roasted beans (yum!). I was extra thankful when she also whipped up a delicious plate of scrambled eggs/cottage cheese with buttered toast. The two of us had a pleasant conversation while observing the spectacular avian activity at their impressive bird feeder condos–– seriously, I hope to have this setup someday. A lovely way to start the morning!
Mary left for work and I followed shortly behind; however, I had no idea at the time that I'd be returning in a few weeks to stay with them again to see the eclipse! When my fiancé and I discovered the path of the solar eclipse was going to be passing right through Port Byron, we devised a plan to bike from our home to theirs to catch the path of totality (more about this later). The Rileys were graciously accepting of this plan!
About 4 miles into the morning ride, I was thwarted by a bridge closure: concrete blocks and a metal gate barricaded the crossing. I considered backtracking and finding another way, though I wasn't convinced that the other route would be any better. So, I called Mike and he said with enough confidence that I could still get across just fine (the bridge wasn't compromised and at risk of falling into the river–– my main concern). So, I wrangled my bike over the blocks and gate on both sides and continued on my merry way. Crisis adverted.
The path through the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge was grassy and muddy for a short while before I rejoined the gravel road which would turn into a winding "Wilderness Drive" that one could drive and birdwatch. I made note of an area that 1) cars were not allowed on, 2) that was in between two beautiful and quiet ponds, and 3) that would be a perfect place to watch the eclipse and observe wildlife behavior. So, when we returned on April 8th (cycling from the Rileys to this location), I captured a video that showcased the darkness slowly creeping over the refuge, highlighting the growing decibels of the frog choir as they rang in the false evening. It was epic, though cloudy.
The day grew hotter as I cycled through Clyde on my way to Lyons. A section of the route was at low elevation next to the canal which caused the pathway to be flooded at times. In that same area, there were a few abandoned structures with vulgar/ threatening graffiti. A dog was barking at me from inside one of them, suggesting someone potentially living there. I biked as quickly as I could through this section, and shortly after, I made it to Lyons!
Important note: in Lyons, there are WS hosts named Anne and Carl Wick. While I didn't stay with them today, my fiancé and I had in November. We absolutely enjoyed spending time with them, and I would 100% recommend them for anyone who is ending the night in this town. We had long conversations about regenerative farming and having a lifestyle that promotes locally grown, produced, and made products. We found them so inspiring that we can't wait to go back and help them on their farm!
I paused along the canal in town to take some pictures next to the murals (something I enjoy doing) when a man approached me and introduced himself as Mark. I quickly discovered that he is heavily involved in the production and funding for most of the murals on the canal. Naturally, I gushed about how much I loved them, and we took a picture together, chatting about the history of some of the murals. He snapped a photo of my bike, which he says he will include in the next mural he has to paint. I'm so excited about the prospect of seeing my bike painted on a wall! Positive interactions like this are so uplifting, and it only encourages me further to make time to have conversations with strangers.
The rest of the ride was very beautiful and easy-going. Energized by kind people and beautiful weather, I decided to bypass my originally planned stopping location in Macedon and instead head to Pittsford where a WS family of 4 was ready to welcome me last minute. This would mean a ~60 mile day, but the following day into Rochester would be shorter and less stressful for catching the Amtrak back home. Hurrah!
When I got to Macedon by 2 PM (validating my decision to continue further), an older woman named Carol, donned in all pink with a pink bicycle, rode alongside me. We cycled together the whole way to Fairport, chatting all the while. I learned that she was from Burlington, Vermont and was a doctor who had recently retired, spending most of her life helping people with opiate addictions. She was in town biking a part of the canal today because her daughter was about to have a baby, soon to make her a first time Grandma! The head wind was really strong, but biking with Carol and having excellent conversations helped me forget this.
When Carol and I split ways in Fairport, the route became increasingly busy with people recreating. This charming town and lively atmosphere seemed like a beautiful place to live and dine out, and I made a mental note to come back here one day.
Pittsford wasn't much further past Fairport, but I missed my turn and backtracked to the WS house which was located down a sleepy, suburban road with stunning homes and perfectly manicured lawns. I was greeted by Kevin with his wild head of curly hair. To me, he resembled Paul Simon, especially when he put on his flat, black cap, and he immediately welcomed me into their home, showing me to the spare bedroom with a private bathroom (score!). His wife, Erica, arrived home shortly after. Talking to Erica and Kevin was completely effortless. They are both friendly, gracious, incredibly intelligent, and engaging, and I only wish I could've spent more time with them.
For dinner, they kindly treated me to dinner back in Lockport at a really hip Mexican restaurant named Lulu (coffee shop by morning/ restaurant by night). Erica and Kevin are well known by the owners there, and I quickly understood why they frequented the place–– the food was so dang good! Later in the evening, Kevin picked up a couple quarts of the famous Pittsford ice cream, which I do agree with Erica is absolutely delicious.
Today was one of the best days I've ever had on tour, all thanks to the unexpected and kind interactions with strangers. Talk to people you don't know, y'all.
Day 6: Pittsford to Rochester
(16 miles, 295 ft of gain, Strava map)
The morning was easy, and I left around 9 AM after Erica made me a giant cup of jo.
Not long into the ride, I entered a bicycle dismount pedestrian area, and I (gently and slowly) rode my bike through. An older woman called out to me, and I was prepared to defend my egregious actions when she simply expressed interest when seeing my panniers. Our conversation lasted no more than 5 minutes, yet it ended in her tears and a strong hug as she encouraged adventure and wished me well.
Does being alone encourage people to approach me to talk? If only people talked to strangers more often, the world would be a better place.
Moseying towards downtown and passing the University of Rochester, I cycled through a very lovely park and crossed several bridges. With more extra time this morning, I had intentions to bike around Rochester to go to the cemetery to visit a few famous graves, see the Susan B. Anthony house, and check out High Falls. But honestly, the roads through Rochester were not very bike friendly: no bike lanes and crushed glass had me riding the sidewalk as much as I could. I couldn't pass up stopping by the I Love Roch sign, but rather than being a tourist any longer, I beelined to the Amtrak station and sped back to Syracuse.
This is the end of my solo adventure which was one for the books. Next up: the final finish to Buffalo!
Day 7: Rochester to Pendleton
(67.5 miles, 545 ft of gain, Strava map)
Fast forward a few weeks because of work and weather constraints. Uri and I had wheels on the ground in Rochester ready to finish strong. We woke up an hour later than we wanted to because I didn’t set the alarm correctly, so we didn’t make it (by car) to Rochester until around 9:45. We parked slightly west of downtown at a public parking spot by a hospital, and then quickly navigated to the canal route.
Within seconds of facing west, we were blasted by headwind. Not just any headwind but unrelenting headwind that lasted all day long with an average of 16 mph and gusts up to 30. We were biking our strongest yet only managed to move 8-9 mph on flat terrain. It very seriously felt like a fight from the beginning, and it wouldn’t ease until after 6 PM. At about 40 minutes into the trip, I was pretty certain I didn’t want to do this ride today. Now it made sense why people bike west to east!
Our saving grace was the author John Green. We quickly plugged into an audiobook, Looking for Alaska, which would distract us for the next 4 hours as we took turns biking in the front, allowing the person in the back some wind relief. Uri has been on a John Green kick for a few months, and I can understand why–– JG has such a talent for word smithing! I also really recommend his podcast Anthropocene Reviewed if you want to appreciate random things on Earth.
Fortunately, when not distracted by the book or thinking of the wind, we actually were able to admire the beautifully blossoming flowers, tiny leaves budding on the trees, and sunshine glimmering from the canal water. Some moody clouds rolled by, dropping a couple rain drops but passing on to more eastern locations. All things considered, it was really a stunning day.
The route from Rochester to Buffalo was also very straightforward, and the canal conditions were a crushed gravel for most of the day. I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be if we were heading East, riding the tailwind with all the other cyclists we saw. It was hard to not feel jealousy as our legs burned while moving pathetically slow.
In Albion, we pulled into town in search of a sandwich for lunch. Most places looked closed but we located Rise and Grind, the nearest open cafe. With a hip yet antique aesthetic, we were looking forward to getting something hot to drink and resting, nearly halfway done with the day. Unfortunately, the two egg paninis we bought were objectively awful. The grease (or something else?) made them unpalatable. I ate half of one, but Uri couldn’t bear to stomach any (later we chucked them in the woods). I fought nausea for an hour or two afterwards while biking.
By the time we reached Lockport, we completed the audiobook and moved onto a fabulously well-crafted episode of the Moth, a storytelling podcast, which had us laughing out loud and immensely engaged. I recommend checking it out! Lockport was a really cool town to cycle through, with older architecture that still had the quaintness of not being completely forgotten. There was a really fun section of riding between waterfalls on our right and the wide canal on our left, and we both agreed that this town was one of the highlights of our weekend trip.
Not long after Lockport was Pendleton, the zone of our headwind reprieve. We paused at an ice cream shop to refill water and take a much needed break before finishing for the day.
Two to three miles later, we were hunting for a place to pitch our tent. Typically, there are many places on the side of the canal path that have a wide berth for a tent to be stealthily placed. I've heard some people say that it's hard/not reliable to find places to tent along the canal, but that's totally inaccurate (and usually from the mouth of credit card campers). Trust me, there are so many places to pitch a tent that we don't even plan ahead where we are going to sleep (unless we've established a WS). But, we also have a very low bar for comfort. With that said, we were getting within striking zone of being in suburbia, and we wanted to be out of sight of houses to avoid any disturbances. As predicted, it didn’t take long before we successfully found a spot right off trail with woods on either side. As the sun was setting, we pitched our tent, ate some canned chili and oranges, and burrowed into our nylon cave.
A successful yet very tiring day.
Day 8: Lockport to Buffalo
(31.6 miles, 269 ft of gain, Strava map)
Last day of riding The Big Ditch!
We woke at 6 AM, though I had a tough time sleeping. Either it was a full moon or a streetlight made it appear as if it were always close to dawn, and I found myself glancing at my watch multiple times throughout the night thinking the alarm would go off soon. On top off that, the soreness from the previous day made it difficult to get comfortable (back and neck are reawakening for the season, youch). But we were packed and ready to go around 7 AM.
But, first thing's first: coffee! In the first 5 miles, the golden arches of McDo were the first to welcome us, and we scarfed down hot lattes and eggs, catching up on wifi things before continuing on.
Compared to the day before, we had a piece of cake day of riding. The greenway leading into Buffalo was superb: two perfectly paved lanes for bikes, one lane for walkers/joggers. Skyscrapers started to appear in the distance, and we jammed to 90s music, inspired by the playlist at McDonalds. The muddy brown of the canal began to open and widen, at some point transitioning into the Niagara.
Eventually the buttery greenway ended and we entered bike lanes alongside other cars again. The bike lanes would also often be littered with trash, but… at least there were still bike lanes. With very little wind or traffic early Sunday morning, we made it to Front Park and had a mild celebration at finishing The Big Ditch, under the stony gaze of the naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry (is Hazard his trail name or something?)
Since I bought Amtrak tickets without googling the Buffalo stations, I accidentally purchased tickets for the station 10 miles East across Buffalo (heh, dumb). We cycled as quickly as we could through the rather sleepy but still littered neighborhoods, periodically admiring an old church or other impressive architecture peppered about the city. Again, very thankful it was Sunday morning and traffic was low.
Then voila! We made it to the station with an hour to spare, speeding back to Rochester and then driving 2 hrs back home.
Closing thoughts
Riding the Erie Canal has been a grand adventure, and it's particularly special because it's in our own backyard. I feel that I am learning New York very well, and having this experience has really enhanced my appreciation of the state. Taking on a long route like this in spring had its challenges (unpredictable cold rain, near freezing temperatures, snow, etc.), and downsides (less people to interact with, the museums are closed). I would certainly do this route again when the weather is warmer and when the museums are open because there is a lot of rich history that we missed out on. Also, while the headwinds weren't terrible as a whole over the 8 days, when they were bad, they were really bad. If I did this again (and I hope to, at least part of it), I would ride west to east, but only for a change of pace (not because of weather fear mongering).
If you're biking the Erie Canal and you're passing through Syracuse, reach out! I'd love to get lunch or ride with you.
Also, stay tuned for our upcoming video!
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