Start: 7:29 AM

Finish: 6:33 PM  

Saddle Time: 7:41

Ascent: 150 feet

Descent:  116 feet

Miles: 92

Total Miles: 3,447

Highlight: Rode for about 10 miles with a couple guys I met along the way.

Lowlight: Getting a flat tire 3 miles from the end of a 92 mile day, in a mosquito infested swamp.

*Cyclemeter:  Follow this link to see the data I’m collecting with the cyclemeter app. You can see gps information, speed, elevation, distance, cadence and heart rate. Better viewed on a computer where it’s easier to play around with the graphs.

• I had about a 10 mile gap in my cyclemeter data, I forgot to restart after stopping. I corrected the miles and saddle time above, best I could.

A long distance bike tour definitely changes your perspective on may things riding.  For example, I’m staying in the same hotel as five years ago. I recall a somewhat long climb from the canal to the hotel. This year it was nothing, barely noticeable. Another example is heat, today was hot and humid but honestly I barely noticed, at least I had trees for cover unlike the 1,500 miles of plains riding. Lastly are bike problems. I had a flat tire three miles from the end of a 92 mile day. No big deal, I’ll just change the tube and move on.

While planning this day I underestimated the distance.  I was using Google to map town to town but didn’t notice Google choose a lot of road riding rather than sticking to the canal. I want to ride the canal which added another 6-8 miles, no big deal but it made a long day longer.

I started a little later than I wanted, I slept too late and had to get last nights blog post finished. I felt the humidity when I walked outside this morning, it’s going to be hot. I almost don’t care at this point, I rode through worse. I’m just hoping to keep my rain free record intact but with this weather it could shower at any time.

On my way out of Brockport I noticed patches of wet trail. I don’t think it rained last night but perhaps the dark clouds I saw ahead of me yesterday dumped rain on this area. I wasn’t a problem, just had to pay more attention on the trail.

Most of todays canal riding was like yesterday on stone dust trail. The first half was in good condition, wide and well maintained but the quality decreased later in the day, in some areas more like single track path, not terrible but slowed me down especially with patches of mud. 

Part of the reason I like riding the canal is the history, the trail has a load of historical markers and information.  I rode past most markers and sights since I did the ride five years ago but I should mention some historical context for the Erie Canal. The idea dates back to 1780 when building a canal to link Lake Erie with the Hudson River was first proposed but it wasn’t until 1807 that work began.  The canal would require a lot of engineering for the time since the Hudson River is about 600 feet lower in elevation than Lake Erie but the payoff would enable much quicker and cheaper shipment of grains and goods from the midwest to the east coast. The project had a lot of resistance, many called at “Clinton’s Folly” or “Clinton’s Big Ditch” after the governor of New York at the time. Funny how a Clinton was controversial even back then. Times haven’t changed, most people are not big picture, visionary thinkers and half the country still hates the Clintons. Once complete in 1825 transportation costs were reduced by 95% from pack animal transportation. Over the years the canal underwent a number of expansions, including digging new sections in areas to handle much larger boats. Now the vast majority of boats are pleasure craft but some commercial traffic still makes its way down the canal. 

I stopped and talked to a number of people along the way which added to the days length.  I rode for about 10 miles with a couple cyclists I met along the way who are riding the canal. I do prefer riding solo but at times it’s nice to ride and talk to other cyclists.  We had good a conversation over an hour until they stopped for lunch.  I really needed to keep riding as I still had fifty miles to go, and it’s getting hot.

I officially left the Northern Tier today, it went north in Palmyra into the Adirondacks before heading east to Maine while I will continued on the canal towards Albany. It’s been a long ride. The route moved onto road later in the day for about 20 miles. The roads either had good shoulder or little traffic, it was fine.  

About three miles from my destination I was back on canal path when I heard “click, click, click” with each revolution. I must have picked up something on my tire.  I stopped and found a big piece of metal sticking out which I removed and heard “hisss”. No problem, I have a brand new inner tube I bought at the last bike shop I visited plus I patched and saved my last two inner tubes. Unfortunately it was my back tire which is more of a pain to remove. I reinstalled the new tube, started to pump it up and the stem fell apart in my hands.  I’m guessing crappy spare parts that made their way onto the market in a global shortage of bike supplies. Thankfully I had a patched tube, hopefully it will hold.

I didn’t get to my motel until abut 6:30, just too late for me. It may sound plenty early but my evening routine of unpacking, taking a shower, getting food, writing and publishing this blog and instagram takes several hours. The next couple days will be shorter, I only have one more long day left.

Weedsport is basically an exit off the highway with little around for food.  I hate eating fast food for dinner but I have little option, tonight it’s Arby’s across the street and a couple tall boy beers from the gas station, should fuel me up for tomorrow. Thankfully my ride will be much shorter than today.  Still hoping the weather holds out, preserving my no rain record.