Starting Point: Holley, NY
Ending Point: Sodus Point, NY
Via: Brockport, Spencerport, Rochester, Pittsford, Fairport, Macedon, Palmyra, Walworth, Williamson and Pultneyville
Mileage: 81
Time: 7:56
Mph: 10.2
Terrain: flat (first 50 miles), very hilly (last 31)
Vertical climbing: 1,442
Temperature High: 74
Temperature Low: 57
Lunch: tuna salad plate
Dinner: Cajun fish
Weather: warm, sunny
Lodging: South Shore RV Park (Camping)
Cumulative Mileage: 3,669
Miles to Go: 431
Projected Distance: 4,100
Days completed: 75 (including 8 rest days)
Distance Completed: 89%
Days to Go: 12
To pledge:
http://pledgejohn.lungne.org
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| Erie Canal and Tranquility |
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| Sunrise on the Canal |
In the 2 days of biking on the Canal, it was clear that it had very different characters and manifestations. At first it is a somewhat narrow very built-up waterway with not many people at all on it. As we approached Rochester, it changed to a paved surface with all kinds of active people on it: in-line skaters, walkers, runners, cyclists and speed walkers. At one point Joe and I met a small group of approximately 12-year olds boys riding small bicycles and smoking some sort of drug. Further along as we approached Pittsford there were a lot more people as the path was bordered by restaurants and gardens. As we left that area, the canal became so wide that it resembled a river and the path itself was tree-covered a great deal. It was like being on the Gandy Dancer bike path in Wisconsin again.
Dean and I were riding together once I caught up to him at a fruit and vegetable stand I remembered from the last expeditions. This was a long day, the longest of the trip actually, and Dean and I were riding in the dusk. The upside to that was that the temperature was cool and the downside was that it was perhaps just a bit too cool.
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| Cycling on the Canal |
We saw orchard after orchard (peaches, apples, plums, pears) as we rode along. We arrived exhausted at about 8:30pm. The speedier riders in our group had scouted out places to eat in town (about 1.5 miles away up and down hills). So, not long after parking the bike and setting up the tent, it was time to climb back on the bike and go seek dinner.
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| Wooded Section |
The scene in downtown Sodus Point was wild; there were two outdoor bands across the street from one another competing for audience. We ate at Captain Jack’s Good-time Tavern which was packed with people. We had tremendous fortune though because somehow we were able to procure the manager, Barb, as our personal server. She seated us about 40 minutes before we would have otherwise been able to get seated! I told her about my ride for ALA and moments later she disappeared back inside (we were eating outside by the pier). A bit later she came back with a handful of pledges from all the servers. Not long after, the owner, Tom, showed up and asked me if I was raising money for lung cancer. I clarified that it was American Lung Association. He pulled out a huge wad of bills from his pocket and gave a very generous pledge on the spot.
His wife arranged for a photographer to take our picture as a group with a statue of Captain Jack, the Pirate and she had us sign our names on a blank wall in the restaurant where that picture would eventually be displayed.
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