We arose early and got ourselves ready within an hour, faster than I
expected. After filling Camelbaks and bike tires, we ate a quick breakfast
(pancakes and bacon), and then headed to the school exit for a kickoff
ceremony and mass start. The first few miles were through the streets
of Buffalo and were pretty crowded with bicycles, but once we got onto the
bike path the riders spread out and it became easier. A short distance out
of town we came upon the Erie Canal and rode along it, or very close to it,
for the rest of the day.The bike path along the canal was paved for the
first half of the day, and at one point we rode right through a church
service (choir on the canal side of the path with the congregation on the
other side). The first rest stop came and we availed ourselves of the snacks
and water, then continued on. We spent about ½ hour at the locks in
Lockport, it's actually a double set and was really interesting to watch
them in action.
After leaving the locks at Lockport, we wound through the city streets
and encountered our best downhill of the day, almost hit 40 mph! A short
while later we came to the lunch stop along the canal and treated ourselves
to ice cream. We crossed back over the bridge, which like many bridges
across the canal raises up from both ends, rather than each side tilting up.
They even have a way for pedestrians to climb stairs and cross over when the
bridge is raised. Most of the rest of the ride was along the canal towpath
which has been turned into a bike/walking path. It's a finely crushed rock
surface, and while a bit rougher than paved, it was fine to ride on. We rode
off and on with a father and his 12-year-old daughter from New Jersey on a
Bike Friday tandem. We arrived in Medina and rode to the middle school,
arriving around 1:30. We leisurely setup the tent and got camp organized,
Liam was a great help as he got our towels, chairs, and made a valiant
effort at getting our heavy clothes bag.
After the tent was up we grabbed clean clothes and went inside to the
swimming pool, where we floated and splashed for about 45 minutes. A hot and
relaxing shower followed, and then we treated ourselves to smoothies
(provided by the same folks that provide the towels and chairs). Liam sat in
the sun and read for a while, and I went inside to try to connect to the
school network and the Internet. They wouldn't allow me to connect my laptop
so I sat in the gym (to plug into power) and worked on this page. Not the
most ergonomic position, so I repaired to the chair and am typing this as I
sit in the sun.
We headed into dinner about 5:30, it was pasta again, spaghetti with
meatballs and marinara, salad and brownies. It did taste really good though.
After dinner we sat in our chairs by the tent and read, while in the
background a band played a great selection of music. We'll head to bed
around 9:00 tonight in anticipation of a 53-mile day tomorrow.
|
.jpg "Ready for departure")
.jpg "We're off to see the Erie Canal!")
.jpg "Liam took this one...")
.jpg "Through the streets of Buffalo")
.jpg "Through the streets of Buffalo")
.jpg "On the bike path out of Buffalo")
.jpg "Site of the original Erie Canal")
.jpg "Liam picking blackberries")
.jpg "The Erie Canal")
.jpg "Tonawanda")
.jpg "First rest stop")
.jpg "The Erie Canal")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "A sign...")
.jpg "Scott and Liam in Lockport")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "Liam watching the locks in operation")
.jpg "Everyone's watching the action")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "Erie Canal tour boat")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "The locks at Lockport")
.jpg "More spectators at the locks")
.jpg "The Erie Canal from our lunch stop")
.jpg "The Erie Canal from our lunch stop")
.jpg "Bridge over the canal")
.jpg "Bridge over the canal")
.jpg "Bridge over the canal")
.jpg "The canal towpath")
.jpg "Rest stop #2")
.jpg "Riding along the canal towpath")
.jpg "The bridge to Medina")
.jpg "Waiting for smoothies")
.jpg "Liam relaxing after a long day on the saddle")
.jpg "Sun behind the clouds")
.jpg "Information tent")
.jpg "Entertainment for the evening")
.jpg "Our home away from home")
.jpg "Medina Tent City"){kind=small}