Day Four – Pittsford to Newark

I was finally biking with Jerlyn today. When we took the train west from Albany, she got off with her bike in Rochester to spend a few days with her cousin Sue, while I continued on to the beginning of the Erie Canal Heritage Trail (it seems to have different names) in Buffalo. About 110 miles brought me to Pittsford, where I met up with Jerelyn, Sue and Matt. That was yesterday.

Starting off from Pittsford—a particularly beautiful section of trail!

This morning, we left a little before 8 am for a modest day of cycling to Newark. Compared with the previous days, today’s weather was perfect for biking! Mostly cloudy and much cooler than the prior days.

We biked seven miles before stopping for breakfast in Fairport. It looked to be a great little village with tidy shops and gorgeous pots of flowers. As we were about to lock our bikes a very friendly man who was watering the plants advised that we might do better to park against a nearby fence, so that they didn’t get watered from the overhead baskets.

I was curious about these deployable gates that we passed now and then—and that I saw during my first few days. They are used during extreme conditions, apparently, to control the water level. Around the Genesee River, for example, they can keep floodwater from flowing into the canal.

Breakfast was good; we were waited on by a very friendly waitress who efused about bicycling and her desire to someday bike the whole Erie Canal Trail.

By the time we headed on our way, it was sprinkling slightly, though not enough to warrant rain jackets. I don’t think it was even enough to dampen the dust on the trail—our bikes are caked in dust! I’d take the clouds and light drizzle any day over the 90-degree conditions the past few days!

Kayakers and rowers in Macedon, NY. It looks like a great little town.

This seemed to be a particularly nice section of trail—more curves than I found further west, and even if the sun had been out in force, there were lots of shade trees lining the path. We made good progress through Macedon and Palmyra.

We spent a while at Lock E30 in Macedon and Lock E29 in Palmyra. At the latter, we had a nice chat with the lock operator. He took on the job five years ago as a retirement activity. He was polishing the 100-year-old brass fittings that operate the lock electronics. I asked about replacement parts, and he said they were so well made, they almost never need replacement. Not like today’s planned obsolescence!

This lock operator was using spare time (of which they have a lot!) to clean contacts on the amazing original brass fittings from the 1910s.

Along the route today there were some beautiful bridges that we crossed. It’s amazing to think of the money that goes into maintaining the locks and providing all of the trail infrastructure! Thank goodness New York is a wealthy state!

Crossing Ganargua Creek as we neared Newark

We got into Newark, where we’re staying, around 1:00 pm. We were fortunate to get an early check-in—then showers and naps!

We walked from the Microtel Hotel, where we’re staying, into town and ate at Craft 120, a very nice bar/restaurant overlooking the canal. On our way to the restaurant we stopped at a visitor’s center and chatted with the local woman staffing it. Though now deteriorating, there are some awesome murals on the concrete walls at the “Port of Newark.”

We loved these murals. Though now deteriorating with the spalling concrete, they depict early scenes on the Erie Canal. This is at what is call the “Port of Newark.”

Just across the parking lot from where we had dinner.

After dinner, walking the mile back to our hotel, we had a great chat with a family that I’ve been running into on the whole ride—from my first full day. The husband was laid off at U.S.A.I.D. in February, but is still on the payroll for another couple weeks. We was with his wife and two teenage kids. On Friday evening, they were with his parents as well—in their 70s—who biked from Buffalo to Albion with the family, then biked back home to Buffalo. How sad to get an inside view of what’s been happening to our foreign aid!

We biked 29 miles today, and Jerelyn did great for her first “full” day of biking. tomorrow, we’re aiming for Weedsport, 35 miles east, though with a lot of that on roads, rather than trail. The surface will be smoother, but I sure like being off-road!