Day 86 Brockport to Rochester

 Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas in Deep conversation

Coleridge Gill, my gracious host in Rochester

Day 86 Brockport to Rochester

     On Saturday morning all of the cyclists broke camp, half headed east and half headed west.  I peddled east towards Rochester and on a day which was unseasonably cool.  I am grateful that I have avoided much of the horrible weather which has plagued many in the country.  There are small towns containing pubs looking out over the canal.  Between the towns are several wooded areas in which you can observe deer and rabbits peering from among the trees.

     I spent Saturday night with Coleridge Gill in Rochester.  Coleridge is a retired banker whose great passions are cross country skiing, bicycling, and canoeing.  He worked in the bank for 30 years to pay the bills and to enable to participate in his real vocation.  He boasted that if you are over 40 have learned to ski in Rochester; you have taken lessons from him.  He spoke with great fondness of his cross country ski trips in Quebec, Austria, and Switzerland.  He recounted the 100 km marathon two day ski trip from Lachute, Quebec to Ottawa.  To get credit for completion, the pack carrying your gear must weigh at least 15 kilograms.  Upon rising in the morning, your pack is weighed again and if it underweight rocks are added to make up the difference. He described the campsite located at the midpoint where you strip off your sweaty clothes, climb into a sleeping bag, and arise before dawn to complete the trip in sub-zero temperatures.  He recounted his bicycle trips deep into the bush in Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region of Quebec.  He has also canoed deep into the waterways of Algonquin Park in Northern Ontario.

     He shared his frustration over his current physical limitations, but continues to derive inspiration from the places he has been able to visit by human means of locomotion.  After he grilled some hamburgers for us to have for dinner, he drove me around the city.  Rochester is a beautiful city with many gracious homes which serve as a reminder of a day when many captains of industry made the city their own.  The mansions have largely been remodeled into apartments, but still evoke a sense of grandeur.

    We visited the house of Susan B. Anthony and the neighboring park which featured a statue of her and Frederick Douglas having a conversation on a park bench (very much like the statue of John Lennon sitting on a park bench in Havana-inviting passersby to stop and have a conversation). 

     In the morning I went to the local Lutheran Church which warmly welcomed and me and invited me to a lunch they were serving.  I declined telling them that I had to get to Lyons that evening.