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Saturday, August 12, 2023

Day 88 Lyons to Weedsport

Monday was as nasty as Sunday had been beautiful. The air was heavy with an oppressive humidity. I had originally planned to camp today, but I received these ominous alerts about violent thunderstorms. After an extensive argument in my head (I do not need others to have an argument, I can do it all myself), I decided to splurge on a motel room.

Ten minutes after I pulled my bike and cart into the room, the skies opened up and poured out one of the most intense rainstorm I have ever seen. We received 3 inches of rain in an hour accompanied by deafening thunder. The solidity of the walls, and dryness of the bed became a source of great comfort. I pulled out my phone and discovered that there were tornado warnings throughout the region.

An hour later, the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and air cooled. There were several large trees across the street which had been knocked down, but our building was unharmed. On the walkway outside of our motel room my two neighbors pulled out some chairs along with their fiddle and flute. They began to play a haunting Irish tune which seemed fitting for the atmosphere after the deluge.

The musicians introduced themselves as Chris O’Brien and John Kennedy-two members of the band “Kennedy’s Kichen” I invite you to look at their website.

John is also an economics professor who has spoke about how current economic policies have exacerbated our growing socio economic divide. The retrieved a bottle of whisky from their room and we toasted the end of the storm and the healing and inspirational power of music. We stayed there outside of our room well into the night. It was evening very well spent.

Meeting with Denise in Amsterdam!

I remember reading the account of a 16^th century explorer who sailed across the Atlantic. He wrote that after weeks of travel, it was a source of enormous joy and relief to see birds for the first time. This indicated to him that land was not far off.

I felt like this when Denise came out visit me near Amsterdam, New York. It is the first time in over a month that I have been able to see her and we explored that beautiful region together. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in hills overlooking the city. It was so wonderful to spend time with her and I am so much looking forward to arriving at home next week.

Thursday, August 10, 2023

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.

The Evening in Brockport

Camping amidst the yachts

A beer with Jacob Cohenb

Day 85 Oakfield-Brockport

With my repaired tire and a bag filled with fresh baked goodies and freshly picked fruit, I started biking to the Erie Canal Bike Trail. This beautiful trail crosses the state from Buffalo to Albany along the tow path of the canal. It connects with the recently completed bike trail from the Canadian Border to New York City.

Once a major transportation route, the canal is now used almost exclusively for recreational travel for both yachts and bikes. At every town and every one of the 35 locks they welcome campers as well as the boats which tie up for the night. There are warm showers, restaurants, and pleasant company to be found along the way.

I reached the bike trail at the town of Holley and started heading east. The day was sunny and cooler and I was grateful to find a cluster of tents pitched by cyclists and began to set up camp. There is a lockmaster who greets the cyclists and boats and supplies information about local services. My conversation with him was frequently interrupted as he had to cycle the locks to allow the crafts to pass through. He informed me that during Covid these attractive, unmonitored campsites were a magnet for many in the state who had lost their homes. It is intended for someone to spend one night and then to be on their way. In the summer of 2021 an entire village of tents popped up housing those who had been evicted from rental properties in central New York. This gave the yachters a glimpse into how pandemic affected the lives of those who are most economically vulnerable.

Among the cyclists camping there was Jacob Cohen who arrived about the same time as me. He was heading west as I was heading east and we were able to share notes about the delights and frustrations we could expect the following day. After our tents were pitched we went to one of the pubs in the banks of canal for a beer and discussed what we had learned about our trip. After graduating with a degree in music at Cornell where he was the concert master, he has begun law school at the University of Michigan. He is particularly interested in the legal aspects of promoting orchestral performances. For the past several years he has been the U.S. development officer for the Academy of St. Martin’s in the field. In between these commitments, he contemplates his future during trans-continental bike trips (this is his second such trip). He prefers to cycle alone because it gives him a chance to contemplate why he is doing the things that he is doing. He is also looking for possible future venues for the Academy in the future.

The canal trail alternates between wooded and agricultural regions. The small towns along the way have developed their waterfront to be attractive and hospitable to travelers. There are also frequent historical markers along the way describing the role this canal has had in the development of this region and the entire continent. In Brockport I met cyclists from Poland, Germany, and Ireland who were able to see a part of the country that citizens often miss. There are also many sail boats travelling from Chicago and Toronto to the Bahamas. It is necessary for them to lower their masts and raise their dagger board for the duration of the canal and re-assemble then when they reach the Hudson River.