Today's Report: 

Everyone loaded at 6:00 and headed to Peppermints for breakfast or ate at the motel.  The weather looked iffy all day but it was forecast not to rain until later in the afternoon.  I think most everyone tried to push it a little just in case it was a little earlier than when it was supposed to be.  As it turned out, the sun never really popped out the entire day, but it didn't rain until after we all got in.  I glanced at the Weather Channel when I got in at 1:30 and saw a pretty good line approaching us from the west but we out ran it.

Today's route is one of my favorites as we ride for 26 miles along the Erie Canal as we leave Rochester.   The canal has a bike path that runs from Rochester to Palmyra and varied from smooth pavement to town streets to hard pack dirt and gravel but it was very easily navigated.  In past years, we made this an option but this year, we routed everyone along the canal.  The path if pretty interesting as it passes through several small, cute towns and by some pretty impressive houses along the canal, both high rent and low rent, showing the vast range of real estate in the area.  A couple of small towns along the path were very quaint with lots of wildlife resting along the banks of the water...geese, ducks, groundhogs, and I thought I saw a beaver running across the path in one area and in another area a deer rain right in front of Karen and me.  Even though it's virtually impossible to route something along a bike path, it was pretty easy to navigate since you just followed the canal...even when we were forced off the water's edge, all you had to do was work your way back knowing the water was to your left or right at times.  When you found the canal again, there was the path.

At the end of the path we dumped right out on hwy 31 about 10 miles before our first SAG.  We had superb shoulders most of the day today.  I think New York gets the vote for the nicest roads to travel by bicycle...and the scenery is beautiful too with all the farms and animals dotting the landscape.  The shoulders were smooth, clean, and very wide most of the day.  I spent the day with Karen...she humored me on the path waiting for me to take several photos, but when we got on the highway it was "Let's beat the rain to the motel."  It was a long day in the saddle as we had 95 miles and with the 26 miles on the bike path that most of us just tootled along.  It took a few of the riders almost to rap to get in, but all were safe...another great day.

The days are getting a bit longer as the riders are starting to spend more time on the road sightseeing.  It's good to see everyone enjoying themselves in the last few days even if they are just looking at plants.  A couple years ago a local rider told us about a purple plant we've been seeing everywhere in the wet areas...Purple Loosestrise, a voracious plant that is taking over wetlands and leaving devastation in it's wake...even killing the wildlife the wetlands support.  It came from Europe and the government is trying several approaches to control the plant, but sometimes the cure is worse than the illness when it comes to controlling something like this.  He said it is one of the worst plants to come along in a long time...that's if you don't count the Kudzu plant we have in the south.  Now I'm familiar with that stuff...it grows so fast, it can chase down and smother a speeding car on a highway if the climatic conditions are right.  When it goes dormant in the winter, we discover new cities in Alabama!  Don't get me started on Kudzu stories.

Tomorrow we head to Little Falls.  Another day on good New York roads but we will be in busier areas tomorrow and all the way to New Hampshire from here.  As we close in on our destination, the riders are starting to realize the journey is almost over.  New friends we've made in the past 45 days will go their separate ways in just less than a week.  I think they will all start to slow down a bit and start smelling more roses than they have in the past...we'll see.  But whatever we encounter, as the photo to the right depicts, we'll have a great day.  Tune in again tomorrow for a report.  Pray for a safe day.  See you then.

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