Rain last night meant a later start this morning as things (mostly) dried out.
Cycling today was pleasant, except for all the times it wasn’t. There were fewer chipmunks, but offset by deer, red squirrels, and more of those snapping turtles. I had to carefully walk through two gaggles of Canadian geese. Creatures otherwise scatter at my approach.
I met several cyclists today with brief discussions. Several who are cycling the trail in sections. Another just a local cyclists who said hes always wanted to tour, preferably in Ireland. Hah.
Wildlife continues. I had to carefully walk through two gaggles of Canadian geese. Creatures still scatter at my approach.I encountered several obstacles today, both literal and figurative.
In the middle of nowhere the path changed to deep, loose gravel. On top of the rain from last night, cycling became … difficult. My default speed dropped from 20 kph to 13 kph, and a constant struggle to stay upright. Many kilometers later I found an exit to the road, and left the gravel behind.
To a road that went straight up. My speed dropped to 5 kph, without taking into account repeatedly stopping to rest. Stll better than the gravel. 5 kph up, 46 kph down before I returned to the trail.
The new Empire State Trail mostly, but not always, follows the old Erie Canalway. The new trail occasionally changes the old route, and today a series of routing changes led me to new construction. A couple miles down the trail, again in the middle of nowhere, I encountered a sign — “Trail ends 1.6 miles”. You couldn’t think to perhaps put that at the entrance to this section? 1.6 forward was better that 2 back. Eventually the trail was blocked by a temporary chain link fence, a bridge under construction, and that orange landscaping fence on the other side before the trail continued. A mile later the trail came to a road, with the trail appropriately marked “Closed”.
I was later almost run off the trail by two ATVs. Motor vehicles are prohibited on the tail, so much so that every intersection is signed to that effect. When soon thereafter a dirt bike almost ran me over (and we both ducked the same direction, making it a close call indeed), I swore at the rider. He went roaring off, almost hitting another pedestrian and his dog.
To cap off my day of, “this is why I cycle in Europe”, I saw ahead of me a bag of dog poop dead center on the trail. Except the bag was moving. Someone had placed a turtle in the bag, zip-tied the bag closed, and left it there. With no air holes. Given I was late to pick up my prom date because I stopped FIVE TIMES to rescue turtles from the road, the turtle today is free and on his way to whereever turtles go after being stuffed in a bag.
That overall sounds like a really lousy day, and I’ll admit it’s no prize-winner. But the day was still OK. The weather was close to perfect (60 at night, 80 during the day). I intentionally biked past my intended stopping point (where if I’d stopped I’d have missed the day’s drama) because i felt great and wanted to keep cycling. Total distance today matched yesterday, riding 111 km.
It took me a while to puzzle out where to camp at Lock 21, but I think I get it now. Each lock where you can camp has 4 tables set off to the side, which are intended for cyclists. Now, i selected this lock in part because it had water and a bathroom, where in fact it has neither. There is water, but the lock attendant said to not drink the water, which is no water in my book.
I found a trail leading down to the canal where I could wash off. I’m tucked into my tent. And I continue to head west tomorrow.