I’m now only a few miles north of Buffalo near Niagara Falls. I’ll likely cycle there tomorrow before heading south and home.
I spent last night camped in the backyard of Gloria and Darrel in Brockport, two warmshowers.org hosts. I’ve been a warmshowers.org member for 13 years, and had several people stay at my house. This was the first time I’ve stayed with someone. It made for a nice evening and discussion. Gloria cooked me a hearty dinner and breakfast!
This morning I needed a supermarket, a mile away from the canal. Instead of returning to the Canalway, I stayed on the highway. The trail quality has degraded daily, and a night of heavy rain wouldn’t make that better. 40 km of highway later, my path crossed the canal. With the sun out, I made a trade of poor quality for shade. Finding no shade, at the next opportunity I returned to the highway.
Highways in NY have a wide shoulder (somewhere to put snow), and the highway also happens to be NY Cycle Route 5. The highway also offered shelter. The Canalway is remote; on the highway, passing through small towns, I could shelter the storms. In the town of Lockport I took shelter in a gazebo in the local park. Also the hangout for local teen drug users, which made for an interesting hour of repeatedly being asked if I smoked weed and the merits of NY legalizing marijuana.
Less than a mile from my destination I ducked into an abandoned building to wait out the next wave of storms. 95 km for the day brought me to my small motel north of Buffalo.
I started this morning in Brockpoint, a rough halfway point from the night before camped at Lock 30. Lock 30 in turn was 111k (well, 118k after going into town that evening) from my hotel outside of Syracuse.
The rain today at least brought down the temperatures. A couple days ago the sign outside of a firehouse said 101 degrees! In addition to my water, I drank 80 oz of orange juice and another 40 oz. of lemonade!
That day (the 6th) I cycled a transition from the retired canal to the active one, with a lot of highway cycling in the blazing sun.
Battered and exhausted, as I closed in on Lock 30 I encountered a trail detour. Fearing it would route me around Lock 30, I stopped a passing cyclist. I had passed Bob, and been passed by him in turn several times over the last few miles. He provided directions, and then cycled with me to the Lock to ensure I arrived safely.
Later that evening, I met John and Dave, both cycling east. We traded information, and spent much of the evening discussing things that would only interest cycle tourists. When I crawled out of my tent at 6:45 am they had already packed and gone.
Buffalo roughly 160 km, I reached out to two warm showers hosts at around the midpoint. While the Canalway through Syracuse was amazing, roads under construction and repair in Rochester tangled me up enough to put me next to a river, not the canal. My realization came upon noticing this was NOT a lock.
For those who’ve followed my adventures for a while, guess what I found on the trail?
