kristingbridges
41 Miles from Canastota to Utica
We got a decent start this morning, though we tried to be good cycling ambassadors and not take a one way street the wrong way back to the trail. What that got us was having to hoist our bikes up a bank on a tiny narrow, muddy rut. I basically dragged mine on the rear panniers after it tipped over. I was glad when Brian realized the GoPro was probably not running when he was behind me for that! Once on the trail, it was smooth going for a while, but my knee was still giving me fits. Again, though, after about an hour and a half and taking ibuprofen at breakfast, and doing some quad stretches, it chilled a bit.
We ate lunch at one of the working locks. It had everything we need, picnic tables, a view, and bathrooms! We used up our tortillas and are down to the last single tub of peanut butter. We need to restock because there is just not much in the way of restaurants or other retail along the route, like there has been on other trails. We’ve only found lunch on the trail once so far. Now our food stores are down to some Fig Newtons, and Stinger gels and waffles.
When we got into Rome, NY, we remembered why we had not yet done this “trail” yet. Despite having started development in the 90’s, this “trail” is not really a trail. It is more of a bunch of sections, some along the main Erie Canal, some along abandoned lateral canals, all stuck together with the duct tape of random roads and dangerous city streets. The official trail book says only 75% of the distance is actual trail. In Rome, the trail dumped us out in some parking lot type place with no signs. Some Good Samaritan has marked Dan Henry’s and we should have followed those at that point, but I saw a trail sign up ahead. So we took that. Ugh. We lost the trail, went down sidewalks on a busy “stroad”, up a 17% grade behind a Lowes and through a neighborhood. There were a couple ladies trying to pick their way through as well. The trail finally took us past a Walgreens, though we were expecting to see a RiteAid. But I got a knee brace – not the kind I wanted and ended up taking it back off – and some Voltaren. That did the trick. I also got us some chocolate milk. I discovered a type by Fairlife that is Lactose free! Yay!
Back on the trail at last! Nope, not too much longer and the trail literally just…ended. No signs, nothing. We were in a really remote, really rough parking lot type place, but aha! The Good Samaritan had put a Dan Henry on one of the only pieces of asphalt left. We went up and around and over live railroad tracks that had some really big rock being used to sort of make a ramp, then down and to the right and there was a paved trail, like it never went away. There was a Canal Trail sign there, but there had been no way to find that when the previous section ended.
When we got to the next town, we knew there would be a road section. It was well marked. We were on a trail on the left side of the road and needed to turn left on a crossroad. It had a crosswalk for the bike trail. We had a green light and proceeded to start crossing. That’s when I noticed a woman in a white car come screaming up the red light in the right turn lane on the road we were crossing. At first I thought it would be ok because there was traffic keeping her from turning on the red. Then I noticed a gap and sure enough she started to go, without checking the crosswalk. I yelled “watch out!” three times, each louder and more panicked. When she finally heard me, I had veered to the right, but she was about an inch from Brian’s rear wheel. I don’t care if you are turning right, if there is a crosswalk you must ALWAYS look both ways. She got lucky and didn’t end up hurting anyone today. I don’t call it luck for us, it’s called being vigilant and always assuming the drivers are clueless and about to do something stupid that could kill you. It’s why we prefer bike routes and trails.
While I love the history and the scenery in this part of the country, we’ll never do this trail again. It’s just too incomplete and dangerous. Maybe someday when they complete the trail it will be more safe and worth doing.
We made it safely into Utica finally. Our hotel is a nice, new one on a main street with lots of retail and restaurant choices. I have high hopes that the free “breakfast” will be more than packaged generic little donuts, instant oatmeal, and stale cereal. And if that doesn’t work out, there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts across the street! Three more shorter days on the trail and we arrive in Albany.
Notable Wildlife
- Deer
- Garter Snakes
- Frogs
- Turtles
- Kingfishers
- Flickers
- Pileated Woodpeckers
- Blue Heron
- Green Heron
- Great White Egret
- Cormorants
- Gulls
- Squirrels
- Ducks
- Groundhogs
- Canada Geese