cranky old dude

Well, 30 miles along the canal anyway. I left the house about 08:00a.m. in bright sunshine and started the slow gradual climb from the shores of Lake Ontario up to the Erie Canal. I usually get onto the Towpath at a spot about six miles from my house but chose to try a different approach to detour the construction on a Boat Launch at Henpeck Park (really, that’s the name…I’m not clever enough to make this stuff up). So I took eleven miles to reach the canal, all up a gradual grade and into a stiff headwind. I believe I’ll take the same route in the future as it’s a very pleasant residential type of route with little traffic.
Below is a picture of U.S. rt. 104, or West Ridge Rd. for any Monroe county readers. The beautification project looks to be working. Very seldom do I venture across this road as it is quite congested and there’s plenty of good riding on the north side of it where I live.


I got onto the Towpath at Greece Canal Park which is a large lush and really nice park that I definately need to explore some more. The canal is up there by the railing.


Here’s a shot of the Towpath


And here’s another, it goes on like this for miles and miles. I headed west, again...into the wind.


The canal goes through a lot of nice little communities, most of which owe their very existence to and can trace their roots back to the old canal days.
Here’s a pic of the Adam’s Basin lift bridge. Now there’s a nice summer job.


Here’s the Adam’s Basin Inn, a nice B&B.


As I rode along the cinder path I passed through the bustling villages of Spencerport, and Brockport and chatted with several hikers and bikers. Here’s Brockport….I've always been fond of that Ivory Soap advert.


I turned around at the Town of Clarkson Boat Launch, pictured below,


And with the help of the wind that had been my foe for the previous twenty plus miles, I felt like I was flying all the way back to my house.

Total miles…..58.32 (1.32 more than my age)
I took the family out to dinner in the evening to celebrate my Birthday in a manner that they too could enjoy and I had Pizza which I hope qualifies as pie.

Siu Blue Wind

Wow, looks like a great ride and wonderful weather! Happy Birthday!!

Burr

Lenny,
What a wonderful ride.
Happy Birthday.
Hope you have many more of these great rides

doctor j

Happy birthday, Cranky, and congratulations on a very nice looking ride.

We've had a lot of wind this year, and I've been routing my rides as you did, out into the wind and back with a tail wind.

Jet Travis

What a great BD ride and introduction to summer! Pix made me feel like I was riding along with you.

rainycamp

Biking and history -- two of my favorite things.

rck

HAPPY B-DAY! Pizza pie would work for me, particularly as I've had a craving for it of late. Looks like a great area for biking, I wish our trails were paved.

Mojo Slim

Great pictures. I can really get the feel of the area. A fun place to ride. Thanks.

Pie is pie.

The Weak Link

Good pictures. Desktop stolen.

cranky old dude

COOL !!!!! Which one?

Metric Man

Happy Birthday Crank Dude!!

I did pizza on mine as well...and paid for it too!

Kragg

Beautiful scenery for a ride. Congrats !!!

Louis

Thanks for the tour. If I ever get the urge to own a 'bent...it will be similar to yours, nice bike.

Happy birthday.

cyclinfool

ad6mj

Looks like a great ride.

Red Rider

How scenic a ride for your birthday!

Now I want to sing that "Erie Canal" song from my childhood. At least I have an idea what it looks like.

Tom Bombadil

A man after my own heart. I love those kinds of rides. Riding my bent at my own pace, along rural bike trails, and stopping in towns to chat with people. I generally do a couple of these every month.

Tom Bombadil

I did a half-age pie ride. 26+ miles with Amish Creme pie at the end.

Almost only did 10 miles. I started riding and had no energy at all. Did a fast (for me) 11 miles after work yesterday then came home and did a couple hours of yard work and was beat last night. Guess I hadn't recovered yet. After 2 miles I was tired, after 4 miles I was tired. Almost turned back at the 5 mile marker to make it a 10 mile day. Some days are like that.

But I kept on going and by the 8 mile marker, I had increased my speed and felt good. Rode down the trail to the 13 mile marker (just past Monroe, WI ... my first time down there on a bike). Saw another thunderstorm rolling at me, so I rode 2 miles back to a city park and took cover. Was pinned there for about 30 minutes waiting for the storm to blow past. Then I rode back to my car and went and had pie.

Lots of different flowers were in bloom along the trail. Rode through large patches of yellow, purple, blue, and white flowers. Lots of daisies too. Was startled once when I startled a red tailed hawk out of a small tree along the trail. After riding past hundreds of sparrows, finches, and robins, a large hawk looks like a monster coming out of a tree, especially when it comes out only a few yards in front of you.

tsl

Happy Birthday, Cranky! Mine was Thursday. Looks like you enjoyed your ride. Haven't done my ride yet. Maybe Sunday, maybe next week.

Beverly

Beautiful place to ride, cranky. Happy birthday!

My granddaughter's and I rode a section of the Erie Canal a few years ago. We got to see one of the lift bridges in action. The girls loved it.

Isn't there an annual tour along the canal? I always thought it would be great to do such a ride.

cranky old dude

Oh that's right. I totally forgot that we share the same birth date. Happy belated birthday
TSL.

Yes, it's great fun to watch the lift bridges and locks in action. You're right about there being
an annual tour...https://www.ptny.org/canaltour/
From what I understand, it's quite a good time.....kinda a goal of mine also to ride it. I've
worked out all the logistics of how I want to participate in the tour, now I need to get
the time and the money to do it.

Thank you to all for the well wishes. It was a strange day emotionally...more on that when I've
wrapped my brain around it a little better.

After stepping back for a while I realized we're kinda like a big pack of cyber buddies, I'm glad I came back.

rae

Cranky, and tsl too, sorry to be late but Happy Birthday to you both. Great pictures, Cranky!

Metric Man

Wow...lots of June 19 birthdays! Congrats tsl as well.

capejohn

Very nice. I'll be riding the canal with #3 son in less than a month.

Every time I see stuff like the photos you posted I get ansy to start the ride.

We are leaving Buffalo on Saturday the 19th riding east. I'll be journaling on my blog and maybe we'll see you on the canal.

Tom Bombadil

Is this the bike trail you rode?
https://www.nycanal.com/recreation/hikebikemain.html

That looks very interesting. One of the options I am considering for this fall is to visit my daughter in Ohio, then head up to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball HOF & maybe some driving through the Adirondacks (which I've never seen). Could do some riding in Ohio and/or NY. This trail looks like a great one.