Back in the commute mode today after taking a week of work for a bike tour. I was sort of hoping for a rainy day as an excuse to take a day off riding but the weather is nicer than it's been here almost all summer, so I figured that I better take advantage of it.

My friends and I rode about 450 miles last week along the Erie Canal trail in New York. We drove to Albany the weekend before last, took the Amtrak to Buffalo with our bikes stowed in cargo, and then rode back. It was a fun trip but nothing spectacular. The high points were stopping in diners for food along the way. We were blessed with nice weather, very little rain and mild temperatures. Most days we rode about 65 miles, and about three-fourths of the route was along greenways and gravel trails. Most of the sections on roads did not have much traffic, although we got shunted through rush-hour traffic in Rochester due to a closed section of the trail and detour. The detour was not very well thought-out and took us well out of our way, adding an extra 10 miles to an already long day.