The Erie Canal ride, the last three days

FRIDAY, August 17. We wanted to leave at 7 but it was raining, so we de died to wait out the storm. Scott and I took the car over to Denny’s and picked up breakfast for everyone. We didn’t leave until almost 10. It was hard negotiating through Syracuse and we overshot our turn-off to the trail. We got on a major highway and took the opportunity to stops at Wegmans for a bathroom break. Just as we’re starting off again, we discover that one of the riders has a flat tire. That took some time to fix, but we finally got going again and it was afternoon. We were getting hungry but couldn’t find anywhere to eat. Scott finally discovered something on the internet about 5 miles ahead of us, just off the trail. We go for it. Meanwhile, we’ve been munching energy bars and granola. We finally get to our destination and all it is is a convenience store. And it’s about 4 p.m. And we are starved. So we all get in the car and drive to a place Ashante has found called Nicky Doodle’s. Actually, three people rode their bikes over. It was your typical old-style diner except that you ordered at the counter and they called you to pick up your food when it was ready. It was great sandwiches and salads. Oh my, did we feel good after that. That night we stayed with a family that someone knew. We all slept on the floor or the couches. They had 5 kids who were absolutely delightful and jumped on their trampoline outside when it rained. They were very kind hosts. SATURDAY, August 18. We got up early and really did get on the road about 7. we called a breakfast order into Ashante, and by the time we got to Dave’s Diner at 9, everything was on the table. it tasted soooooo good. We took a nice rest there and then continued along the Canal to Amsterdam. It was overcast and cool so it was nice riding. And the Canal path has improved tremendously since I did it years ago. A lot of it is rails-to-trails projects which are newly paved. What a joy to ride. We stopped at Parkside Diner for lunch and just shoved it in again. I had a Mexican Hamburger with peppers and onions infused in the meat and a special sauce. Food tastes so good when one is starving. About two hours later we decided we needed ice cream so we stopped at Stewart’s. Then it was on to the Creative Community House in Amsterdam about dusk. One of the neat things about riding into Amsterdam was that the path took us directly into a park where they were having a concert! Later, on E. Main, we ran into another concert. We found a restaurant that would stay open for us so we ended up at Fresh Basil after driving around in circles trying to find it. We didn’t even change out of our biking stuff. The street pattern in Amsterdam is really convoluted. There’s a convention center that literally cuts Main Street in half. Try finding E. Main when you’re on the west side! In any case, we ate well, went back to the community center and put out the air mattresses. I claimed the couch in the non-air conditioned room and slept reasonably well. The 80 miles that day wasn’t too much of a problem because the temperature was so cool and the sky was overcast. It was great riding weather. And the great surprise was that Susan, who was going to come down the next day to pick Roger and me up, came down today and had supper with us and stayed overnight. SUNDAY, August 19. We got up at 6, loaded the cars and took off by 7. We had a cup of coffee and a glass of OJ before we started out. Then Susan SAGged for us and met us at the first rest stop with more bagels and coffee. After awhile we met up with the ROCovery riders. We then rode streets to our meeting point. We wanted to stage our arrival at the recovery conference so that the conference participants and press were outside to meet us. After another quick break at Trader Joe’s for the people who wanted to eat something, we headed over to the conference at the Marriot. this time it worked well with the press and Karen and Yanna got interviewed. Some of the riders were staying for the conference, but the rest of us packed up two cars and drove home. Susan and I rode with Robin. We stopped at a Burger King rest stop just as a tour bus got there. It took us over half an hour to get our order! When we finally go5 going again Robin waant feeling too well, so I drove for about an hour. we got to Susan’s place at about 6 and Mary Ellen came to pick me up half an hour later. We stayed for awhile and yakked about the trip with Susan then headed home. After a warm shower, it was straight to bed. I enjoyed doing the trip, but I don’t think I would do something that extreme again. It certainly tested my limits and I met some nice people. Today was just relax, write and pack my suitcase. Except for the stuff I have to wash tomorrow, I’m ready to go. Tomorrow I just have to put some things back in the storage unit, get my haircut and go to the post office. And I have to think to check in with the airline tomorrow and choose my seats. It’s been a great summer ,but time to get back. I want to read all the new books to the kids.