Bike Across America- Day 45

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Start: Rochester, New York
End: Syracuse, New York
Mileage today/cumulative: 91 / 3,277
Elevation Ascended: 1,243′
Weather: Sunny, 67° at start; sunny, 84º at finish
3D Relive Video (approx. 1 minute)

With only six rides remaining on the tour at the start of today, New York gave us a nice one  from Rochester to Syracuse. Bev and I chose to ride by ourselves all day. We love riding with each other and it was a nice break from the pressure of a pace line and keeping a group together. The first 23 miles were on the Erie Canalway Trail, a paved or hard packed bike path that runs alongside the Erie Canal. It was a beautiful, peaceful stretch and we wished that we could have ridden it further. We’ve added it to our list of trails to return to. As we approached Syracuse, we rode on the East Shore Recreation Trail through a beautiful park on Onondaga Lake. It was a gorgeous day and there were lots of people out exercising. It looks like a nice place to live if not for the winters.

The portion of the ride spent on roads took us through some charming towns and villages that looked very “Main Street USA”. Old homes, large trees, picket fences, wide streets, and lots of American flags. We saw some agriculture but not on the scale of what we rode through from Idaho to Ontario, Canada.

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that being in New York meant more cars and more attitude. Some folks who previously lived in Rochester thought that was a bit harsh and didn’t appreciate being compared to the NYC New Yorkers.  So, I should mention that the people of Rochester NY were nice enough and their behavior bore little resemblance to anyone in NYC. They’re still not nearly as nice, though, as people in Rochester, Minnesota.

Finally, I kept my eye out for this guy so that I could give him a big hug from my friend Ruth Ross, but I never saw him. Go Big Orange!

Lots of good photos from today’s ride…