33 miles we didn't expect!

We knew that the bike trail was closed coming out of Schenectady. It was advertised as a 4 mile, 1.4 million dollar renovation project that wouldn't be finished until October. Soooooo, I decided to do a reverse segment starting in Colonie, NY. We would travel west toward Schenectady until we encountered the closed trail. I estimated our total day of travel at 7 miles down and 7 miles back. Well, I was a little off! But only by about 20 miles. :-) Turns out the trail was rideable and we made it a very hilly 15 miles into Schenectady. That was good, but then we had to make it another 15 miles back to the truck. It was a much longer day than we had planned, but we were back before dark. So this was our longest travel day at 33 miles and we safely arrived in Colonie, NY. We only have about 20+ miles to go to roll into Albany. But that will have to wait for about 10 days since our lives tend to get in the way of our adventures from time to time. Stay posted f0r the finale!

Amsterdam to Schenectady

After two miles of paved trail out of Amsterdam, we had to hit the dreaded highway 5S. We have gone from stone dust trails to stone dust in the air and on the roadway as we passed stone quarries and stone laden trucks passed us for several miles. But, alas, we finally got back on a paved trail at Rotterdam Junction. There we took some time to relax and wash the stone dust down with a couple of cold ones, while enjoying a view of the Mohawk River. Then it was on to Schenectady. So we's be at roughly 353 miles at this point!

Erie Canal boat tour - Herkimer

After 44 miles of riding our bikes, it was time for a break. So we took a boat tour along the Erie Canal from Herkimer to ....... well, we don't know exactly where we went. But it involved going through the oldest original lock on the improved Erie Canal. The lock was about 100 years old and lowered and raised our boat about 20+ feed. Then we finished our day by biking into Amsterdam, NY. That brings our total mileage to date to about 337, on our way to 400+. In this photo our boat is drag racing with a NY State tugboat. We think our Captain Jerry won that race!

Central NY bicycling

We started in Utica, NY yesterday and arrived in Canajoharie this afternoon. On the way we passed through Herkimer, Ilion, St. Johnbury and got a sub in Fort Plain. Great riding. Our calculations are rough, but we figure we have covered ABOUT 315 miles so far. We're in the Albany segment and looking for the finish line in the next two weeks as time permits. Along the way we have met some gresat people. Here's a photo of young Emil we met along the trail. He's headed from Oswego, NY to Connecticut. Wish him well. He informed us that his name is easy to remember because it is "lime" spelled backward.

Old Erie Canal State Park

Old Erie Canal State Historic Park is a 36 mile linear park that preserves the remains of the historic Enlarged Erie Canal as both an educational and recreational resource. In most places, the park's trail is the old canal's towpath. and that is what we have been riding from East Syracuse to Rome. It is mostly a stone dust trail along that old towpath that so many mules and horses travelled for many, many years in the 1800's. "15 miles on the Erie Canal' is a song school children in New York still learn, since each mule and its handlers did 15 mile shifts on the canal before being relieved of their towing duties. Just thought you'd like to know.