Final Thoughts

Hey, this is Kate and I have shoved Roger out of his comforable chair to take over for the final blog entry. I just wanted to let everyone know what an incredible journey this summer trip has been. Our trek across New York State from Buffalo to Albany provided us with the opportunities to discover wonderful scenic towns, interesting fun people, and history along the Erie Canal. I will convey much of what I learned this summer to my sixth grade students . Perhaps the most valuable lessons I can share with my students came through my bike accident. The importance of wearing a helmet when biking can never be stressed enough. Equally important, I hope my students recognize the value of completing a task, no matter the obstacles. That is why it was so important for me to drive 3 and a half hours to bike that last 8 miles today.

Thanks to everyone that has shared our adventures with us. I would personally like to thank Roger for being my guide,

Oh and mom, for the record, I have no intention of ever taking up "knitting" instead of biking, no matter the consequences !!!!!!!!!!

Kate thanks Colleen Greene

After completion of our bike ride we backtracked to Hefferen's Tavern in Green Island so Kate could reconnect with one her new BFF's from her accident, Colleen Greene. Immediately after Kate's accident we were looking for ice for her rapidly swelling eye. Colleen provided that and so much more! Her caring, concern and willingness to help a total stranger was above and beyond. So Kate wanted to thank her one more time and update her on her progress. Thanks again Colleen.

We reached the finish line today!

Today we both completed the remaining few miles of our 400+ mile bike ride feeling a sense of accomplishment, but also a sadness that a wonderful adventure has come to an end. It was nice to have Kate along this time, and I didn't have to pick her up at an Emergency Room at the end of today's ride. :-)

Our Erie Canal trek is tehcnically over but we have a few loose ends to follow up on in this Blog so don't stop reading quite yet.

Not the end, Yet! - Part 2 - Thank you

After the crash, and after she stopped seeing stars, she collected herself and insisted upon trying to ride again. But we knew she needed some degree of medical attention. We rode about three blocks on into the the Village of Green Island. We passed a hand written sign that said, "It's hot outside, but our drinks are cold inside." To me, that said that they probably had ice inside for the swelling of her cheek and jaw, as well as having some of her favorite painkilling liquids available.
Inside T. J. Heffern's Tavern we met Colleen Greene who was absolutely wonderful! She provided ice packs to Kate and even drove to her home to bring back antibiotic ointment for Kate's "road rash" injuries. She referred us to a fire station and paramedics down the road. And thanks to them for evaluating Kate's injuries and giving us directions to the hospital in Troy. And Kudos to Kate for realizing she couldn't finish the ride, yet making it up the hill to "walk" into the emergency room!
And, the ER folks at Samaritan Hospital were great from beginning to end. So, Colleen, Brian, Heather and Terry are all Kate's new BFF's.
Kate is very sore and bruised, but very appreciative of all the help she received from those former strangers who were so willing to help her in a time of need. Thanks to all!

Not the end, yet! - Part 1

Today was supposed to be the final segment of our 400 mile Erie Canal bicycling tour with a party scheduled for the evening to celebrate. All started out well. But with only 10 miles of our summer tour to go, Kate flipped her bike on a hill in Cohoes, tumbling over the handlebars and crashing onto the pavement. With multiple injuries she ended up in the emergency room of Samaritan Hospital in Troy. After a few catscans and x-rays of her head, face, neck and shoulder, nothing was broken but she was badly battered and bruised in those, and even more places. She'll be a while recovering from that nasty crash, but it was stupendous! Leave it to her to go out with a bang!!!!
And, the party had to be re-scheduled, as she has vowed to finish the last segment of the 400 miles, as soon as the doctors will allow her to ride again, which will be a least a couple of weeks from now. We'll keep you posted on her progress.

Reached Canastota, NY

Today we got east of Syracuse and are now in Canastota, NY with Rome in our sights tomorrow. We toured the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse today and actually walked through a full sized replica of a canal boat. It is actually housed in the last remaining building that was once a weigh station. This is where canal boats would be weighed to determine their tolls based on weight.

The photo to the right was taken at Camillus Landing along the trail roday. It's just a cool old steam tractor.

We're on schedule and it's Albany or Bust! It's just a matter of how much more fun we have along the way.