Day 17, Sodus Point to .......Buraby Canada

Part 2 Today was the day to test out the left knee. It started to give me pain a couple days ago. A pain just below the knee cap on the front and inside. I’ve never had this type pain before so it scared me a little. So on the 12th I cut the day short at 20 something miles then yesterday only an easy 12 mile ride around Sodus Bay to a new campground. This morning no signs of pain so it was off to Palmyra and the Erie Canal about 27 miles down the road. I had decided that if I arrived in Palmyra, or failed to arrive, with a sore knee we would pack up and head home. When you pay your own insurance and have a huge deductible, risks need to be minimized.

I pulled out of camp at about 5:45 am with 48degF and cloudy skies. I deviated from the ACA route and took SR21 from Pultneyville to Palmyra. A local said it was a much less hilly route and had shoulders. Well….. the shoulders aren’t great but the cars were good in passing so it was uneventful and non-stressful ride. The town of Pultneyville is very pretty with a nice little yacht harbor and once again I heard the siren songs of Hobie cats on the beach. But the best news was that I had very little knee pain when I got to the Erie Canal, yeah!!

From Palmyra we decide to skip the Erie Canal part of the ACA route. I did the entire canal from Buffalo to Albany a few years ago and I really hate repeating routes. So we packed the car and gave the knee a 3 hour rest as we drove back roads to Buffalo and crossed to the Canadian side. I restarted riding near the Ft Erie Park. There is a wonderful paved trail from Ft Erie for 19 miles to Port Colborne. My body came alive on this rail trail. After all those mountains, cold temps and rain, here was a +/- 1% grade with sun and 70degF . I felt like a machine cranking along this lightly used trail!!! After about 50 miles total I called it “A Day” and Uber-SAG Donna picked me up at a church in Burnaby. So tonight we’re in a great Provincial Park that has nicer facilities than any US state/fed park we’ve stayed in. So nice, that we plan to spend every night in a Provincial Park while in Canada.

Fallen Solider Memorial - New York USA

WARNING, WARNING Political non trike RANT ON: I’ve seen several of these types of memorials on the back roads of the north-east USA. It’s an incredibly sad sight, because more than likely it’s for a fallen husband/wife/son/daughter of the home. But what makes me madder than hell is that the vast majority of politicians that have sent these fine people to their deaths will never have this memorial in front of their home. Why, because their privileged sons/daughters will never serve (Jim Webb is the only political exception I know of). I just fundamentally think its wrong to have the power of life and death when you have no skin in the game. We either need to end these endless wars or institute a national draft with ZERO deferments for any man or woman between 21 and 55. You'll see how fast the wars end when every politician's or Wall Street financial big wig's son/daughter can be drafted and goes to the middle east. RANT OFF.

Great camp at Point Sodus on Lake Ontario.

Truth in advertising?????? Luxury-Affordable???

Erie canal in Palmyra NY

Nice trail near Ft Erie Canada

Train turned in to Rail/trail and great run. 

TRUTH in Advertising!

Friendship Trail - part of the trials from Ft Eire to Port Colborne.

Held up in Port Colborne.

Starting in park near Ft Erie, great day to ride!!!!

Day 15, N. Volney to Sodus Point NY

A short day. We're out of the mountains and now my knee starts to hurt. Not serious and that's the reason for the rest I don't want it to get serious. We have a nice camp at Point Sodus NY on Lake Ontario. They have a beautiful harbor and large protected bay. The sailboats were out racing! Oh how I wanted to hitch a ride, even if just as rail meat. This morning was beautiful still cool at 41degF at ride start but with full sun it warmed up quickly and was 74 by 1pm. The only other negative is that we must be getting near large populations because the drivers are distinctly less considerate than from Knox ME to Boonville NY along the ACA route.

Today I was stopped twice today by fellow bicyclist interested in my strange three wheeled ride. The first was a 65 year old woman "Iron Man" competitor. She easily got me on the climb but I smoked her on the descent! So naturally when this story gets retold in years to come my faulty memory will forget the "65 year woman" and only remember the "Iron Man competitor!!" :) Then an eccentric older lady on a two wheel recumbent. Hard to describe but she took up more of the road on level ground than I do. She wobbled but didn't fall down:)

Aren't All recumbent riders a little eccentric:)

First views of Lake Ontario.

Day 14, W. Leyden to North Volney NY

Quick glove storage. 

I think there is a mailbox in there somewhere. 

Friendly, inviting town?

World Famous says it all. 

Ok my humor is a little warped, but that's funny!

How can this house survive the first storm? 

OK this is taking this Hobbit shit too far:)

Another cold start but look Blue sky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brown barn, of Brow Barn campground. 

Day 13, Inlet to West Leyden NY

Another rainy day with heavy showers passing through, all day long. The town of Old Forge is the first town of any significance since Vermont. The Adirondack region seems to have had better times in the past. There appears to be much poverty. I suppose the active lumber industry doesn't provide the jobs it used to. Today we left the Adirondack park and left the big hill behind. In cold weather clothing I started to use a baclava and what a major difference. Keeping the 39degF wind off the cheeks, neck, mouth, and nose makes riding comfortable. Another bouns is it keep my eye glasses from fogging!

Who is that masked man????

A beautiful lake need a more imaginative name. Oh and there was a sixth and fifth lakes on route. 

Day 12, N. Hudson to Inlet NY

A new personal high mileage and climb day. I must be getting better in tone, because this was not nearly as hard as the Bread Loaf Mountain day. Another cool start, low 40s and light rain but by afternoon the sun was trying to peek out. There is always the question about if recumbents are slower than roadie bikes. I tend to think it has a lot to do with  selection bias, i.e. the young men buy Lance replicas to be cool and race while older folks buy recumbents for touring and comfort. Now I really see the difference on steep long climbs. Why attack the climb, just shift to granny gear and motor up, smell the roses as it were. Stopping and restarting mid climb is so undramatic, no preplanning needed, just stop take a picture and move on. So now my answer to why trikes climb slow "BECAUSE WE CAN!!!!!"

Yet another rainy start:(

I'm sure these mountains look grand on a clear day:(

Whoo, Half way across the Adirondack

Cool sign, Teddy was a great Pres. 

Ok how many stunningly beautiful lakes can you see before they get dull? This picture just does not do justice . 

Yeah the rain stopped and actually warmed up a bit!

Day 11, Tico NY to North Hudson NY

The sound of rain on the camper roof early this morning said the weather men were right. It was in the low 50s and the rain wasn't too heavy so we decided to push on. Right out of Tico there is a nice nonstop 900ft climb, so the cool temp and light rain was no problem. It's amazing how much heat the body can generate with constant exertion. But the rain got heavier and the temps dropped to the 40s, which is a problem without the proper gear. Clothing in this kind of weather is hard, because on a climb a lot less clothing is needed than a descent. Heck on a climb gloves are not even needed, but on the level or descent they are a must! So a pair of water proof gloves are necessary. Next on the climb a rain coat or wind block isn't needed, not so on descent, an effective rain coat is needed. And finally the head, ears and face, same thing, not on the climb, yes on the descent. And probably the worst part about not having the right clothing on the descent is speed limiting:( There were several really nice descents on this section but I was limited to less the about 13mph on most when I'm sure high 20s to low 30s speed could have been hit.

And I'm seriously disappointed that today without effective gloves I was taken out after only 22miles. I'm also disappointed in Walmart Supercenter, come on guys, no rain gloves? After all we're in upstate NY not Florida. I suppose I'll have this cold weather riding down pat about the time tee shirts, shorts and sun screen become the standard uniform:)

Warm-up stop:) A MUST in this weather. 

Early camp at Yogi campground. Rained all night. 

Day 10 R&R near Ticonderoga NY

We had a great rest & recuperation period at a nice camp ground north of Ticonderoga NY. Cool morning, frost on the picnic table, but warmed to a very pleasant sunny day requiring sun block. It did hurt not to be riding on such a fine day, especially with rain predicted for tomorrow, but R&R was really needed.  So we did some other needed tasks, checking out the car, oil, tire etc, fixing a trailer left door issue and putting a new trailer/car electrical connector. 

I was also thinking some might think food would be primitive while camping on the constant move like we're doing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Donna is a miracle worker with a coleman camp stove! Breakfast can be a 3 egg, salmon/pork,spinach, cheese and onion omelet, plain old bacon and eggs or left over pork patties and walnuts. And of couse fresh brewed coffee. We usually don't eat lunch but I will snack on Beef Jerky, apples, bannas, grapes, sardines, nuts, celery with pennut butter, or dinner leftovers. Dinner is nearly alway a salad and cooked vegetable like broccoli, carrots, onion, mushrooms, green onions.  And the main course has been steak, chicken, pork, salmon, turkey chilly and on day fajitas. 

So as you can see we eat very well all thanks to my lovely wife Donna, I LOVE YOU. 

I can only imagine the treats I'd have had I put an oven in the galley.