Day 54 Lockport to Fairport

Strava link

Satellite tracking

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Yesterday was a rest day or more accurately an avoid 2 inches of rain day. I did not leave the hotel room except for one brief outing to get a sandwich for lunch. Other than that I ate breakfast and dinner in my room. And, no it wasn’t room service. It was convenient store food either eaten cold or microwaved.

I did take the opportunity to talk to the hotels patriarch it is a family run hotel for three generations. I met the original owner who told me about how they bought the original 10 units that faced the road. His family owned farmland across the street and built the additional four buildings that make up the current hotel. Since then his four children have built homes on what used to be the original farm and have all worked at the hotel his grandchildren now also work there. You could hear the pride in his voice as he told me his story.

The history of the canal is is worth doing some research on. It is quite fascinating. I am riding on what used to be the path that the mule trains would walk along pulling the barges down the canal. All of the big cities of New York are along the path of the canal Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany before joining the Hudson on the way to New York City. I took the rest day because the path is crushed limestone and gravel and I wasn’t sure how it would hold up to 2 inches of rain. But after an overnight to dry out and some winds it has been very rideable.

Friends from Atlanta (the LoPresti’s and I had planned to meet up on the canal trail after they flew into Rochester today. The encounter was far more serendipitous than planned. I’d pulled over in a small parking lot to check directions not remotely looking for them because it was at least 45 minutes before I thought they would be there. They knew they were in the vicinity of where I was because of my satellite tracker and without seeing me pulled into the same parking lot and it was quite the surprise encounter. After a brief visit we temporarily parted company and I continued my ride and they started their vacation. They picked me up later that day and took me out to a very nice dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the canal. We had a wonderful time catching up. I think we all ate too much but at least I got the first vegetables I’ve had since Minneapolis.