Season 4 Episode 21. Almost last night of camp vibes.

Season 4 Episode 21. Almost last night of camp vibes.  

9/19 Medina, NY to Palmyra, NY. 72 miles. 388’ climb.

I guess that’s lining up all your ducks in a row. very Heather-like. But also very Heather-like is the duck appears calm and serene above water and nobody sees the constant paddling below water. I see the constant energy Heather expends to make all seem so effortless in running our home life.  I guess I’m one very lucky duck!

Have never seen a sign like this. In addition to riding for Team Reeve, I’ve done a little bit of advocacy for the foundation and think about accessibility and travel for those who use wheelchairs and love this fantastic sign.

As I am the trip navigator, responsible for route and directions, it’s my duty to make sure that when I make a turn, that Heather if behind me sees me do so. In many instances like the following, rather than stop and wait at the intersection, I ride on and slow down so she will see me when she gets to the intersection herself and knows which way to go. In this case, I didn’t see her in my mirror so I turned my body sideways (while still riding) and looked backwards for a moment. I saw her. But looked back for a moment too long. 

While looking back, I went off trail, and that’s when I made my second mistake. I was still in control and should have simply stopped in the grass and then reset myself on the trail. But no! I attempted to correct my steering back onto the trail, and was going too slowly to get over the lip of pavement from a diagonal angle. Bam!  Down I went quickly and hard on to the paved surface on my right side.

As I lay there, and slowly rolled to my back, I could feel the impact points right away of right elbow and right hip.

For the second time in 5 days, a frequency I’ve never had before, I was lying on the ground with a shoe still clipped in, taking mental inventory of my bones. Again lucky as can be. A bit of bruise on my hip. And a minor cut to my elbow area.

The thin sleeves that I wear daily on my arms to protect against the sun, did protect me from worse road rash and bigger cuts.

And I think my right pannier absorbed much of the impact before it broke off from my bike. 

And Heather did indeed make the turn, she came rushing and yelling asking If I was ok. And only when I replied yes did she ask if she should take pictures. And to which I said yes. 

I confess it did make me wonder if this was a freak coincidence to fall twice in 5 days or am I making mistakes due to being exhausted, or declining cognitively or some other reason? Will my kids have the conversation with me equivalent to taking away an older person’s car keys? 

No time to dwell on that now, we rode on.

In 4 to 5 days on the canal trail, this was the only literally canal-side restaurant we could find. We recommend visit Pittsford and eat at Aladdin’s.

Late afternoon, we met a man trailside with a falcon. We learned he trained them to keep the seagulls (not Segals) away from the local landfill. He previously worked at JFK for 12 years to keep birds away which led to us talking about Captain Sully landing on the Hudson after his plane’s engine was disabled from birds. The man said it was Canadian geese. I knew falconry dates back at least to medieval times for sport, but he educated us that it went back to ancient times over 4,000 years ago for hunting food. To which I asked does the falcon think cyclists are prey or does he know I’m too heavy to swoop off with in his talons? 

We were told it would not attack us. It doesn’t even attack small game, but attacks other, smaller birds from above. The falcon is the fastest attack creature in the world with speeds over 200 mph! (Cheetah is the fastest land animal and hits 60 mph.) I wasn’t convinced it wouldn’t attack us and a subsequent google search confirmed my suspicions.

Palmyra, considered the birthplace of the Mormon religion, offered up an inspiring sunset as we walked down Main Street.

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9/20 Palmyra, NY to Syracuse, NY. 73 miles. 1,331’ climb.

Wouldn’t you hire a handyman who could build a treehouse like this?

Not the smartest FROYO marketing name to me. Not even tempting me.

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9/21 Syracuse, NY to Whitesboro. 58 miles, 700’ climb.

Once we got out of the city, with some gritty neighborhoods, we resumed to the serene Erie Canal trailway.

We finally gave in to our temptation, and ordered a subway footlong - chocolate chip cookie that is. It’s more like a brownie. I told Heather I’d only have a few bites, but then ate half of it.

An hour later, when we saw this sign that spoke personally to me, I questioned the cookie. But I have read and agree fully that people regret more what they did not do, the chances not taken, rather than the things done. Thus no real cookie regrets.

We were hosted by another amazing WarmShowers host couple, Tom and his wife Heather. (It was confusing each time I said Heather.) Tom has done three (!) Northern Tier rides and we enjoyed a night of comparing notes and swapping stories. Yet his most fascinating story was about on 9/11 when he was in the Air Force at EADS (eastern air defense sector) in nearby Rome, NY and an operator of radar describing what was happening in their command center. 

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9/22 Whitesboro, NY to Schenectady, NY. 89 miles Mark, 101 miles Heather! 739’ climb.

Tom rode out with us for 10 miles and I had the relaxing pleasure of someone else navigating.

We soon understood why it was Tom’s favorite section of the trail from Buffalo to Albany. I’d agree.

A photo stop of lock number 16 that would have consequences.

39 minutes later and 6 miles further into a rough headwind, we stopped for lunch. Both starved. However, Heather realized she forgot her phone on a picnic table back at lock #16. She rode back to look for it and after I ate, I waited trailside to hear if she was lucky to find it or I’d meet her by the trail when she returned. So on a day we knew would be the very longest of the trip (89 miles!), I had said to Heather last night that maybe I’d ride another hour upon arrival just to ride a century since it would be so flat. She said not her. Well, it turned out she did ride 101 miles! And to my shock only drank 1 water bottle all day. And to my further shock, when she stopped to buy a snack of 2 apples, they were only selling them by the bag so she showed up with a 3 pound bag of apples! I said you could have given them away. 

Amazingly somebody found her phone and turned it into the lock master. 

No apples for me. Hershey’s Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle was awesome and fueled my final 2 hours.

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9/23 Schenectady, NY to Elizaville, NY. 72 miles. 2,739’ climb.

Emergency road side stop to remove a bug from Heather’s eye. It was alive when extracted. And while it was bothering her greatly, she asked me to first take a photo.

We have driven by Albany a few hundred times and never visited - the beauty of a bike slowing you down.

Very unwelcoming and a huge contrast to St. Paul, MN where we could just walk inside and around. And when we asked in MN about how open it was to anybody, they said it’s the people’s Capitol.

A very odd detour lane to lead us up over the Hudson River.

This was definitely a “trail closed” sign to obey!

The other end. And sign that walkway removed.

As I write this now from the perspective of having completed riding the Erie Canal Trail to Albany, I feel that yes Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Midwest have incredible trails - but right here in NY I am super impressed by our very own Erie Canal Trail and Empire State Trail. The signage is excellent. Both directional and educational. We both learned so much. The canal was a technology breakthrough in its time and led to growth of industry, agriculture and prosperity for NY and the US. I do think this could be the best place for NY area friends to try bikepacking.

After 62 days, we’ve finally crossed the Hudson River, the last major waterway remaining.

Hudson Valley, early autumn colors beginning.

When we plotted our original route, I saw it could make sense to visit Elizaville, NY for our second to last night. This is a very special place for the Segal family, more specifically our daughters Sydney and Jamie. It’s the site of their childhood home away from home, Camp Scatico, their sleep away camp. Sydney enjoyed 11 summers here as camper and then staff; Jamie 16 summers “so far” as she says, since she’s a teacher and still works here in summers. It’s the site where other than our home, so much of their character was developed and they have the closest and dearest friends from summers here. 

Tradition of the last night at their camp is to burn the year’s numbers off into the lake as you reflect on the summer past. I thought that although this was not our final night, it was close enough to it, to want that same mental moment. Sitting by their camp lake, looking back on all that Heather and I have accomplished, I thought just like a last night of camp is bittersweet, so too is this final phase of our cycling odyssey. And just like our daughters would be lakeside, with their closest of friends, I would be here with my best friend, reflecting. 

I had reached out to the camp owners David and Diana, asking if they would be up here by any chance and if we could visit them and stay with them to experience a little of the magic our daughters experienced as we conclude our trip. Their reply was unfortunately they’d not be here, but invited us to stay here anyhow and made us feel most welcome. Thank you so much for allowing us this opportunity. 

As it’s around midnight on 9/23 and I think about this journey both in itself, and as the culmination of our quest to ride the perimeter of the contiguous US states, (the lower 48), I know the experience has changed me but I’m not sure yet fully how. How can it not result in change and growth? 

Heather and I talk of an incident from 2 months ago and then have to do a double take, was that from this trip?

In 36 hours, we will ride into Larchmont, our home since September 1994. And to use another Wizard of Oz reference, as Dorothy said, there’s no place like home. We look forward to returning to the blessings of our community. Both the wonderful friends and the beauty of where we live. We look forward mostly to hugging our adult children. 

But for now we still have 100 miles to ride over these final 2 days and to make these days meaningful. Fittingly, our final night will be with another WarmShowers host as the adventure and new relationships continue to the very end.

Once home, in a few days, I’ll try to write a final blog post capturing the finale and end of trip reflections.

The iconic tree lined Scatico camp road.

Sitting right where I wanted to be sitting. Thinking back on our adventure, on our daughters’ experience here, and on my own camp lakes up in Canada.

So many reflections.

It’s been a labor of love writing this blog. On some days (not many) more tiring than the biking. Although I cannot acknowledge or reply to every comment, I greatly appreciate each of them and they have helped fuel my ride. Thank you!!! If you’ve read along and not yet had a chance to support the Reeve Foundation, please do so at Heather & Mark Ride for Reeve!

© Copyright Mark Segal 2024.