Sunday, June 17, 2018

Erie Canal Tour Day 2 - Lockport to Rochester

Tough day today with the hot hot heat. But we persevered, took cooldown breaks, stayed hydrated, and arrived at our perfectly fine lodging options for the evening.


I was chatting up another bike tourist this morning at our motel in Lockport. He was riding west, and told me the canal trail is more often than not hard packed crushed stone, but sometimes the stone was not well packed and it was a slog. He said the alternate routes on NY 31 and Bike Route 5 were really good, with huge shoulders and little traffic.

So as soon as we got out of town, we hit the crushed stone, and Max was pretty unhappy. His bike (which was inherited from Mama) has 650c triathelon wheels and skinny tires. So we hopped of the canal trail right away and took to the roads. The canal trail had a definite lack of shade, also.

Max rocked riding on the regular old roads, no problems, no terrifying lapses into hazardous and unsafe behavior. He rode it like a pro all day. I am so proud.

But it was around 90 all day, and that really sucks the life out of you. Here is Max at one of our many cooldown breaks, in Albion, NY. Sitting under that shady tree for 15 minutes really helps.



So I picked our 6 this evening because there was a reasonable looking mom and pop restaurant just a half mile up the road. We are in an industrial area next to the airport, sandwiched between a railroad freight yard, an interstate, and said airport.

So we rode up to the restaurant, and it was closed!!! What to do! Quick to Google Maps on the phone! It turns out there is only one option, another 1.8 miles away, besides fast food, which is also 1.8 miles away.

Appleby's.

Hey Max, you think the fancy place last night can wreck a steak, just wait and check out what's coming up tonight!

With dread cause by many train wrecks of abominable service and botched meals at Appleby's, we set out. And it turns out it is jammed, we had to wait for a table, and it was properly and efficiently operated. Who would have thought.

So I replenished my electrolytes, and Max was a very happy young man because they had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese on the kids menu with applesauce on the side. His humanity was restored, it had vanished somewhere around mile 60 today.


So this is a great adventure so far, with Max riding his bike like a pro, better than most adults I know, but totally still an 11 year old boy when there is Kraft macaroni and cheese at Appleby's. It's been a great Father's Day.

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