Start:  Rochester, NY

Finish: Cicero, NY

Weather:  75 degrees, sunny

Miles:  100

Distance to date: 2,713

Some days just get out of control…

I rode abut thirty miles on the Erie Canal tow path from Rochester to
Newark.  Very pastoral, but not paved, and it was getting muddy so I switched to the road, which was sweet all the way into Weedsport.  Stopped at a local joint
for lunch which had great chicken parm sandwiches and two-for-one turtle cheese cake.  How could I say no to that?  I left the restaurant at 2:30 pm with 65 miles under my belt and passed an appealing Best Western.  I thought, maybe I’ll call it a day, when my work ethic kicked and said, hey, what if you hit some bad weather days?  So I pedaled on to Syracuse.

I have never liked Syracuse, and that perception was reinforced today in spades.  I had figured 85 miles from
Rochester to Cicero, just north of Syracuse. I knew from experience that the city was dreary and full of stop lights, so I wanted to avoid that. The bike route pushed north and east, through Cicero where I had a line on a cheap motel.  Apparently whoever mapped the bike route around Syracuse hates cyclists.  The first 15 miles out of Weedsport was the most monotonous stretch of road going, much of it right adjacent to the thruway. Then, when it got lively, it got six-lane, big box, shopping mall, crazy drivers at 4:30 pm lively.  At one point there were three teen age girls walking with the traffic on an overpass with no shoulder, so I had to announce myself and they shrieked like crazy.  Areo all teenage girls programmed with e a ‘scream first, comprehend later’ gene?

I watched the odometer pass 85, then 90, and I thought, whoa, I may have a century in this.  Finally, I found Route
11 and headed for the motel, but not one cross street had a sign, so I turned left at four different places before finding the correct cross street.  Left turns on four lane roads with the
drivers gunning for their Target and Home Depot runs are no fun, but I am now expert at them.

It was just after 6 by the time I got to the Budget Inn.  Happy surprise, it is one of the nicest places I have stayed my entire trip. I have a lovely room on the second floor with a big window that looks out on woods.  I might not appreciate it as much if it had been easier to attain.

A bit of Americana in Clyde, NY