Friday Eye Candy: Niagara Falls and the Erie Canal
Horseshoe Falls at Niagara thunders away with the huge old electrical power plant in the distance. We got soaked from the mist and spray even far away from it.
Last week was our first in fall weather. Heading east from Niagara Falls, we crossed a ten-lane-but-none-for-bikes bridge out of Canada (in the commercial truck lane) and rejoined America on 9/11. Crazy to think it was 13 years ago that day that I left for college, hopping into my little Corolla to drive to California. Ah fall, a time for wistful nostalgia.
Days are cooler, down in the 60’s frequently during the day (37 this morning). The changing seasons has the dual effect of getting me stoked and also feeling ok chilling in a coffee shop sipping hot chai. Which is exactly what I’m doing as I write this, rows of Apple laptops arrayed around me.
These pictures are from a handful of days traversing from Niagara past Rochester, New York. Almost all of 150 miles were spent on fantastic gravel towpath trails along the Erie Canal, plus other canals. It’s such an extensive network that we could have followed them over 500 miles toward the coast of New York! Crunching along on tiny limestone chunks away from cars past tiny towns with names like Lockport, Middleport, and PortPortPort was a nice break from traffic and reaffirmed once again that off-road touring is something we have to try out.
Today we ride north from Ithaca toward Lake Ontario. We spent the last week doing a lovely 200 mile detour through the Finger Lakes region and now we’re heading toward the Adirondack Mountains! Time flies on.
Happy fall from Gimme! Coffee in upstate New York,
Dakota
A foggy, cool morning on a canal in NY.
A much-leaned-upon railing overlooking Horseshoe Falls in Niagara. Notice Chelsea’s awesome tan lines from her cycling gloves!
End of the Erie Canal! 150 miles of great gravel riding away from cars. Flat, but tough riding since the trail was soft from rain the night before.
A tour boat cruises below American Falls, which carries about 1/10 the water of Horseshoe Falls.
A bee nuzzles flowers in Niagara Falls.
Sun cuts through above the canal trail.
Leaping from a photo vantage point on an Erie Canal bridge.
A farmer chugs off into the sunset after a day’s work.
