Today’s ride started off very uneventful. We had cool temps and a nice ride leaving Medina. Our hotel was nice, albeit somewhat overpriced in my opinion.
This section of the canal, including tomorrow’s ride, is probably my favorite. We pass through several old port towns and many of them still have the old-time downtown feel.
We decided that we would try to get rolling early today to give us as much time as possible in Rochester at the Strong Museum of Play. So we left Medina around 7:45 with the intention of having a real breakfast in Brockport.
Looking back over the day’s photos, I didn’t take very many pictures. We just kept rolling forward with very few stops along the way. Billy brought a drone along for the trip and he flew it to take a few pictures of us during one of our rest breaks. It was neat to see the pictures and videos of us sitting at one of the canal port stops.
<pics>
Rolling eastward was generally easy today. No major issues and we all felt great. The sun was shining and trail conditions were good. So we made good time to Brockport and pulled in for breakfast at the Brockport Diner. There was some discussion about whether Tom’s Diner in Lockport was better or the Brockport diner. I think both were good but the quality of the food in Brockport was better.
While we were eating breakfast, the rain started. It was mostly a gentle rain, but it was a little forewarning of the rest of the ride. A few miles east of Brockport, we stopped and put on our raincoats. The rain didn’t last long, but then as we approached Rochester, the rain came on heavy and hard. A little thunder could be heard in the distance and the winds picked up a bit. It didn’t feel dangerous or bad, but by the time we reached Genesee Valley Park we were all very wet, except for where the raincoats kept us dry.
We are staying in Downtown Rochester this evening, which meant departing from the Erie Canal path and going north into Downtown along the Genesee River. We passed through the University of Rochester campus, my Alma Mater, and then made our way north about 3 miles to downtown.
After checking into our hotel, we wandered over to the Strong Museum of Play. It is a very large museum of toys and games. We had a fun time wandering and playing lots of vintage video games and pinball machines. Sadly, they don’t have any of my games currently on display.
I did ask the giant magic 8-ball if the weather would improve tomorrow. It said “don’t count on it.” Bummer.
After the museum, we met up with some friends of JB who happen to also be riding the canal. We will be riding along with them for a few days now. We had dinner at the Dinosaur BBQ. It was definitely a good time and good food.
Laundry is now drying and I’m having trouble staying awake. Tomorrow will take us to Newark NY. A bit of a shorter day at 45 miles.
May the Lord bless your and keep you, may He shine His face upon you and bring you peace.
– Dcn. Matt
Deacon Matt's Blog 