July 20 Forty more miles on the Erie Canal

It's a sluggish morning, and in between coffees and photos, it's 10 am before we are happily rolling , once again, along the peacefull Erie Canalway. The route is about perfect: free of traffic, easy to pedal and under a canopy of mature sumacs and ashes>> scoring me big points on the "romantic spots to take the wife" scale. We pass rock outcrops, aisles of flowers and scampering bunnies. Historic Ft. Plain, then Canajoharie and Fultonville. Then Auriesville. The canalway path conveniently passes directly through these small towns; it's a pity we couldn't spend some time in each since they all proclaim nearly 400 years of history, (white man's history, that is).

After 40 miles of cinder track, it's time to head north and away from the canal corridor. We fight our way thru busy and depressing Amsterdam, parking for a short time at a Dunkin' Donuts to chug an iced coffee and regather our wits. It's rush hour and we still have 30 miles to go! SR 67 out of town eventually has a small shoulder, but traffic is relentless, and we finally find sideroads into the suburbs of Saratoga Springs.

In West Milton, 3 odd gentlemen sitting on a picnic table, sipping coffees at a convenience store give us (what proves to be good) directions. It goes something like>> "You three guys look like you know the area?" Gary directs as he stops his bike. Odd looks from all three. "We're trying to get to east Saratoga but don't want to ride on any of the busy highways", I continue. More odd looks then a quick conference between them. More conferring. Paper is produced and a crude map is drawn with dots and lines. We hurriedly fill in names and numbers so we don't forget and find ourselves 1/4 mile down the road trying to remember right turns from 2nd right turns. After 10 minutes of route explanation and countless additional (and unnecessary) details, we are confidently off. Half hour later we arrive at Broadway and a maze of tourists all looking for or leaving eateries. Light is waning, and after a ride down a highway marked "no bicycles", and further redirecting, we arrive at Comfort Inn after 78 miles, and slip into the "all you can wedge in" Golden Corral restaurant with 5 minutes to spare.