We woke and packed up early to head back into town for breakfast. Since we got to the diner just before it opened, Kelly went off to figure out her parking situation, only to have the office where she was told to go be closed. We sat down for a big breakfast while we waited.
Once Kelly was able to connect with the town PD and let them know her car’s info and where it would be parked, we rode down to Holley Falls to wait for her to move the car, and then we rode out of town with blue skies and sunshine.
Just as we approached Adams Basin, we caught up to a sailboat being towed and got to watch it go under the lift bridge and then the bridge get lowered, which was pretty neat. The boats passed us since we stopped to watch, but we would keep passing them all the way to Rochester since the speed limit in the canal is so low.
The path stayed on its own paved trail all the way through Rochester but we did get off shortly after the Genesee River to grab lunch. We ended up at a TGI Friday’s just because it was close and they had somewhere we could put the bikes. We all had giant salads for lunch to make up for the crap we’ve been eating on this trip so far.
We had a southeast wind today and it wasn’t quite as bad as yesterday. We did at least get breaks from it for a large part of the day, although it seemed to pick up towards the end of the day when our butts were really getting sore. I was ready to be done at least ten miles before camp, but we had to make it to Macedon where cyclists are allowed to camp in the Canal Park.
The mileage for the day was just about 50 when we made it to town. I stopped to talk to the firefighters at the park station while I waited for Jeremiah and Kelly to catch up. They told me where to camp, where water and portopots were, and recommended food in town.
Kelly walked in and I found out what had been taking her so long. She got a flat right on the bridge into town and unfortunately, it wasn’t just the tube. The tire had a big slash in it too. We decided to get dinner delivered and set up camp near the picnic pavilion so we’d have somewhere to hang out and fix her bike if it rained.
I handled food while Jeremiah and Kelly took care of the tire. He rode to the gas station in town to get more patches and some rubber cement so they could patch both sides of the tire, replace the tube, and put a snack wrapper in between the tube and the tire to help protect it even more.
While this was happening, a small Boy Scout troop arrived and said they usually have their meetings in the pavilion but didn’t mind us being there. We had stuff all over inside, trying to keep everything from blowing away in the wind while we handled the tire and dinner. They asked if we’d give a little presentation on cycling and I said I’d be happy to.
Our dinner finally arrived and I got to eat a bit before doing my impromptu presentation, focusing on adventure, safety, and gear.
One of the leaders offered to drive us to Walmart to get a new tire but we called and they didn’t have the right size, so the Boy Scouts all left when their meeting was over.
It was starting to rain so we pulled the rest of our gear inside and set up on the stage of the pavilion to sleep and stay dry. It was a late night and nice to finally lay down.
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