All of these things conspire to isolate me from appreciating the countryside, either by obscuring the view or demanding my full attention. The result was a pretty uneventful day. I tried to ride on the towpath again, even though it would probably be a very messy affair, but it was not to be found and so I found myself on a state road with a very wide shoulder for me. The road did cross the canal numerous times, and there were often abandon sections of the old parts of the canal to stop and muse over.
By about 6:00 I was tired of being wet and I found a motel room in Baldwinsville, near Syracuse. The view out my window is of the Seneca River, which is also the Erie Canal. The canal is ever present in this part of the state. Finding a motel room is not as easy as I had expected in the east. I had thought every small town would have some kind of place with rooms for the night, but the only sure bet is to stay by the interstate highways. As in so many other ways, the interstates have changed the structure of life in America.
Before the advent of the bicycle, people who wanted to see the countryside had to use some kind of horse powered mode of transportation, which meant that inns had to have some kind of stable for the horses. With the advent of the bicycle, no such facility was necessary, and, in a sense, the era of personal travel commenced. In his last newspaper article from the road, Mr. Babcock remarked on how the long distance bicyclist was being accommodated:
Speaking of taverns reminds me that here in the East I have spent some of my pleasantest nights and enjoyed some excellent meals at these country hotels. Wheelmen have patronized them a great deal and many of the old wayside inns throughout New England have taken on new life. This former glory left with the stage coach and the horse back travelers but they are being rejuvenated, or, rather reanimated. I several times met other wheelmen at these taverns, for New England is the field of the touring cyclist. Fully as many ladies as gentlemen are to be seen enjoying long excursions, and on several occasions I met gentlemen and their wives going on trips of 200 or 300 miles.
Today was a bit of a milestone, as I have actually boated (technically rowed) on this section of the Canal. I am approaching the intersection where boats can go north into Lake Ontario, or east to the Hudson River. In this area the Erie Canal is really a series of rivers and lakes that combine to form the waterway, and as I surmised earlier, the route of the canal is not nearly as straight as out west.
76 wet ones today, with more promised tomorrow.
Dennis