Erie Canal ... (September 9, 2010)

Over the last week or so, I have been riding the tow path of the Erie Canal. Some of the stretches of the canal are still active, others have been abandoned since the 1850's. The common element on all of the paths is that there are no cars or trucks. Some of the paths are heavily used by other cyclists and walkers; some areas are almost empty of others.

And other than riding in the rain today, the riding has been most enjoyable.

The history of the Erie Canal is captivating. First envisioned by a former mill owner (who suffered financial ruin in the early 1800's, and served several years in paupers' prison), the full length canal (from Albany to Buffalo) was opened in 1825. The result was that the Midwest was then opened up to much cheaper transportation ... what had cost $100 a ton to transport via wagons could now be hauled at around $2.50 a ton. This allowed much trade between East Coast manufacturing and Midwest agriculture. The Canal was critical to the economic and population growth of the Midwest.

The size (depth and width) of the Canal was expanded in the 1850s and 1910s, but the development of the railroad system spelled the end of the Canal as a viable means of hauling goods. Today the Canal is primarily used for pleasure boats and cruise/vacation barges.

The surface of the tow paths consist primarily of crushed stone, which makes for easy riding.

I am in Rome, NY today, heading on toward Albany, then Cape Cod. I plan on arriving in Cape Cod on September 18. I have reached a point where I am quite tired of the non-riding elements of this (almost 15-week) trek ... camping, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. I really do not know if I will continue on to the northern areas of New England (to see the changing of the leaves) after reaching Cape Cod. Guess I will see how I am feeling at that time ... which is only a little over a week from now.

On a side note, I saw a sign out in front of a church that said, "Autumn Leaves ... Jesus Stays." I would imagine that whoever is responsible for putting up these messages must get quite bored and crazy, so tries to get creative. Caught my attention, anyway ...

A bit of an odd feeling over-took me earlier this evening ... I went into a Walgreen's drug store here in Rome ... it is exactly the same layout as the Walgreen's store at Campbell and Fort Lowell Roads in Tucson ... exactly. While everything else about this area differs from Arizona, good ol' Walgreen's brought me the comfortable feeling of home.

This trek across the country has been exceptional. I will be coming back to the upper Midwest and the New England areas again ... just not only on a bike next time.