Day 39 – Weedsport to Utica, NY

The beautiful weather continues and today we enjoyed another ninety miles of delightful canalside riding eastwards across upstate New York. It turns out that there is more than one Erie Canal. Who knew? The original canal was completed in 1825, helping to open up the westward expansion of America. However, the canal was widened – most notably in the early twentieth century – leaving considerable sections of the original route disused. We spent long periods today following this original channel, now mostly overgrown but still identifiably a man made canal. Some of these sections were single-track, but most were wide enough to ride side by side.

It was quite a surprise when at one stage this afternoon the signs delivered us back alongside a lock on the main, operational waterway. Everything suddenly seemed awfully big, especially when compared to the tiny little boat that was making its way at the time through the huge lock. According to the young lock keeper, use of the canal is free to the public and a major cost to the state of New York. Everything is automated and it takes about ten minutes for the huge locks to fill or drain, moving boats up and down so ingeniously.

Today’s ride took us through the city of Syracuse, which has a very impressive central square with fountains, sculptures and a collection of taller Art Deco style civic buildings. We would have lingered, but this journey requires us to keep moving east and we had already enjoyed a longish coffee break, where I had listened to and joined in with a large and eclectic group of people practicing their Spanish. How much easier it is to understand when no one is a native speaker!

Late lunch was enjoyed from a deli on the pavement in the sun in the small canal town of Canastota. A couple of doors along the street was a pizza shop, and a couple of men in high visibility jackets emerged and walked past us with big pizza boxes. At the end of the street was a railway bridge with a freight train engine parked halfway across it. We were a little surprised to see the men scramble up the bank beside the bridge and climb up into the cab of the train! I guess long distance train drivers also need sustenance.

The last big town before Utica, our destination, was Rome. The town came into being because of the building of a fort, Fort Stanwix, by the British, in 1758, on the site of an important Indian canoe portage. It became a major trading post and featured in various wars in the years that followed. The impressive wooden structure, with its four diamond shaped defensive corners, has been reconstructed, complete with surrounding ditches, and is now a national monument.

It felt like the right time to introduce Simon to the delights of root beer, my beverage of choice. It was his first time; but he took to it quickly. When in Rome…