Bicycle Tours

Weedsport, NY
Rochester, NY
64 miles

A beautiful day ..... 50 percent of gently rolling countryside touring through farmland, with the other half on the Erie Canal . Temperatures stayed in the low 90s, with puffy clouds.

We had breakfast at the Best Western motel, which tied us over until Newport. We met up with the Pedaling Pastors from Canton Ohio. 22 Methodist pastors are cycling, supported by two sag wagons, from Ohio to Jordan NY, and back. They are spending the night in churches along the route. We played leap frog with them all day, and really enjoyed their company. The only side note is that they really don't know what town they stayed in , what town they started in, or what town they will be finishing up in for the night. We asked these questions to different pastors, at different times of the day...and got many different answers. Now that's what I call touring. The Rear Admiral and I loose the day of the week, and the correct date when we are on tour....but we always know where we been, and where we are going.

Tonight we are at Dustin and Lauren's townhouse in Rochester. So we are in very good hands.

Pulaski, NY
Weedsport, NY
58 miles

A beautiful day of countryside touring through large and small farms. Skies were a bit overcast, but the temperatures stayed in the low 80s.

We planned to use Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier map, but the lure of riding more of the Erie canal trail sent us in a zigzag south west direction. We rode through the towns of Mexico, Palermo, Penneville, Phoenix, and Baldwinsville on quiet county roads. We stopped in a sub shop for lunched in Baldwinsville. During lunch we remembered the diner and places we stopped at in Baldwinsville the last couple of times on tour in New York.

After lunch we headed south on route 31 (NY bicycle rte 5) until Jordan, where we picked up the Erie Canal Trail.

We are living large at the Best Western motel in Weedsport and have already enjoyed playing in the pool and walking the town. Weedsport was named after a family named Weeds.....and all this time I thought it was named after a port on the Erie canal that was known to have lots of lilly pads!.

Watertown, NY
Pulaski, NY
34 miles

We left the Subaru off at Discount Auto Glass in Watertown NY and headed south on NY bicycle route 11 (also NY rte 11). The Subaru needs a new front window, and the friendly people at Discount are allowing us to leave the car with them while we take our tour around Lake Ontario.

We planned a short day today, getting the first day touring legs back in shape. Route 11 is basically flat, with a nice shoulder (until the last 5 miles into Pulaski)...vehicle traffic was minor. Just a pleasant ride with overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 80s. Tomorrow, the forecast calls for rain.

By staying on route 11, the Rear Admiral had no map to read, and we pedaled our way until lunch at a little dinner, located in the back of a small grocery store in Sandy Creek

We are living large at a Super 8 motel, there is a new grocery store next door, so it looks like we will be searching the isles for supper.

The Summer of 2010 finds us cycling around Lake Ontario. We will be starting in Watertown, New York, and touring clockwise around this Great Lake. We will be following the Adventure Cycling's "Northern Tier" route, which includes traveling on the Erie Canal (SeeMore can't get enough of the Erie Canal!). After entering Canada, we will be following the Waterfront trail.

So apply your suntan lotion, put on your sunglasses, bring your swim suits...and follow SeeMore on another adventure!

SeeMore Completes the Tour de Cure

Most importantly:
SeeMore, the Rear Admiral, and I would like to thank everyone who donated to American Diabetes Association's TourdeCure. Our team, Boettchers at Heart raised over $10,000 dollars which will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

The 100K ride
SeeMore headed out in the Maine fog, with about 90 riders (our guess) from Kennebunk High School at 8:00 am Sunday morning. Through out the ride we remained at the end of the pack, happily deferring to sleek road bikes and fit spandexed riders. SeeMore is built for touring NOT SPEED and we soon found ourselves happily settled in at the end of the line.

What a beautiful ride, fog or no fog!!! We headed through West Kennebunk on a large circle towards Wells, mostly on very quiet back roads. After the first check in (about 15 miles) we followed route 109 as it merged with route 1. Route 1, as expected, was very busy but the cars were kind. It was really a very short ride (2 miles?) and then we turned towards the ocean. We then took the road along Kennebunk Beach towards the second check in. Ocean views, quaint cottages (well some were huge), downtown Kennbunk Port, birds and flowers were the sights and smells that kept our minds occupied. We successfully passed the Bush compound without George and Barbara asking for a ride on SeeMore then headed inland.

We refueled at check point number three (40 miles down!). Back along the coast again. Mary and I both filled up with oranges, pretzels, and cliff bars but did not take the short ride down to the point. There is supposed to be great views but the TourdeCure volunteer recommended that we visit another day as the view was non existent through the fog today. We think the weather was a blessing in disguise, no sun burn or heat exhaustion to worry about today. Temperatures were perfect for riding, in the low 70s.

The rest of the ride took us through through quiet back roads, returning once again to Kennebunk High School and a fantastic BBQ supper.

A special thank you to Linda Lambert (team captain) of Boettchers At Heart for inviting us on their team. This is the 15th year that Boettchers At Heart has ridden the Tour de Cure. Finally, another thank you to our daughter Kate for her support and help.

Sincerely,
SeeMore, Mary and Noel

SeeMore will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fundraising event. Along with the Rear Admiral (Mary) and myself, we will be cycling the Kennebunk, Maine Tour de Cure on June 13th. I'm ready to do the 100 kilometers, I wonder if the Rear Admiral and Captain are up to it!

Please visit Mary's site:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/rear_admiral

Or visit Noel's site:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/noel1

If you can make a donation.


On that page, please select the "Click Here to Sponsor Me" button. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes. So let's get in gear and ride to Stop Diabetes!




Thank you,
SeeMore
Mary
and Noel

Newark, NY
Brockport, NY
Chili, NY
72 miles

Perfection - a cloudless day, gentle wind, tempertures in the high 70s, great riding partners, and friendly canal users!

The Quality Inn of Newark is on the Canal Trail, and we rode the canal trail all day, from Newark to Brockport. The people who live in this section of New York have a really treasure. The Real Admiral and I have ridden this section a number of times, and we will never get tired of it.

We had breakfast at the Newark Diner where our waitress was also the cook, and the cashier. For 13 dollars (including tip), all three of us were taken care of with great service and full bellies (Greg ordered the Belly Filler). Then it was time to hit the trail. Lots of wild flowers, blue heron and other birds, bunnies, and boats were viewed from the semi shaded trail. We had a beautiful, but almost uneventful ride....like being in a great day dream....and not wanting to wake up.

Outside of Fairport we spotted a man coming up the trail, with what looked like a small dog running away from him, towards us, about 50 yards away. I was thinking that when we got closer, I would get off of SeeMore and try to catch this runaway puppy for the owner. About 50 feet from us, this "dog" turned sideways, then vanished into the tall grass to our left...but just as it was escaping we learned that it was not a dog, but a red tail fox. Then outside of Pittsford we noticed a female jogger walking a tall light brown "dog". She wasn't actually walking this dog, as she was leading the dog. She would jog to the left, and the "dog" would follower her to the left, then she would jog to the right, and the dog would follower her to the right. What a good dog, right? Until we saw the panic on the joggers face, and the fact the "dog" was actually a very large deer. As soon as the deer saw SeeMore...it disappeared into the tall grass. The woman was thankful to see us, she could get rid of that deer!

We had lunch at Spencerport, and after a brief after lunch nap at the canal's edge, then we rode to our ending point which was Brockport. A visitor to New York could spend a couple of hours visiting these two towns (Brockport and Spencerport)! This tour ended by following the trail back to Spencerport and then taking a series of roads to Greg's beautiful home in Chili. All three touring cyclist had a GRAND adventure!