The sign in background marks the trail |
Dad, Mom, and their friends George and Edie came for a three-day cruise and bike tour. Dad and George biked along the canal path from Macedon to Palmyra and, next day, from Palmyra to Newark.
From left, George, Edie, Dad, Mom |
But then weather intervened: sleet and freezing rain, gale force winds.
So the bikers boarded the boat, and had a cozy cruise, with the propane cabin heater blasting and the Scotch flowing. We all had fun. But Dad didn't get to do all the biking he had planned.
Today I biked the section he missed, thinking of him along the way. The path was a cool, green tunnel formed by walnut and sumac trees. The canal was always in view, crossed here and there by antiquated single-lane bridges, like tinker-toy constructions.
And at each end of the segment was a lock, with bright-yellow-painted railings and cobalt-blue-painted machinery, a four-square white 1920's-era locktender's house, flags snapping in the breeze. Dad, you would have loved it.
(BONUS: Read Dad's guest post on the SlowBoat Great Loop Blog.)
Speaking of Biking Along the Erie Canal
Map courtesy of Ben Carlsen |
Wonderful tribute to your father. I rode the Erie Canal ride from Buffalo to Albany in 2007. It was a great ride that I enjoyed immensely. I wish that I could come and see you but I will be on a bicycle sojourn on the Delaware and Lehigh Rails to Trails. Enjoy your journeys.
ReplyDeleteSo neat that you've biked the entire canal! Have fun on your bike trip and share pix!
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