Ride to Montauk that didn't happen June 16 - 17, 2012 - instead went to the Erie Canal

Jeff was supposed to ride from Manhattan to Montauk at the eastern end of Long Island. This was an organized ride that is 151 miles (242 km) long, it had about 3,000 people who signed up. Here the link to that ride: Ride to Montauk  . I dropped Jeff off at the Southeast train-station. He met Joe there and they shared a hotel room. They had to be at the starting point at 5 am on Saturday  morning. On Friday night they met Katie for dinner, Katie is riding the Montauk ride also. She was on the ride across North America which they did in 2010.

Joe, Katie and Jeff

 
 On Saturday morning when Jeff was riding to the starting point, his bag got caught between the wheel and the fork. It broke couple of spokes and the wheel didn't turn. There was no way of fixing it and even if I went and brought an extra wheel, he would not have been able to catch Joe and Katie. So he came home and I picked him up from the train-station. Joe and Katie did the ride and finished it in about 10-11 hours.

A very disappointed Jeff at the starting point

 Since we had our dog/house sitter lined up we decided to go and visit Matt instead. Laura was in Canada with her boyfriend who treated her to her birthday which was on Friday. We took our hybrid bikes with us, hoping that Matt would go for a short ride with us. It takes about 4.5 hours to drive to Utica, but luckily the traffic was light and driving good. We met Matt at his place, made reservations to a hotel and then went in search of the Erie Canal Trail. That thing is harder to find than you'd think. Locals didn't seem to know where it was or how to get to it. Finally Matt was able to find a road that might go there using his internet phone. It seems that Utica does not have access to the Erie Canal Trail, we went to Whitesboro instead.


We rode about 10 miles on Saturday. Went west and found Lock 20 on the Erie Canal. This man who works there was very friendly and talked to us for awhile. We continued on for couple of miles before turning around. Then went couple miles east from where we parked. It was quite warm and we were getting hungry.

Lock 20 @ Erie Canal

            

Jeff at Lock 20 @ Erie Canal

At Lock 20 @ Erie Canal

Jeff and Matt on the Erie Canal Trail

 Erie Canal

Lock 20 @ Erie Canal

Matt at Erie Canal Trail

On the way to the hotel we saw couple of neat cars. Don't know what one of them is supposed to be, probably home made thing. The couple who was in it saw me taking a picture of them and kept waving and smiling. The other car was an old hearse that was changed to a regular car. Those people were waving and giving us thumbs up signs. The signs on both cars had some cycle works logo on them, don't know if it was for motorcycles or bicycles. Maybe that's why they were waving at us, since we had two bikes on the roof.

Our hotel was brand new La Quinta. And not too far from the Turning Stone Casino. We went to the casino and had dinner there at their buffet. It was much better than the buffet at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. After dinner Jeff and Matt found a Blackjack table while I wondered around the place. Matt did pretty good, came ahead $50. Jeff not so.

Jeff at the hotel. We had a huge hallway which shows behind him

Jeff and Matt at Turning Stone Casino

Jeff and me at Turning Stone Casino

Breakfast at the hotel was really nice, Belgian waffles, eggs, sausage etc. After checking out we went back to Matt's place to get his car and headed to Little Falls. Little Falls seems to be a cute little town right on the Erie Canal. And the canal trail was a lot easier to find than in Utica area. We got on our bikes and headed on the trail. Rode 10 miles again. It was a bit warm and getting to be lunch time and at least Matt was starving. We had lunch at Ann Street Restaurant and Deli. Then went and got ice-cream and walked along the canal to the Hydroelectric Plant and back. After that we said goodby to Matt, who headed back to Utica, with Jeff's hybrid bike. Jeff and I decided to check out the Little Falls Antique Center. Nice little antique store, but we didn't buy anything. After that it was time to head back home. The drive home was pretty uneventful, which is good. We did stop at couple of farm stands between Rip Van Winkle Bridge and the Taconic Parkway.
And Casey was so happy to see us.

Little Falls, NY

Erie Canal Trail, Little Falls, NY

Little Falls, NY

Lock 17, Little Falls, NY

Jeff and Matt on the Erie Canal Trail, Little Falls, NY

Castle Creek, Erie Canal Trail

Castle Creek, Erie Canal Trail

Castle Creek Aquaduct, like it used to be

General Herkimer House, Little Falls, NY

Erie Canal Trail, Little Falls, NY

Rock climbing along the Erie Canal in  Little Falls, NY

Erie Canal Trail, Little Falls, NY

Canal Place, Little Falls, NY

Antiques Center, Canal Place, Little Falls, NY

Canal Place, Little Falls, NY

the falls at Little Falls, NY

Erie Canal, Little Falls, NY

Looking down at the water at the Hydroelectric Plant in Little Falls, NY

Erie Canal, Little Falls, NY

Sailboat on the Erie Canal, Little Falls, NY

Jeff and Matt, Little Falls, NY

What is left of the Little Falls Aqueduct, Little Falls, NY

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip - Day 10

Sunday, May 13, 2012

We spent the night at Mark and Karen's lovely home. Karen made us a really delicious breakfast of sausage, French toast, mushroom quiche and coffee/tea/juice After exchanging photographs with Mark, we did a short walk around the neighborhood. Braddock Heights is a really nice, quiet and safe area with great views.

After saying goodby to Mark and Karen, Jeff and I headed north. We drove back pretty much the same way we came down. We did miss a turn and ended up going through Hershey PA instead and then decided to avoid New Jersey completely and went through Scranton PA. Overall our trip back today took about 6 hours.

Susquehanna River, Harrisburg, PA

Hershey, PA

Lunch at McDonald's in Dupont PA

Since we started the trip with our first meal, breakfast, at Burger King which was decorated differently than any other that I've seen, I thought that I might as well end it with a picture of our last meal during the trip. Lunch at McDonald's, which was also decorated differently than others we've been to.














And last but not least: If you want more information about the Blue Ridge Parkway, here is a link to their website http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ . Also if you go before the peak season, lots of the facilities are not going to be open. Food and washrooms are also few and far apart, so be prepared to get off the parkway or bring your own lunches etc.. The weather can change quickly so be prepared for cold and wind and rain. Drive slowly and stay on your own lane, those curves can be tight and you can't see what's coming towards you. And keep an eye on those bicyclists, there are quite a lot of them and they are allowed on the roads as much as the cars and motorcycles. And no throwing cans and bottles or anything else at them.

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip - Day 9

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Traveled from milepost 431.4 to the end at milepost 469.1

We wanted to leave fairly early since Mark, Jeff and I had a long drive ahead of us today. We had  a nice  breakfast at the hotel and headed out to yesterday's ending point at the Richland Balsam Overlook. Yesterday was nice and sunny, today it was overcast and cloudy, but at least it didn't rain. The overlook was in the clouds and most of the ride was too.

Sunrise at the Mount Pisgah Inn

Cherry Cove Overlook

Richland Balsam Overlook, in the clouds

Jeff ready for the last day on the parkway

Joe, Jeff and Mark ready to go again

Karen and I stopped at Waterrock Knob where on a clear day you can see the Great Smokey Mountains and 4 states. Today we could barely see our hands in-front of us, which made it an interesting drive, and even more interesting bike trip.

View of the 4 different states ;)

 

Driving in the clouds, well I was stopped to take this pic

 
We didn't want to stay in the higher elevations too long because it was cold and we also didn't want to be behind the guys while they were zooming down the hills. They said that there were several cars that could not get by them because they were going faster than what the cars were able to. Once we got lower down and were able to see something, we did stop at couple places but wanted to get to the end point before them. We found a Visitor's Center with restrooms in Cherokee N.C. where they could change and clean up a little bit before heading home.

Ballhoot Scar Overlook

Blue Ridge Parkway at the Ballhoot Scar Overlook

At the Cherokee N.C. Visitor Center

Cherokee N.C.

Cherokee N.C.

Cherokee N.C.

We then headed back to the end point and didn't have to wait too long before they arrived. After the required picture taking we loaded the cars and headed to the Visitor Center. We said goodby to Joe and Karen who went home to Georgia. Jeff and I drove with Mark 10 hours to his home in Braddock Heights in Maryland. We stayed overnight at his home.

Oconaluftee River

Oconaluftee River

Southern end of Blue Ridge Parkway

They did it!!!

Packing up

Almost ready to go

there is a little dog riding a motocycle, "mountain man" on the way

I-40

Mark having lunch at Sonic

Blue Ridge Mountains on the background as seen from I-81, we were there

This is how I spent some of the 10 hour drive