D10 NE Still Good

The Erie Canal Trail is significantly different compared to the Hudson Valley Empire State Trail. Some of the communities along the ECT have truly embraced the idea of bicyclist coming through – and stopping – in their towns. From the 5 or so parties of long distance cyclist we saw just today, that’s likely a wise financial decision. It also makes for a better ride.

When we don’t have breakfast in the motel, we jump on the bikes and try to get 15 – 20 miles out of the way. Then we stop for breakfast. Today we stopped just 100 feet from the trail, in the town of Amsterdam at the Evolve Eatery. Bike friendly with a bike rack. The name, the old VW bus, and the flowery signs should have tipped us off to the type of hippy dippy foods they serve. I’m good with that type of food (even was a hippy at one time) but when riding 60 miles I kinda need a stack of 8 – 10 plate sized pancakes. The oatmeal was really good, but almond milk? It’s colored water – don’t kid yourself into believing otherwise.

Taking my helmet off, I realized that I had inadvertently styled my hair to show solidarity with the nearby Mohawk River. Don’t worry I’m not styling anything. It was simply the helmet indents – My hair “styling” occurs once a month with an 1/8″ razor – head, face, chest, underarms – 10 minutes and I’m done.

Amsterdam had embraced the trail and we enjoyed it, but another 20 miles down the trail and we ran into a lovely little church. Handmade signs on the trail directed us to it for bathrooms and water! We obliged and found a nice bathroom and bottles of water with an apology for not providing snacks. There still are good people in the world.

Along the trail today, we were fortunate to come upon a lock on the Mohawk River. Notice the boat in the lock, next to the parked car. Then look through the other pictures noting the boat going lower and lower. Then, in the last picture, you see the lock open and the boat coming out a good 20 feet lower, below the dam. Impressive enough in this century but unbelievable for the 19th century when the original locks were built – not to mention the aqueducts which I will try to discuss/show tomorrow.

In the west, about the only thing you find an abundance of is pine trees. However, pine cones are not exactly a delicacy. Pine nuts are good, although expensive, and I’ve never actually eaten them in the wild. In the East, food falls off the trees and is so plentiful – apparently – they just leave it lying on the trail. In this case they are black walnuts. The fresh nuts, with a husk, are the size of a lime and can completely derail a nice bike ride if you hit them. There are also apples littering the trail in spots – unbelievable and beautiful.

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