Backpacking with Colin and Forest last year in the Whites was so much fun that we decided to make it an annual event. When it came time to plan the Second Annual Adventure Weekend, we decided to get off foot and onto bikes this year. Forrest had just recently moved to Rochester, so logistically it was easy to roll out from his house for a few days along the Erie Canal.
Colin and I left work and drove from Springfield to Syracuse, where we left my car and grabbed the train with bikes to Rochester. Trains are the best, and was the real MVP for making this trip easy. We got into Rochester late at night and Forrest picked us up to head back to his place for some sleep.
The next morning, we woke up and had some pancakes with Forrest’s family before hitting the road. Forrest lives just a few blocks from the canal, so in less than five minutes were were already riding along the water. We biked past dog walkers and sculls gliding along the water under the bright early summer sun, joking and laughing and catching up about life. I love friends where you can immediately pick up right where you left off last time.
After a relaxed morning we stopped off for a quick break in Palmyra. Honoring our Mormon roots, we had to pay an ironic visit to the Book of Mormon print shop, but more importantly, grabbed lunch from Wegman’s. I’ve never been there before. That place fucks.
The rest of the day went by without too much to report. Eventually, our route left the canal to climb up towards the evening’s campsite. With loaded touring bikes, even a little bit of uphill can be pretty punishing, but low gearing got us through as we crawled the last few miles. A short and speedy descent got us to that night’s home. Our site neighbors generously donated a few beers to us.
It started to drizzle as the sun was setting, so we called it a day and got into bed for an early night. It poured all night and into the morning. My least favorite thing in the world is packing up camp in the rain, because you know that future you is going to be miserable in 10 hours. We looked at the forecast but it didn’t look like we were going to have a break in the rain, so we sucked it up and got ready to hit the road.
For better or worse, as soon as we rolled out of camp, the rain stopped. I was internally a little bit annoyed but grateful it meant we could enjoy the start to our day riding through Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. We saw some cool birds and got dirty from birdwatchers in cars.
As we climbed up and away from the refuge, the real rain came – harder than any rain I’ve been out in for years. Pretty much immediately we were soaked through, and the late May air temps made us uncomfortable. Luckily we’re all good vibes guys and nobody was crabby as we rolled towards town. We stopped under some cover to search for a place to thaw out and grab some lunch. A diner answered my prayer.
The next few hours were admittedly a bit bleak but still fun with friends. I would not have been having fun if I was alone. Not only was I freezing, but our bikes were also moving so slowly through the muddy trails. Every pedal stroke took at least double the effort it should’ve. Syracuse felt like it wasn’t getting any closer, and the rain certainly wasn’t getting any lighter. I think this is the wettest I’ve ever been in my life. The only consolation is that I made the right choice of footwear for the day, picking sandals.
We did have a nice break hiding from the rain at a little museum along the canal. We didn’t realize until this point that we were cycling the canal during its 200th anniversary. Very cool!
Eventually we got to Syracuse and procured some pizza before making the final push beyond the city to our campsite. Our planned 56 miles wouldn’t normally be too difficult (especially with so many hours to do it), but at this point we were pretty cooked from the slow rolling surface and the extra weight on our bikes. We were grateful to roll into camp as the rain stopped for good to wash down bikes and dry ourselves off near the fire.
The next morning, we went for a short hike down along the bodies of water Green Lakes State Park owes its name to. We thought it would be a nice way to spend the morning but were blown away by how awesome it was. It sounds silly to say but the water was so green. At hundreds of feet deep, the lakes have a lot of minerals from groundwater that force sediment to the bottom, making it extra clear and giving it a stunning blue-green hue. I think I got most of that right. Look up more information, totally worth reading more about and also I’d like to visit again when the beach is open for swimming.
We left our site to double back to the end of our trip in Syracuse. Chains were annoyingly squeaky so we made a short stop at a friendly bike shop to buy some lube and chatted with them for a bit. We stopped at a cute cafe for some pastries and bevs and then pointed in the direction of the train station. It looked like we could ride down a trail and through a park to get to the train station, but we ended up just getting a little turned around and stopped by a massive fence. I was happy to get minorly lost once on the trip, even if it was in the last mile.
We got back to the car still wet in our bones from the previous day but grateful for the weekend in good company. Colin and Forrest are such a joy to be around and I’m already looking forward to the Third Annual Adventure Weekend.