Day 7 of the Empire State Trail: Syracuse to Rochester

Day 7 (have we been at this a week now?) started off early, as we didnt want to face the heat of the afternoon like we have for the past few days. A quick breakfast from the automatic pancake machine at the Tru hotel launched is on our way this morning. The trail was very close, so we were on our way by 7AM anticipating a long one. We actually put on a quick twenty miles before 9, so we felt ahead of the game. Looking at the map, I anticipated a lot of time in the sun, on local roads, not a whole lot of fun. While we did spend some time thos morning on roads, it was mixes with trails. As the day moved on, we ended up almost exclusively on trails, a long the canal. And while we cycled theough towns like Weedsport and Jordan, located on the old canal, rife with stagnant water, algae, etc. as we rolled along we spent more time on the modern canal, where boats currently travel. We saw a few boats, including a sailboat carrying its mast into a lock to get raised up to the level of the next section.

We rolled into a small town called Clyde, and found a small café called the Cafe on the park. We had an excellent lunch, and headed out by noon. The rest of the afternoon we traveled on gravel trails, sometimes even single-track, bit we appreciates being off of the roads as much as possible. NY state does a nice job keeping the trails clear, even when they aren't paved. The closer we got to the Rochester area, the nicer the trails got. The canals were being plied by pleasure boats, including a lot of old fashioned canal boats that are rented by people doing multi-day trips along rhe canal.

We quickly made our way past Fairport, a very nice little town with a lot of boats tied up along the canal. Past there, the canal is big enough that it looks like a resort lake with some really nice houses along the waterfront. By about 4 we rode up off the trail, but very close, to our hotel for the night, a Hilton Garden Inn. After a quick bite at a local burger spot, with large milkshake, we're back for an early evening and maybe the Guardians game on my iPad. Overall, this was likely our best day on the trail, as the humidity let up a bit, and we spent most of the day in and out of the shade of the trails along the canal. It was great to arrive at our destination, after 78 miles, feeling good. Well, my legs feel good, my butt still hirts like rhe dickens from sitting on this hard seat all week. We're heading out towards Lockport and Buffalo tomorrow, and we'll see how far we get depending on the trail and the conditions.