Throughout the night I was googling saddle pain and decided that the next step was to buy more bicycle shorts and chamois cream. I saw that there was a REI store in Rochester, which was 38 miles away. To my ass, this seemed like a nearly insurmountable distance.
I got up and packed my stuff at Dollinger's Motor Inn. Later in the day I would realize that I either had gotten fleas or bed bugs at Dollinger's. WTF?! I ate a Zone Perfect Power Bar for quick snack, got on my saddle and immediately I thought I might not make it.
East of Albion the trail follows the Erie Canal and is quite nondescript. After 15 miles I stopped in Brockport NY, a college town and home to a SUNY campus. Brockport was hands down my favorite town between Buffalo and Rochester and deserves a stop for anyone biking the empire state trail. Cute stores line the main street.
After biking around downtown for a little bit I popped into Java Junction.
Parks and Trails New York runs a program that certifies businesses as "bicycle friendly." Java Junction was the first business I saw with this sticker, and I would find them along the trail from Buffalo to Albany. They allowed my bike into the cafe with no questions asked. The iced tea and breakfast burrito I had were excellent, and I would recommend this business to all cyclists.
At the coffee shop the counter person said to stop in Spencerport because it has a water fountain. It was a helpful piece of advice because the Empire State Trail sorely lacks water fountains.
I didn't spend much time in Spencerport but it seemed nice and there were some cafes facing the canal. This town felt like it understood that the canal trail was an asset and decided to orient businesses and amenities towards the canal and visitors. The Empire State Trail needs more of this.
East of Spencerport I met a guy who was biking from Maine to Washington state. He was AWESOME and you can follow his travels here.
He had a bicycle made by a company called Salsa Cycles. They make a number of bikes dedicated to multi day touring and bike packing. Features of his bike included steel/aluminum fork with attachments for front panniers, road bike handlebars, as well as a 3rd water bottle holder under the down tube. He was bikepacking and camping the entire trip across the country, impressive! I commiserated with him about my saddle issues and he swore by these creams to prevent saddle sores and chafing.
I haven't tried either of these but he said these products have saved his life during hot summer rides:
As you get into the City of Rochester the canal trail goes under different freeways and has a bunch of up and down, which after hours on the straight and boring canal trail, is somewhat fun. You pass somewhat of downtown Rochester through some industrial areas.
Warning: the signage in Genesee Valley Park in the City of Rochester is at best atrocious, and at worst alarming. The blue and orange Empire State Trail bullet signs which are everywhere else on the EST is noticeably absent from Genesee Valley Park. It feels like NY State couldn't coordinate with the City of Rochester, because riding the Empire State Trail in this park sucks ass, and this is not because my butt hurt from the saddle! I had to bring out google maps on my phone at least 4 times and it was stressful when its 90 degrees, humid, bedbug bitten, saddle sores, crotch rot and everything else. I don't understand how NY State fumbled the ball on the goal line here. This is such an easy fix to put up proper signage in this area.
The sign below confused me and I had to pull out google maps again. It's somewhat disappointing is that the trail does not through downtown Rochester, but the Canalway Trail (aka. Empire State Trail between Buffalo and Albany) intersects the Genesee Valley Greenway Trail, where you can turn north and zip into downtown Rochester.
By this time my ass was a total mess, and I was so desperate I was ready to switch saddles. A number of friends who cycle told me to "man up" and and you need to "give your ass time to callous" and "you are a little bitch". That being said I was in so much pain I was debating on whether to give up on my entire trip because of my saddle sores developing. The whole titanic submersible thing was unfolding at the same time and I felt like I was in almost as bad shape as those people at the bottom of the ocean. I knew there was an REI along the trail in Rochester so maybe some cycling swamis could save my ass, literally. My hands were also beginning to feel extremely sore after 3 days in the saddle death gripping the handlebars over rocky stone dust.
A couple things about the REI in Rochester. If you arrive there on the Empire State Trail from the West, google shows that there is a path up to E Henrietta Blvd and then over the street to REI. You do not need to do this. Continue underneath E Henrietta Blvd and there is a direct entrance to the REI on your left. I learned this the hard way.
The REI is spectacular with tons of cycling gear. The bathrooms are neat and clean and you can fill up your water bottles there as well. I also had not been using any chamois cream in my grundle and thighs (another stupid decision by me) and was able to buy some here.
I bought:
Pearl Izumi Mens Attack Shorts ($48.00)
Pearl Izumi Mens Elite Gloves ($38.00)
The shorts and the cream turned out great, and the cream was truly a lifesaver for me.
With the gloves, I tried them and within half an hour realized they were a total mistake. These might be good for people on road bike handlebars but for my upright style of riding they sucked, and in fact made my hands hurt more. The little gel padding dug into my palm. Off they went. Rochester to Newark was 34.6 miles.
While I did not stop in the village of Pittsford I was impressed by their canal park and numerous businesses hugging the canal. It was one of the few places on the canal I didn't stop but felt like I wanted to go back.
Fairport had hands down the liveliest and most canal oriented development of any town I saw. This was the only town that had apartment housing complexes facing the canal. Outside of one other area in Syracuse, there is virtually no canal oriented development like this between Buffalo and Albany. I was shocked. I had anticipated numerous towns along the canal to have development like this, but that was not the case. Fairport was one of the few places I'd consider living in between Buffalo and Albany.
Alas, while Fairport was cute and quaint and had the "special sauce" which creates an inviting atmosphere, my food experience was again, BAD. I hadn't eaten since my breakfast in Brockport (it was 4 pm) and I starving. I chose Lulu, a charming mexican place canal side where I could eat outside and leave my bike close by. While the waitstaff was friendly and accommodating, the food sucked. I ordered chips and guac. The chips were ho hum, and the guacamole was sprinkled with pomegranate and sunflower seeds (trying too hard). I followed that with chorizo quesadillas and a number of things went wrong. Sometimes chorizo is good and sometimes its extremely oily. This was the latter, in fact it was so slick the oil went down my pinky finger to my elbow as I was holding a quesadilla slice. GROSS. The cheese was disgusting too. I was so hungry I ate most of it but I felt sick at the end of the meal. I was particularly disappointed because the restaurant SEEMED like it would be good, in fact was a major disappointment.
As I regrouped after yet another bad meal, I left Fairport and crossed into Wayne County. Let me tell you something without burying the lede: WAYNE COUNTY SUCKS. While I had a charming experience at my bed and breakfast in Newark, most of Wayne County is forgettable. Parts of Wayne County were my least fun parts of the trip, partly because the trail conditions were horrible here and partly because my ass was now in excruciating pain.
East of Fairport you exit suburban Rochester and enter "Deliverance". Near Macedon the Erie Canal Trail winds through numerous run down trailer parks. One area in particular has a property with a motion activated siren which goes off every time a cyclist goes by. The property also has a a sign that says "fuck off no trespassing". I didn't get a photo cause I was too freaked out from the sirens. What welcoming people!
The trail conditions in Wayne County were abysmal. It was almost all stone dust and quite rocky and/or muddy in spots. I would describe the canal trail in these areas like a "dirt road" or "ATV road". I specifically chose 35cm tires for sections like this. Going on skinny road tires on this would suck. In fact it even sucked with my nice big wide cushiony tires.
In my original itinerary I had planned on staying in Palmyra New York, 8 miles closer than Newark. I tried to book a Best Western in Palmyra but the prices were insanely high. A friend of mine who grew up in Palmyra said "well duh, don't you know that the mormon church was started in Palmyra and mormon pilgrim freaks go there all summer?!" Evidently that is why the Best Western in Palmyra is unusually expensive.
Palmyra had a nice little park at the canal, but again, there were no signs pointing to any businesses to the downtown. In fact it had a bridge to absolutely nowhere. It was as if the canal trail had no affiliation with the Town of Palmyra, a missed opportunity. Advice to Palmyra: spend less money on a bridge to nowhere, spend more on bike connections to Downtown Palmyra. I just biked 60 miles in excruciating pain on my butt and the best Palmyra has to offer?
The last 8 miles from Palmyra to Newark was on crummy path. As you approach Newark though, it goes from stone dust to pavement which is nicer. One cool little connector to the Empire State Trail into Newark is over this old canal bridge which has been repurposed for bike and pedestrian use only! Fun!
Newark is a funky old canal town with some historic architecture. Unfortunately, like many towns and cities in upstate New York, Newark thought it was a good idea in the 1960s to bulldoze most of their downtown. On side streets, there still exist many interesting victorian houses including my bed and breakfast: Vintage Gardens B and B.
The husband and wife team that run Vintage Gardens take great care of their property (beautiful garden) and go out of their way to accommodate cyclists. I stored my bike in their secure garage area, and I met numerous other cyclists doing multi-day rides. While the bathroom was shared, it was very clean and my room was beautiful. The air conditioning in my hotel room was excellent after a hot day riding. In fact after I took a shower I stood buck naked facing away from the AC for 5 minutes to air out my ass. Not a bad deal for $110/night.
After some mega fails for food on my first three days, I was hopeful my luck could turn in Newark. Some people at the hotel suggested Parker's a pub/restaurant in town known for their burgers. I ordered a greek salad with shrimp which decent. I didn't feel sick at the end of this meal so it was a win in my book.
As I returned to my hotel room, I was stricken with profound anxiety over my saddle situation. This was on top of the physical pain I was suffering from. I googled in bed for hours what to do about saddle sores, from changing the saddle height to getting a different saddle, etc. As I built up a frenzy in my mind I became more and more anxious. At 1 am I panicked and bought a new saddle online had it shipped to an Amazon Locker in downtown Syracuse. Stay tuned for Days 4 and 5 - Newark to Aurora as I spend the next day going off the Empire State Trail to go to a wedding in the Finger Lakes!
