Lake Ontario

Day 98, July 8, 2011, Lake Ontario!

Route from Fulton to KOA Kampground, Farmington, NY

80.8 miles, averaging 13.3 mph

Worst Moment – Riding on backcountry roads, I frequently get chased by dogs – not bad for me since I can outrun the canines.  But, today I saw the tragic consequences of the irresponsibility of those pet owners that don’t make certain that their pets can’t get on the roads.  Just outside of Palmyra, I saw the mother of a keening, small girl as her distraught mother gathered their black lab in her arms off the pavement.  The woman who had hit the dog was standing across the street and visibly upset.  Very sad - I felt so sorry for all three.

Best Moment – This is the Finger Lakes area – we actually saw one of the lakes when we took Rocket into Canandaigua to go wine tasting.  One of the wineries actually had respectable reds the other wines sort of tasted like sweet grape juice.

The route was through beautiful upstate New York farm country.  There were apple and cherry orchards as well as fields of cabbage and soybeans.  I didn’t see too many grapes even though this is wine country.  The cherry trees were loaded with ripe red fruit and the apples were just starting to show the slightest tint of red.  Riding over lots of rolling hills, I could see some incredibly grand vistas.

I actually got to see Lake Ontario!  Wow there is a lot of water.  It is really amazing to see the farms go right to the shore of the lake.  On Lake Ontario, in Pultneyvillle there was one of the last places of the Underground Railroad.    

In Palmyra, I turned on the towpath for the Erie Canal.  Today, I was only on this route for a short way before I had to go further south to get to the campground.  Tomorrow, I’ll be on the path for nearly 90 miles.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of the canal.

After I got to the KOA, we took off on Rocket to look at some of the Finger Lake wine area.  We stopped first at the New York Wine and Culinary Center.  It was incredible.  Viking Appliances had a huge test kitchen, there were lots of places for education and a tasting room for New York grown wine.  We tried to find other wineries, but, unlike Sonoma County, they are far apart from one another.

    

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.