DAY 47 of 54: JULY 17: CANANDAIGUA (NY) TO LIVERPOOL (NY)

Time Zone : Eastern (GMT -5)
Todays Distance: 79 miles
Cycling time: 5 hrs 30 mins
Average Speed: 14.4 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 2620 ft

Average Heart rate: 108 bpm

Distance so far: 3507 miles

Ascent so far: 111,777 feet.
Centuries so far: 13
Punctures so far: 10

Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today’s cycle is for pupils in Providence including Jennifer, Metenol, Saibor and Hepsing and those who have progressed on over the years.
(On Saturday I’ll cycle for Deirdre and Diarmuid.)

Today was a recovery day after the many centuries of the last week. Eventful on the road and finished with some local flavour.

PROVIDENCE [5] Providence is not conducted on denominational grounds. It has children of many Christian and non-Christian faiths. But it does operate a strong spiritual ethos. Each morning assembly starts with a communal prayer said with great intensity and devotion.

At loading this morning our attention was attracted to some old autos parked in front of the hotel. A 1924 Model T Ford in perfect working order was being oiled and greased by its owner in preparation for his onward journey towards the Lakes. He has been driving this one for the last 20 years.
The early miles passed by in pleasant weather with no indication that it would change. Just some fluffy clouds as we kept cycling eastwards on Route 20. I gradually loosened out and warmed up to optimum performance around the 10 mile mark.
Another familiar name loomed ahead… Geneva. Geneva is at the northern end of Lake Seneca, one of the Finger Lakes. At this hour (8.30) there was little activity about except for a few ducks. At night a drum-like beating can be heard across the waters of Lake Seneca (the longest at 36 miles long). Science explains this as the escaping of natural gas deposits from beneath Seneca’s deep waters.
Since we have come into New York state I have noticed a large number of golf courses along the route. Scarcely any in the previous states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
After the SAG stop thunder was to be heard behind us but it didn’t develop into anything that threatened. Rain did start to fall around mile 42 as we came into the town of Camillus. It wasn’t heavy but when cycling along it felt heavier than it was in actual fact. To soften the blow also, the rain was of the warm variety, not the cold harsh wintry type. Raingear was on for about 13 miles till it eased off. Passed by a gravel truck that had just gone off the road )on the other side) possibly as a result of the greasy surface. Road was blocked off to traffic but they let us through rather than heading off on the detour.
Last night a new tube went into the front wheel but a piece of radial wire shortened its life and it went down in a shot as I cornered into Devoe Road at mile 56. It didn’t take long to replace (Practice makes perfect). That brings my flat total now into double figures. The front tyre still has some thread on it, unlike the rear one I discarded this morning.
At one stage today we crossed over an original part of the Erie Canal. This original canal was commenced in 1815 and stretched 363 miles from Albany on the Hudson to Buffalo on Lake Erie. This meant there was a continuous navigable waterway from New Yory up the Hudson to the Great Lakes and beyond. It was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep and contributed in making New York a major port and to the development of Buffalo on Lake Erie and the northern part of New York state. In 1918 it was replaced by the New York State Barge Canal and parts of the original were filled in to develop roads. Many Irish workers were involved in the construction of the original and settled in Syracuse, half way along the canal.

Our destination today was the village of Liverpool (pop 3,000) on the eastern edge of Syracuse. The area was originally settled by Irish canal workers and was referred to as ‘Little Ireland’. It was later (1830) named after the English city as it also had a salt industry and wished to capitalise.
Once in Syracuse, I followed my own directions to visit a spot of local interest … Tipperary Hill. Again the Irish populated this area particularly those from County Tipperary. Among the flags is the Blue and Gold but the area also has a unique piece of street furniture that is known far and wide…the Green on Top Traffic Signal.
When the city first started to install traffic signal lights in the 1920s they put one at a major intersection on Tipperary Hill, on the corner of Tompkins Street and Milton Avenue. Some Irish youths, incensed that anyone would dare to put the "British" red above the "Irish" green, broke the light mainly by throwing stones. The city replaced it but the Irish broke the replacement. After a few rounds of this the city decided that if they wanted a light at that intersection, they had better put the signal up with the green on top and remains that way to this day.
At the intersection stands a memorial park with a bronze sculpture of the Stonethrowers, a family group with the Dad pointing out the light to his children and explaining the significance. The various donors to the memorial have their names inscribed on the bricks of the pavement. Bertie Ahern paid a visit here two years ago with local Congressman Jim Walsh. Another piece of Tipperary along the route.
Just down the road from the lights is Coleman’s Irish pub with the owner (not there today) having roots in the Drombane area.
It was opened as a local workman’s pub in 1933 and has a special door for leprecauns so they can come and go as they like. They also keep a low table set for them in the upstairs parlor. Outside there are two phone boxes – a normal one and a tiny one for the fairy folk.
Across the road is the Cashel House that specialises in imported Irish goods –Waterford Glass, Beleek China etc. it was all an unexpected touch of home at the end of a day’s cycle.
I finally arrived at the Motel at 3 pm although I had passed the door to set out on my Tipperary quest two hours earlier.
A recovery day’s cycle with a pleasant ending. I really enjoyed it again. At Route Rap each evening now there are a few household items regarding the group’s final day in Portsmouth.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.