Todays Distance: 79 miles
Cycling time: 5 hrs 08 mins
Average Speed: 15.3 mph
Distance so far: 3586 miles
Centuries so far: 13
Punctures so far: 10
Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today I cycled for Andreas, Bashisha, Albert and Daphi that they will make great progress while in Providence. Providence [6] The rationale of Providence is based on the vision of Edmund Rice who wanted to enable liberation through education when he founded the Christian Brothers in Waterford in 1802. The same need is still there but in a different location.
The big event in Syracuse over the weekend is the National Car Show in the New York State Fairgrounds and classic cars had been arriving all yesterday evening and cruising along 7th North just by the motel. Some owners stayed in Super 8 and their machines looked beautiful as we loaded this morning. Over 6,000 of them and more than 80,000 people are expected at the event.
It was 7.30 by the time we got away through the suburbs of Syracuse. Met a few impatient drivers cutting across in front but nothing that was too serious. A climb that registered 9% caught our attention within a mile of the start. Thankfully it didn’t last for too long.
In general today our route followed the course of the Erie Canal and downthe Mohawk River valley. Parts of the original Erie canal remain with the tow-path on the right-hand side. At one point a river passed under the course of the canal and the tow-path at right angles.
In 1918 the Barge Canal was an improved version of the Erie to accommodate larger barges with the competition from the railroads. Freight traffic on the canal reached a total of 5.2 million tons by 1951, before declining in the face of combined rail and truck competition. The vanquished Erie still runs quietly under it’s victor the Interstate.
A lot of today’s cycle was through residential areas though not heavily built-up. Quite clearly people were arriving at holiday homes for the weekend. Farms were of the small variety and producing for the local market 
I have been fascinated by the various designs of post-boxes I have seen along the route. Most are of a uniform design; some are bought creativity and some are definitely one-offs with a personal touch.
So many houses fly the Stars and Stripes on the porch or on a flag-pole in the garden. (Also in cemeteries the national flag seems to be the only element of colour on every grave.) We tend to fly county flags near the house in the same manner especially during the championship season
No rain today and not a sound of thunder. As the day wore on the temperature continued to rise. At the finish it was 90 degrees with no wind and feeling very humid. Stopping at the SAG stops was uncomfortable (but welcome) and the only way to keep cool was to keep moving. Once moving it was quite pleasant.
There was very heavy traffic as we came towards Little Falls but it didn’t pose any threat once the cyclist abided by the normal traffic rules. Little Falls(pop 1500) is named after a local waterfall whereas Great Falls is further east where the Mohawk enters the Hudson River. There is a strong Irish element in surrounding area and a 3-day irish festival kicks off here next Friday. Irish entertainers (although I don’t regognise any on the list) and possibly Irish weather. Their publicity states that it will go ahead ‘rain or shine’. Tickets are $8 but if you attend the Irish Mass on Sunday you get in free.
I arrived at the Motel at 1 pm. it is a new member of the Knights Inn group but the original name is still up – Casey’s. The early arrival gives me a chance to catch up on things without burning the night oil. Plenty of sleep required now to ensure concentration over the last days.
An enjoyable day’s cycle but with no brilliant scenery. I suppose you can’t expect that every day.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.
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.
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.
As the early stages of today’s route was involved and an amount of construction and since a lot of us were going to the museum we tended to stick together for the first 7 miles. The morning looked promising and it should be another pleasant day; only a slight risk of rain.
After 7 miles a good number of us paid a visit to Pedaling History, a museum devoted to the story of the bicycle in America. There we had a guided tour following the development from the velocipede to pedal power, the penny-farthing (the Odrinary here in the US), systems of drive and suspension that in time were used in the automobile. Hundreds of bicycles were on show . he pointed out the impact that the bicycle had on travel, the demand for better roads, on fashion, on womens emancipation and on the car all in the final years of the 19th century. In all I spent an hour there and noted a book of cycle tours around Ireland that I have never seen at home.
The first thunderstorm appeared ahead of us at the 20 mile mark. We had no rain but I pulled into a gas station to let it move further to the north-east. No point in riding straight into it. Succeeded in being fast enough to capture a bolt of lightning.
After the first SAG, Cary from Trinidad (who joined us for the last section of the trip) cycled with me and we kept up a brisk pace to the second SAG. The only things that halted us was to view what has become a frequent type of roadkill in New York and some punctures.
Cary had one and I picked up one a little later. We’re getting fast at replacing tubes now. The hard shoulder on Route 20 today had a lot of tiny pieces of glass. A lot of flats reported with Larry (CO) picking up a total of five.
All along the way the usual agricultural pursuits as on previous days was evident. I liked the houses with their own vegetable gardens. I'm sure my own at home is thriving. If it is...great. if it's not .... ah, well.
Near the end of the route did the few extra miles to make it a century (the scheduled distance was 96 miles) and went down by Canandaigua Lake (pronounced CANON-DAY-GOO-A). There are about ten of these narrow lakes known as the Finger Lakes as they run south/north like the outstretched fingers of two hands. Canandaigua lake is 16 miles long and formed as the result of glacial activity and is very deep. On its shores are all the water-based activities. I passed by the end of the lake and just as I came to a large shopping mall the second thunderstorm broke. I was glad of the shelter in the porch of Lowe’s.
I finally arrived at the hotel at 4.30 still dry. Some of those who skipped the museum had got the brunt of the first storm and some of those coming in late got the second one. I was lucky.
Inspecting the rear tyre when I got the puncture I thought it was about time to replace it. Three and a half thousand miles was good service. It felt just like tissue paper in the centre and only the kelvar strip was keeping the tube protected. I had brought a spare Armadillo and it took no time to change. 
However, when I returned to the room after dinner the front wheel was flat. I did find a sharp stone embedded in the tyre and that has to be replaced before turning in tonight. Not much time to admire the view from my window.
