I like my Rochester better.

I cannot say that I had a lovely sleep in the tent, because I didn’t. I rolled around like a hot dog on a 7-11 warmer, cozy in my bag but achy in my body. Not that I was sleep deprived, but it might have been better. No fault of the place or equipment. Still, there was hot coffee thanks to the fabulous JetBoil and some Starbucks Via.

In a shocking turn of events, we did NOT get going by 9:00, but darn it, you have to have goals. We actually started at 9:50.

The riding this morning was much the same as yesterday. We ate oatmeal and fig bars in camp, and stopped at around 11:30 in Spencerport and had dinner at Clutch on the Canal, where we had a totally okay (mediocre) brunch. the server was really sweet though.

With eating out of the way, the next big adventure was going around Rochester. We didn’t have to ride any roads, but it definitely wasn’t the best part of the trail. In typical big city fashion, all the unseemly stuff is on the outskirts of town, which is where the canal is. The trail was paved all of the time we were going around Rochester, but this actually slowed us down, as there were a lot of tree roots growing underneath the trail, creating many, many speed bumps. We were actually riding right by an interstate on ramp at one point, separated only by that heavy duty railing they put on highways. Doing their best, I suppose. Once we got past the city, the trail went back to being unpaved and made for much better riding.

It wasn’t all bad though. This section was pretty, going by Gates, on the west side of Rochester.

This is at the confluence of the canal and the Genesee River. The railroad bridges are all very rust-belt looking.

We rode past two modern locks today, #33 and #34.

Past Rochester we encountered a few very quaint looking towns, including Fairport, which was hosting a big street fair for the Canal Days event (for the canal’s 200th birthday). Of all the places on all the days…

The trail and streets were totally impeded, so we had to walk the bikes through the fair and find an alternate route out of town. It would have been nice to stop and enjoy if we’d had the time, but today was 50 miles and we had to keep going.

As we approached our campsite, I was really wondering where the heck we were. It felt VERY middle of nowhere.

And we may have indeed been in the middle of nowhere, but so is our campground. Reaching here was quite the relief for me.

We were met by two nice ladies in golf carts who seemed to be waiting for us. Barb, the wife half of the owner couple showed us where we could camp. Since they weren’t booked, we had our choice. I asked her if they had any adult malted beverages, and she said they did, and she’d take me back to the store and open it for me. On the way, we were chatting and long story short, since it looked like it might rain and they were available, we could stay in one of the cabins, no problem and no extra charge. What?! No bothering with the tent tonight, no breaking it down in the morning. Barb shall of course be mentioned in my will.

It’s rustic, but wonderful. It has everything we need right now, which is power, real beds, and shelter from the rain. And it is raining. Not hard, but it takes very little rain to ruin a tent camping experience.

So thanks to beer, or at least our desire for it, we’re not huddled in the tent being less than happy. We had our hot showers and enjoyed our beverages with our freeze-dried meals on the porch.

Now it’s bedtime, and the window is open to the soft rain sounds and the evening bird songs. I’ll still be in my sleeping bag, but on a real mattress!

Fingers crossed for better sleep, as tomorrow is a 60-plus mile day, and we are a bit trepidatious. I guess that’s how adventure can be; a little concerning.