The Bicycling thread

kurtr11s said:

And this is what remains of the Richmond aquaduct, completed in 1856. This is part of the second iteration of the canal. It was the second largest aquaduct on the canal it is located in Montezuma, NY

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kurtr11s said:

In 2013, the National Rally was in Salem, Or (not too far from Redmond). On our way up from San Diego, we stopped in Eugene for a tour of Green Gear Cycling (the makers of the Bike Friday). Michelle got her Bike Friday in 2008 and wanted to get a new custom made stem - so we carried the adjustable stem with us and dropped it off with them to make the new one. So the company isn't too far from the rally site. Heck we rode from Redmond over to Eugene to get oil filters at the BMW dealer there during one of the previous rallies (we've been to both - 2002 and 2010 maybe?). There was no filter to be found at the rally site. As I was changing my oil, (K75) a guy came over and asked me if he could have my OLD filter! That was how bad it was.

Regarding the Erie Canal: It is a long flat ride. The villages along the way are great and you go through all of the major upstate NY cities (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany). To me, if it is below i90, it is downstate. There are some parts that are particularly boring - but some that are great. We stayed at B&Bs (and our house, which is about 5 miles from the canal trail). We did the 380 (ish) miles in 6 segments - so 60 to 70 miles per day and it was enjoyable. We picked the hottest week of the year - July, every day hit 100, so there were some shadeless sections that ground us down between Rochester and Lockport.

To me, the interesting thing about the Erie canal was that it was the beginning of civil engineering as a discipline. It was a massive undertaking but the payoff was equally massive. It was the catalyst for the settlement of the midwest, and eventually the far west. It was the beginning of the US as an industrial giant. After the canal was built, the cities I mentioned above flourished but were also set up for ecological disaster to follow. We had car companies, steel companies, chemical and oil, salt and other mining, heck at one time we had a number of bicycle companies right here in Syracuse! Camillus Knives was right along the banks of Nine Mile Creek which fed the canal (now Camillus is made in China and sold in Walmart). Our waterways were dumping grounds for the pollution stemming from the industry. Heavy metals filled our local lake (Onondaga - when I moved here I was told that it was the most polluted in the country).

The area has undergone a massive cleanup. Honeywell spent years dredging the lake and developing wetlands on the shores. Now it is a stopping ground for migrating birds - and we even have a number of bald eagles living in the giant trees along the shore.

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littlebriar said:

*TOSRV in OH is one I can recommend, too!*
I just looked into TOSRV. Looks like a great fall event and it's only a stones throw from home. Thanks for the recommendation.

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kurtr11s said:

In going through old pictures to find some examples of the Erie Canal (I found TONS, but I won't bore you), I ended up taking a trip down memory lane. While in our 20's, Michelle and I realized that we had some employment related skills that would allow us to live pretty much anywhere we wanted. We travelled a lot and, in the back of our mind, we were always checking places out as a potential home base. In the end, we never moved. Not because we couldn't find awesome places - but they didn't add up to being significantly better than our snowy, rainy, buggy NY. I found a couple of pictures that sum up what I love about my home. I apologize for no bicycle or BMW content.


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jgoertz said:

Santana Tours along the Columbia River Gorge

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