Albion to Sodus, NY

Posted on August 10, 2004 by Kevin

After breakfast in the school cafeteria, Bruce and I headed out under light sprinkles of rain. We caught up to Robert and helped him fix a flat around mile 15. A couple of miles later, the route took us on a bike path for about 30 miles, mostly along the Erie Canal, and skirting around the south side of the city of Rochester. Most sections of the path were very nice, including some paved sections, but there were a few sections nearest to the city where tree roots had buckled the pavement, making quite severe bumps. There were a lot of flat tires today, including another for Robert right as we got to the lunch stop at the end of the bike path.

Soon after lunch, we passed through the town of Fairport, where we stopped at a bike shop and saw Matt and James picking out new bikes. Matt ended up getting a Specialized Allez Sport, and James got a Trek 1500. Bruce, Robert, and I stopped later for milkshakes and coffee in the town of Williamson, which was around mile 70 for the day. Then, we quickly made the final seven miles to Sodus High School. Just as we arrived, I noticed a tear in the tread of my front tire, so I installed the original tire I had saved after I put the new pair of tires on in Wenatchee, WA. It seemed to be in pretty good condition.

Before we got showered, Robert, Molly, and I decided to ride back into town. We found a bar called Jug’s Tavern. It was only $1 for Genessee drafts. We were joined by Peter, Ryan, and few others, including Lori and Dean, two friends who met on some tour five years ago, and who now meet every year to take a week-long bike tour. The tavern had lots of interesting memorabilia on the walls, mostly pictures and posters of Elvis Presley. There was a snapshot of Elvis in his Army uniform in Germany; the snapshot was taken by a local man who had served with Elvis at the time. Also on the wall was a large $30,000 check, the kind they give when people win a big prize. They owner of the tavern Harry Hunser (a.k.a. Jug), was in a casino in Niagara Falls in April of this year for his 75th birthday, and won the $30,000 in a slot machine.

We had dinner at the school. Colleen and I had been talking lately about a card game called Scat. She had played it in college, and I remembered playing it with my family when I was young. Between the two of us, we rememberd how to play, and taught several other people, so we got a game going with Richard, Ted, David Butler, and Marisa. I ended up winning the pot, which was $5 in quarters (useful for the next laundry day).

When it came time for lights out in the gym where we were to sleep, we found that there were emergency lights that stayed on, and nobody knew how to turn them off, including the school’s custodian. This has happened a couple of times. I was pretty tired, though, and slept pretty well, anyway.