On the Road to Canada

The New York mayor, DeWitt Clinton was ridiculed for the seven million dollar proposal for its construction. So much so that the project became known as "Clinton's Folly". But when the Erie Canal was finished in 1825 after only eight years of construction, the 362 (now 524) mile long stretch of artificial river would make New York City the central hub and trade behemoth of the world.

Towns, ports, and villages sprouted up all along the Erie Canal. It created a trade that linked the West/Great Lakes with the Hudson River that ran all the way to New York City. The shipping of wheat to NYC went from costing $100 per ton to $5-$10 per ton. Before the advent of steam ships or railroads, mules pulled the boats along the canal.

 A key "problem" of the canal was the elevational difference from Buffalo to Albany amounting to over 500 feet. So, boats would pass through gates where the water levels were raised or lowered based on which direction the boat was going. In Macedon, Josh and I met Tay who operated one of these gates.

This morning, I left Mike's house around 6am, and Josh left a tad bit later but we met up a few hours later. From Mike's in the center of Rochester, I had to find my way to the Erie Canalway Towpath, which would take me the entire sixty miles to Lockport where a CouchSurfer named Gin awaited us.

The way out of Rochester was through the nasty, isolated part that exists in every city, and in others, not so isolated. Poverty seemingly sat on every street corner. Prostitutes were already working at dawn with the sun. Drugs got passed and paid for like people hopping aboard a merry-go-round, jumping off but always getting back on. I passed a building labeled Temporary Labor with a line of men awaiting outside. As I got onto the Erie Canalway, I gladly left behind the coughing cityscape, coated with a thick tar-like haze that clung to the air like a pair of cancerous lungs. 

The Canalway was a different story. Shortly after getting onto the paved path, I spotted a neon yellow bird the size of a sparrow. I used my bird app on my phone to identify it as the American Goldfinch. Josh would later correctly demean me (appropriately) for not knowing it's the NJ state bird.

Anyway, I passed through port after port after port that all looked very similar. Places that existed solely on the creation of the Erie Canal. For a while, things were quiet early this morning.

Then, a middle-aged man with a thick red beard and sunglasses glided up behind me.

"Hey man!" he said. "Where are you coming from and going?"

Possibly one of my favorite personal experiences on the trip, my friend and I bared our souls for the next forty five minutes of trail. I tend to avoid riding with people but I was thoroughly entranced and eager to hear what this man had to tell me.

"What's your name?" I asked extending my hand while keeping the pedals turning.

"It's Chris! And... Uh... I would totally shake your hand right now but I'm.., I'm actually holding the accelerator for this thing. It actually has a motor," he said rather sheepishly.

"You mean you've been faking the pedaling?"

"Not faking! Just... yeah, I was kind of being a bit theatrical," he said smiling. 

Chris' honesty is what got me, aside from the motor in his bike. He was struggling with some personal problems and substance abuse. He'd gone through a ruinous divorce. But he didn't want pity. He just wanted to make sure I learned something from it. He wanted me to know that the three kids he had were wonderful. He wanted me to know that he was going to go and continue biking the world like he'd done when he was my age. He wanted me to never stop dreaming.

Eventualky, I met up with Josh and after riding to beat out a storm, (we lost) we arrived nice and soaked at Gin's front door. The poor lady went out looking for us just as the worst of the storm hit and ended up getting almost as drenched as us.

Inside her home, she set out a whole smorgasbord of crackers, cheese, and chips. I couldn't stop eating.

Gin lives in the city of Lockport, NY, a place of over 21,000 residents and a key town of the original Erie Canal. She has one son named Mark who she obviously has a lot of love for. They traveled to Peru together and also plan on venturing to Spain and Portugal around Christmas. However, Mark's gotta finish teaching in Mozambique for the Peace Corps first. 

Gin took us out to eat ice cream and showed us around town for some local history. She's provided shelter, food, and love. She took us to a restaurant. I can't emphasize how perfectly today has been because of Gin. She really made the day for us.

Thank you Gin!!!

Haha, Josh.

Canada tomorrow