PEDALING (AND SHIVERING) THROUGH JORDAN
60 minutes of cold windy biking in Jordan, NY
Monday, March 20, 2006
Jordan Ride Photo Slideshow
On my way back to Albany today I decided to stop in Jordan (home of the Jordan Alpine Classic, a race I ran in Sept 2005 and absolutely loved!) and ride my bike along the Erie Canal Trail. On the way into town I passed Historic Lock 51, a fairly well-preserved cut stone lock from the 2nd (or Enlarged) Erie Canal.
Not long after the first canal was completed in 1825 it became apparent that it was too small, so the canal was enlarged (from 40 feet wide to 70 feet) and in some areas re-routed in 1835. The Enlarged Erie Canal was used until 1922, when the canal was enlarged a 3rd time and in some places re-routed to make use of natural waterways like the Mohawk River. (Originally this wasn't possible in some areas because engineers didn't know how to control water levels in major rivers.) The section of canal from Port Byron to Camillus (passing through Jordan along the way) is an abandoned portion of the Enlarged Erie Canal. The towpath has been cleared for use as a multi-use trail, and several old locks, aqueducts, and canal-era buildings have been cleared or restored. (For more info on these paths, see Take Your Bike! Family Rides in the Finger Lakes and Genesee Valley Region, by Rich and Sue Freeman, published by Footprint Press. Their books are great guides to hiking and biking in Central and Western NY, and they include lots of great historical background as well!)
Arriving in Jordan, I unpacked my ATB and bundled up, because it was pretty darn cold! While Rochester had gotten a light dusting of snow over the weekend, Jordan had about 6-8 inches on the ground, and it was clear that the snow-deprived snowmobilers had taken advantage of it - there were tracks all over the place. Little did I realize that was a sign of what was to come! I hit the canal trail - and discovered that the stone dust surface was wet and churned up by the snowmobile traffic, so I was essentially plowing through loose, wet sand about 6 inches deep. That did have the advantage of keeping me very warm - talk about hard work! After about 20 minutes of constant struggle just to maintain some slight forward motion, I gave up, and took a crossroad out to the main road, and headed back into town.
60 minutes of cold windy biking in Jordan, NY
Monday, March 20, 2006
Jordan Ride Photo Slideshow
On my way back to Albany today I decided to stop in Jordan (home of the Jordan Alpine Classic, a race I ran in Sept 2005 and absolutely loved!) and ride my bike along the Erie Canal Trail. On the way into town I passed Historic Lock 51, a fairly well-preserved cut stone lock from the 2nd (or Enlarged) Erie Canal.
Not long after the first canal was completed in 1825 it became apparent that it was too small, so the canal was enlarged (from 40 feet wide to 70 feet) and in some areas re-routed in 1835. The Enlarged Erie Canal was used until 1922, when the canal was enlarged a 3rd time and in some places re-routed to make use of natural waterways like the Mohawk River. (Originally this wasn't possible in some areas because engineers didn't know how to control water levels in major rivers.) The section of canal from Port Byron to Camillus (passing through Jordan along the way) is an abandoned portion of the Enlarged Erie Canal. The towpath has been cleared for use as a multi-use trail, and several old locks, aqueducts, and canal-era buildings have been cleared or restored. (For more info on these paths, see Take Your Bike! Family Rides in the Finger Lakes and Genesee Valley Region, by Rich and Sue Freeman, published by Footprint Press. Their books are great guides to hiking and biking in Central and Western NY, and they include lots of great historical background as well!)
Arriving in Jordan, I unpacked my ATB and bundled up, because it was pretty darn cold! While Rochester had gotten a light dusting of snow over the weekend, Jordan had about 6-8 inches on the ground, and it was clear that the snow-deprived snowmobilers had taken advantage of it - there were tracks all over the place. Little did I realize that was a sign of what was to come! I hit the canal trail - and discovered that the stone dust surface was wet and churned up by the snowmobile traffic, so I was essentially plowing through loose, wet sand about 6 inches deep. That did have the advantage of keeping me very warm - talk about hard work! After about 20 minutes of constant struggle just to maintain some slight forward motion, I gave up, and took a crossroad out to the main road, and headed back into town.
On the way back to town I decided to ride out to Lock 51 and take some pictures. Other than being pretty cold and windy, that was uneventful. The lock was pretty cool. On the way back I found the Lock 51 garden, a park in town built around the old aqueduct, and stopped to take more pictures. It's really impressive when you think about that fact that they built all this stuff by hand, with no power tools or heavy machinery, and it still stands today (albeit marred with some graffiti... grrr.) Quite the opposite of our current "everything is disposable" mind-set.
Sometime this summer I'll have to stop and ride the path from Port Byron to Camillus. Once the path is a bit more rideable than it was today...
JMH
