Sunday, June 22, 2008
After the race was over, I spent a few minutes at the car rehydrating and changing into some dry clothes, then unpacked my bike to do a little riding, partly to get some photos of the Harborfest 10k course but mostly because I love riding that section of the Genesee Riverway trail.
Made a quick jaunt out onto the jetty and then headed upriver along the trail. Initially the course runs past the Pelicans Roost restaurant and marina and the Monroe County boat launch, as well as countless boats in their moorings. The Genesee-Charlotte lighthouse sits up on a bluff overlooking the road and the river... very scenic. Then the trail heads into shady woods with some incredibly tall trees, offering a break both from the sun and the man-made surroundings.
My favorite part, though, is as the trail comes out of the woods and descends on the boardwalk running down through Turning Point Basin along the edge of the river. The view always takes my breath away. Once the boardwalk leveled off I got off my bike and walked to the far end, since I was anticipating taking a lot of photos!
As usual, there was plenty of wildlife along the boardwalk... redwinged blackbirds and swallows flying around, swans out on the river, and a brief glimpse of a heron flying off - I never did figure out where he landed. Also spotted several painted turtles - some floating in the water, some sunning themselves on logs. And of course the ever-present mallards... though they seem to be much more established up by the park than down here.
After leaving the boardwalk I pushed my bike up the steep hill into Turning Point Park (ordinarily I'd ride it, but I wanted to take a couple of shots along the way... and my legs were more than a bit tired!) and then took an easy ride along the tree-lined shady paths. At the turn around point I briefly considered taking the path all the way out to Lake Avenue, but decided to keep the ride short instead and headed down the long gradual downhill back to the river.
Rode the boardwalk back, with a stop to take some photos of a swan with four cute fuzzy cygnets and occasional stops to take some more pictures... then climbed the hill and headed back to the car, mission accomplished: I'd gotten photos of the course, worked my legs a bit more instead of letting them just stiffen up, and went for a short ride along one of the more beautiful spots in Rochester.
JMH
