the Way of the Turtle

16.2 Mile Ride Through Genesee Valley Park & Along the Erie Canalway Trail
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Today began the stretch of unseasonably warm weather we're supposed to have this week, along with plenty of sunshine... a good day for a ride! I rode through Genesee Valley Park up the west side of the Genesee River and then back down the east side. Looking at the water flowing in the river I realized it's very deceptive... because it's relatively calm it looks like it's barely moving, but when you watch things floating downstream you see that it's actually moving very quickly... I suspect High Falls in downtown Rochester is pretty impressive right now. Hopefully the current will decrease by the end of April, when we're supposed to be paddling one leg of the Flower City Challenge Paddle Triathlon... if it's running this fast then, it could be a tough three miles of paddling.

There's a shallow section along the east side of the river by the University of Rochester campus that has snagged a number of logs, often a spot that the gulls, geese, and ducks (and herons and egrets, later in the summer) congregate. Today saw quite a few gulls and geese, along with a few ducks... many of whom were snoozing in the sunshine. There were also two crows that seemed to be enjoying the chance to splash around in the shallows.

The ride along the Erie Canal was also pretty nice... there were a few people out on the path, but one plus to riding in the afternoon on a weekday is a lot of folks are still at work. The canal itself isn't much to look at this time of year - mostly muddy stretches with a little bit of water at the bottom, it will be a few more weeks before they open the guard gates and let the water back in. I got off to a slightly later start than I'd planned on and needed to pick Ann up after work, so I mostly concentrated on riding and didn't stop for many photos. I ended up going all the way out to the new ramp under route 65 (replacing a set of stairs or a fairly busy road crossing) which is pretty nice. When I got back to the park I had a few minutes left so I looped through the park on the other side of the canal... the path along Red Creek was a lot more fun to ride before it became one long stretch of broken pavement and potholes, but at least it was quieter than it is during summer, when there are typically large picnics with all sorts of loud stereo systems blasting.

JMH