Today was a lot of road riding but traffic wasn’t terrible. It was pretty hot on the roads though. I got lost many times in Syracuse. In 2019 Ny was given a grant for more bike trails and camping places. Its awesome the state has such great trails and all these free hiker,biker, boater campsites. The problem for me was before all the new sections of trail the Erie Canal trail symbol was painted on the roads so you knew where to go. The new trail was not always marked. Often times at an intersection there would be an arrow on a post pointing one way and painted symbols showing the other way. And to make matters worse Google maps did not recognize either way and would come up with its own completely different route. But it was a nice day and I saw parts of Syracuse I wouldn’t of otherwise.
Until the city and all the roads, it was a long green tunnel and I put in my earbuds and listened to the book Outlaw Ocean. I rarely listen to music or books while riding I prefer to hear the sounds of nature. This was the second time this trip that I did and its always on days I have a lot of miles to do. When listening to a book or music I don’t get distracted by my surroundings and I just pedal. I did stop and fish a few times in the canal. Even an audio book couldn’t distract me from noticing some likely looking spots for smallmouth bass. I didn’t want to spend too much time though,today was a 60+ mile day to get into camp.
Syracuse had some really neat architecture. I didn’t enjoy it as quite as much as I normally would of because mostly I was lost and looking for the trail.
This is another great campground. Its a little busy tonight 8 or 9 other cyclist and a few boats are tied up. We’re all spread out so it doesn’t feel crowded at all.
I had my first bike trouble today. I don’t know what to do about it. The braze on for the rack mount broke off taking a bit of the seat stay with it. I was able to mount the rack in the fender eyelets but I don’t know if they will support the weight of the rack. I wonder how weak the seatstay is now with the hole in it. Does any one have a solution? Please email or comment if you have any ideas. Thanks! Tomorrow we will see if the fender eyelets hold up.
I googled bike repair shops near Rome N.Y. and there were several listed. Some are open tomorrow. If they can’t fix it, someone might be able to refer you to someplace that can.
Thank you.
If you canget to a good weld shop they could tig weld your bike or braze it. If you cant get it fixed I’ll bring oxy acetaline torch set and braise it for you . is that the same lock we stayed at in 2019 when I met you on the ect ?
Yes it is. It definitely needs brazed. Maybe it will last till October when I’m down through your area again
Good that you noticed that breakage and called attention to it, Matt, and I like the other suggestions. And yeah, get it repaired now lest the non-drive side, forced to bear all the weight, fail, too, and arg, anything dropping onto your tire or swinging into your spokes at speed could cause a crash or something serious, nothing you don’t already know but it happened to me once with a fender, of all things. I think one of the fender stays got pushed into the knobs of the tread by a packed pannier and that was that for that fender, it crunched up and got jammed between the tire and the seat tube and it made motorcycle noises and brought me to a standstill to remove it. So it happens. 🙂
Matthew we are praying hard you get bike fixed and your safety!
Thank you!