Dan's Blog

Friday, September 5, 2025

Day 3 Afternoon thru Rochester

I posted a lot of these on instagram, and forgot to update them to the blog after getting back home. Posting now.

The ride to and thru Rochester was awesome. East of Rochester are some really cool towns that maximize the canal for touristy stuff. But really some of the best scenery of the trip.

Photo i took to celebrate after finishing my first route map of the trip on my bike computer.

The only not so scenic part, just before you get to Rochester, on the West side. But still, some interesting junk in that photo.

Old barges with lots of vegetation growing on them

Was on a bike/pedestrian bridge. Nice for photos and not having to worry about cars

tried a panoramic shot

Got a new chain at REI in Rochester

The chain was corroded at this point, needed to go

Enjoying a beer at Lock 32 in Pittsford NY

Gelato at Fairport NY

Showed this sign to Jacqui and she looked it up for her friend who knits more than cross stitches. They've already planned a road trip together.

day 3, morning, brockport to Rochester

My dorky sleep system for the win. i did wake up at 2:30 a.m. to some construction noise. but i just restarted my phone's Rain Forest white noise, put the single ear muff back over my left ear with the earbud, and fell back asleep until 5:45a.m.

i biked to lowes this morning leaving stuff in my tent, and it was all there when i got back. i took all the pricey stuff with me, so people would only get my street clothes, tent, sleeping quilt and sleeping pad. pricey stuff i know, but less likely anyone wants it. Especially when it probably has a Eau De Dan "fragrance"

i got a new power brick. it holds 20amp hours. my phone's battery is 3 ah, and the bike computer/gps is 1.8 ah (amp hours). so i can fully recharge both about 4 times. my phone and GPS typically only drain down to 1/3rd of their capacity. so the new battery should get me through a handful of days.

no breakfast other than cliff bars, gatorade and a snickers. i don't want to pedal after a heavy breakfast. maybe I'll eat a big breakfast at Syracuse when I'm at a hotel.

did my laundry last night too, so i'm wearing clean cycling clothes.

charging stuff up and drying things out. looks like a yard sale or as jacqui quipped via text, "it looks the same at home" (i do lay my stuff out everywhere often, she's most patient with my messiness.)

while at lowes i did buy a 25ft hose, the really nice kind that is super flexible. they don't break if they freeze. My small donation to the Brockport Welcome Center.

time to pack everything back up, strap it to the bike and get moving to Rochester

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Day 2, evening Brockport

i posted a few things to my instagram and youtube.

my instagram hunneymandc

youtube https://www.youtube.com/shorts/J40ht8XLUTA

the tugboat is very popular on youtube for some reason. the algorithm must be pushing it. most views i've gotten. well over 700 last time i looked.

got my camping spot by the welcome center downtown.

currently sitting by the canal in my mini chair, writing this blog. will go over to the bar for buffalo chicken salad and a beer. going to walk over in my crocs, my bike shoes are still soaked

the main reason i stopped was the grit coating my bike's drivetrain, it was making horrible crunching sounds. they didn't have a garden hose here at the welcome center, but the nice older gentleman working there is going to donate one now. he was shocked at how caked my bike was and he mentioned other bicyclists coming through had asked for a place to wash their bikes.

the welcome center has a bathroom open 6a.m-9p.m. with a shower. i already used the shower. nice and warm. glorious. crocs ftw! (for the win) the floor was a little yucky, not horribly, just glad i wasn't barefoot. I hung out with the old guys for an hour warming up before I started my evening chores.

i've got the tent set up and i've got my rain pants and towel drying on it. looks like a yard sale, but that's touring life.

in the screenshot above, i'm the blue dot

my folding keyboard is nice and small , but you can't type on your lap while sitting in a chair with it. so i cut a piece of coroplast sign board for rigidity. super lightweight. makes the chair worth bringing. i'm enjoying the cool breeze by the canal and the walkers are starting to go by across the way.

I also setup the chair earlier today under a bridge when i was waiting out a heavy downpour. very comfortable. glad i brought it. and the leg that came loose was easily fixed. long live the kilosgear chair!

back to Brockport

i don't think this would be a good camping spot unless you have my earbud/single ear muff setup for sleeping. being downtown, and the bridge 50 yards away, it's going to be noisy.

but....i didn't feel like biking 2 miles out of the way to the Best Western, and I definitely didn't want to deal with the wet canal trail anymore today. by the time i get moving tomorrow, it'll have dried out a lot. i'll probably just bike through Rochester tomorrow and camp at a lock between Rochester and Syracuse. Saturday, i'll shoot for Syracuse but it may be too far. i might have to settle for the last lock site to the west of Syracuse.

i still did some tweaking of the saddle position. basically ended up where i was yesterday, just with the seatpost lower. Progress though. a slightly sore butt is a great way to find the most comfortable position. Immediate feedback. it's getting better and not worse, so that's the important thing.

Leather Brooks saddles are supposedly the most comfortable, but I have to get my weight down to 225 first. they max out at 100 kilos or 220lbs. 225 should be close enough, they always have a fudge factor on weight limits. The break in on those suck though, but once broken in, you don't even need to wear cycling shorts (supposedly). Just raw dog it! Lol

as i leave town tomorrow i'll swing by the brockport lowes to get a new usb battery charger/ power station. crisis averted. with the nearby power charger at my campsite, i can charge up my phone and bike computer tonight.

beer and food are calling to me. ttyl (talk to you later). also drank 2 ipa's and ate some pretzel bites before this buffalo chicken salad.

also doing laundry tonight

day 2 morning, rain and mud

going to be a rainy day. attaching this pic to show the filth on my bike

slept well last night. my single ear muff over earbuds/earplugs worked flawlessly

i wore a thin buffwear hat under my sun shirt hoodie. the hood on the sun shirt is long enough to help block the light in the morning too. there were some nearby houses that had their backyard security lights on all night.

the sun hoody is long sleeved too, makes a good sleep shirt. warm enough for upper 40's/low 50's but still cool enough to have the quilt on top. Besides the shirt, I just slept with socks and underwear under the quilt, and I was plenty warm. woke up to rain around 3:30, but i was dry inside.

when i pitched the tent last night, there was a young black man at the camping area too . No bike, just walking carrying a ton of bags. I didn't press, but my gut tells me he was probably between homes. maybe got kicked out of wherever he was and didn't have the money to take his stuff to a friend's house, so he got the idea to carry all his stuff and walk the path to his friend's place.

right before i went to sleep, i got out of the tent to retrieve my bike computer at one of the charging poles the town has spaced out along the camping area by the canal (should have taken a photo of them)

i saw he was seated at picnic table, sort of slumping over it like he was resting. I don't think he had a tent. I didn't have any room or bedding to share. Felt bad for him.

like i said it rained pretty hard for 10-15 minutes around 3:30a.m.. when i woke up this morning he was no where to be seen. i noticed 1 of the 2 bathrooms was always locked. I suspect he grabbed his stuff and camped out in the bathroom.

i used the other one this morning , even took a shower, and left their suggested $20 donation. none of the downtown shops/diners were open, so i biked on to the next main town. found a kwik stop gas station and bought some stuff for breakfast and ride snacks. I've biked 15 miles so far and haven't seen the guy with the bags. i think he was definitely in the other bathroom sleeping.

got a couple nice photos along the trail before the rain started. right now having lunch at Albion's McDonalds . there was a car wash i passed on the way to McD's, so I stopped and paid the $3 to rinse off all the grit on my bike. i'll have to do that again probably tonight or tomorrow. the bike and the bags are getting muddy with all the rain, which has been off and on since 9a.m. my rain jacket and pants are doing the job though. no worries. the bags are dry inside too. just gunk on the outside. i'd risk just riding rt 31 to brockport, but the spray from passing cars would be worse than the dirt and muck from the canal path. And I don't want to get run over if the visibility gets bad.

if i continue to go slow i may just camp at Brockport. today's the only rain day, and I don't need to be a hero. my butt is doing a little better today, but a lower mileage day may be better for it.

An afternoon hiding in my tent from the rain doesn't sound that bad right now. if i get a slow start tomorrow the Sun will have dried the canal path out some. maybe i'll kill time going to the Lowe's in brockport to get a usb power station/battery charger. looked online via the lowe's app, they have some for $30. there may be a hotel there too. odds are if i stop in Brockport today, i wouldn't get to Syracuse until late Saturday, but i can meet up with my folks Sunday if that's the case. Better to accept the conditions and go a little slower than risk the trip imho.

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Day 1... Use the taint, Luke

Long day riding.

I did lots of saddle adjustments today, i hope i had a breakthough. i had the saddle too far back, and tilted rear side down too much, or nose up.

towards the end of the day, i found nose down, and saddle an inch forward, or in the middle of the seat rails was far, far better. I wasn't putting all the weight on just my sit bones anymore. Still some on the sit bones but some to my taint area, more surface area to spread the contact area out. (taint= between the dood dad and pooper, or the hoo hah and pooper for the ladies...).

Anyhoo, started the ride officially at about 10a.m. jacqui took photos of me loading up the bike. we left the hotel around 9a.m., then 20-30 minutes of traffic and it took me 30 minutes to load up all the gear after putting the front tire back on the bike. I'll add a bunch more photos below.

i started riding. I confused Jacqui with my all is well and ok gestures, when she caught up to me at a light. I was adjusting something on the bike. She probably thought i meant ok to pull over and park. but after reassuring her all was well, i continued on.

After a half mile or so, ran into my first issue. Nearly all the shore line trail at the beginning is closed off. they're updating the park so it wasn't very long and i had to do a u-turn at the park closed sign. And then my bike computer routed me through nearly every downtown neighborhood and by university housing. Some of it was pretty, some wasn't. Never felt unsafe, and there was actually some bike lanes to use. Good for buffalo street planners. Eventually though i was back on the shore line trail. with the Lake on my left.

my premium ridewithgps app membership and garmin 1040 gps bike computer earned their pay today. I would have been completely lost otherwise. Together they performed flawlessly and got me to the canal trail again. Sucks to have to pay $90/year for the app, but i don't regret the $450 bike computer at all.

At mile 17, I had lunch at mudd's mississipi grill and ice cream. good grub. 1/4lb cheeseburger and onions rings.

at gasport i said screw it and biked 1 mile out of the way to get some gatorade, water and an ice cream. my fault i should have navigated to something closer when i went through lockport. there's a learning curve to this touring thing.

also with the photos, i took stuff that looked interesting, but i need to do a better job of knowing their context and where i am. Next time. i really felt busy today, had to put the hammer down to get to the camping area.

The bungee broke on my little ultra light chair, still usable i think, just makes assembly slower. if not, i get to ditch 2.25lbs of weight, and buy a new, lighter version for the next trip.

also my usb battery isn't working. just says it's at 100%, but when I plug stuff into it, nothing happens. just had a thought, maybe i need to plug it in to wake it up or something. if not there's a best buy in syracuse very close to my route. i already checked they have a few in stock. update: gave up on it and chuck it into the trash, will buy a new one at Best Buy, probably the one close to Erie Blvd in Syracuse.

anyhoo pizza/food time.

ordered a veggie pizza. but it's going to take 50 minutes. i found a hidden outlet by my booth, had to pull the entire booth from the wall a little, lol. anyway. gives me time to charge up the phone and my shokz induction headphones. I pushed the booth back towards the wall when I finished my meal.

i think bikepacking is hard on my electronics gear. lots of bouncing. humidity and what not probably doesn't help either. can't complain though having this tech is amazing. i keep it all in small quart size ziplocs.

my new little fanny pack i made today worked well. has 2 pouches, keep my ridge credit card wallet holder in the smaller pouch, the bigger one has cash and room for either my cellphone or bike computer. i usually but the bike computer in it, and then have my phone in my shirt pocket for quick access.

given the 50 min wait on the pizza. i may be setting the tent up in the dark, but that's ok. killing time updating the blog and charging my gear

my fanny pack has 2 of my favorite colors (favs as of late) army green and puke orange. the more migraine inducing the better.

I should have also explained, that with the improved seating position i started going faster too. like 14-15mph instead of just 10-11 when the seat was further back. and that was at the end of the 50 mile ride today. The new position must be engaging my quads more. Maybe i can make it to Rochester tomorrow. It would be good to get a hotel room to charge up my gear tomorrow night. Also, not sure i only want to do 30 miles to brockport tomorrow. my butt will be the main decider on whether i shoot for Rochester. I do have rain gear, so if i get rained on a little to bike further, no biggee.

stay tuned for tomorrow. fingers crossed Rochester and hotel. easier to charge my gear and i can wash my bike/riding clothes in the bathtub.

detour thru buffalo

Monday, September 1, 2025

Erie Canal Ride, the day before Prep and Plan

Tuesday

So the plan is Tuesday (tomorrow as I write this), Jacqui and I drive separate to her folks place just south of Albany. Jacqui's folks will be busy, so we'll just be dropping off Jacqui's car and she'll ride with me in the truck as we continue the drive to Buffalo. It'll probably be about 6-6.5 hours of driving Tuesday.

Anyhoo, I booked a nice hotel (homewood suites by Hilton) that's closer to the airport than downtown. We'll be a 20 minute drive from the Erie Canal starting point. I would have booked something downtown, but I didn't want to worry about parking my truck in a downtown parking garage. The room has a little built-in kitchen so I'm bringing a thawed bag of my meatballs and sauce so I can carbo load some spaghetti Tuesday night. I have all my cooking stuff in the back of the truck in case the room's kitchen is poorly stocked, and I have the truck's electric cooler to bring food too. We'll stop somewhere nice for lunch on the drive out.

Wednesday

I'll start the trail Wednesday after we drive the last 11 miles. Might wait until after 9a.m. to avoid downtown Buffalo rush hour traffic. So my bike ride will probably begin with a mid-late morning start. Jacqui will drive the truck back to Albany. There's a cross-stitch shop she wants to check out near Rochester. She'll probably check in on her folks, and then drive the Accord home, leaving my truck at her parents' place. When I eventually reach the end of the Erie Canal trail (360+ miles later), I'll be able to bike to their place via the Hudson greenway, then another short rail trail that goes west from the Hudson greenway, and finally, some backroads south. Only adds 14 miles and 400ft of climbing to the end of the Erie ride. It'll be easier and safer than asking someone to drive my truck into busy downtown Albany (we'd need a vehicle that can transport my bike and gear).

I do see in the forecast that rain's expected later Thursday. I don't expect an "early" start Wednesday, so I'll probably only ride to Middleport, about 45miles from the start. With the weather Thursday, I may only go as far as Brockport, which will only be 30 miles further. Hopefully, I can pitch my tent before the rain starts around 3p.m.. Or...maybe I'll try riding to Rochester and get a hotel. I will have rain gear I can put on. It'll depend on how far/fast I ride per day The weather looks nice though, so I'm inclined to try camping in the rain. It'll be a good test of my gear. I'll play it by ear. There's always the slim chance I get to Brockport the first day, but I doubt I'll want to pedal 75 miles, but maybe I'll luck out with a heck of a tailwind. Lol.

Seeing how I have zero flat terrain near me in Mass, I have no idea how slow/fast I'll be on the bike. My touring gear adds 20-25 pounds, depending on how much water/food i have. In my hilly terrain near home, i only go 8-9 mph when my bike is fully loaded up. I suppose I should also mention, when I got the bike in May, I was 30 lbs heavier. So even adding all the cargo on the bike, I'm still lighter than when I started biking a lot this year. I'm still a few pounds from officially being halfway to my weight loss goal, maybe I'll be halfway after this ride! fingers-crossed!

Anyway, I figure even if I only manage 50 mile days, I'll be in Syracuse later Saturday (most likely). There's a nice Erie Canal museum in Syracuse along the trail I'd like to check out. I also plan on meeting my folks when I make it to Syracuse. It's about an hour drive for them to get to where I'll be in Syracuse. I'll probably just book a room in Syracuse. There's a dearth of camping spots when the trail gets near the big cities (Rochester, Syracuse).

I'll have my phone, a backup battery, and a good AC/plug-in, fast usb charger to help keep everything /charged up. I'll post updates as I traverse the trail. Maybe even some short videos on instagram or youtube accounts.

my instagram hunneymandc

and my youtube https://www.youtube.com/@danhunneyman2973

Oh well, enough blogging, time to wrap up some last minute errands. I need to get some cash and buy some birdseed, so Jacqui can feed the birdies and squirrels while I'm gone. Like my Dad, she doesn't have ladder privileges, so the tiny birdies will have to manage without their specific feeder getting refilled. There is a tray feeder she can refill though. The blue birds and cardinals just bully the titmouses and finches.

Below are some screenshots of the maps. I broke the big 360 mile route map into four 90 mile route sections. The smaller ones load easier on my bike's GPS computer gadget.

Notice at the bottom of the screenshot it shows the miles between campsites. I worked on adding those from the ny campground map website manually.

Please Note: you can double click on the photos below to make them bigger. On a computer use your arrow keys on the keyboard to scroll through the slideshow. Press Esc key when done. On a phone/tablet, you have to click on each thumbnail at the bottom.