100 Miles

100 miles ("the century"), is a biking milestone. On July 4th, I set off in a misty and humid pre-dawn to accomplish the feat.

The plan was to ride out on the Erie Canal trail. Ginnie and I had made our way to Brockport and back (a 50-mile trip) just a month ago using her new cargo bike to its limit. Surely, I could double that solo.

I packed a spare bike battery, a passel of drinks and energy bars, and even sunscreen. No preparation spared, I left the house at 5:40am. It's a trope of the e-biking community to take a picture of your bike on a bridge and there's a perfect posing spot just a few miles down the road.

The Erie Canal trail runs west (and east) from Rochester in a beautiful ribbon.

Every dozen miles or so there's a town. My route would span Spencerport-Brockport-Holley-Albion-Medina. Betwixt and between are one and two lane drawbridges.

On this trip, I saw all the Disney animals: the deer, the rabbit, the squirrel, the chipmunk, the fox, the snapper turtle, the goose. The geese, in particular, like to camp on the trail. Invariably, a gander would stand his ground proudly in the middle of the trail hissing, his salmon tongue sticking out, a red flag.

I got into the challenge, madly dinging my bell and hissing myself as I charged through.

Further on, this dinner-plate sized snapper had hauled himself out of the embankment. More dangerous than the geese, I bid him a polite greeting.

At mile 35, my smaller battery which I had been carefully husbanding gave out. Time to switch to the brand new full battery. I was on the phone with Gin when I did this so she got to hear my sigh of disappointment.

The battery I was sure was fully charged was less than half full. The only way out was through.

The day got hotter. Nearly everything was closed for the fourth. I made it to my turn in Medina where the canal bridges over and past a local river which is far beneath it. The sun had sapped my energy for photos.

Now I'm just trying to get home. My watch ticks off every bite of 5 miles as I alternate between using the battery at its lowest setting and not at all. Moxie calls to let me know she can be there with the car if needed. But it wasn't needed. Sweat soaked and tired, I made it home.