LOCK 17
Nice ride today, mostly on dedicated bike trail, and most of that was paved.
The scenery alternated from farms, to small City and everything in between. The bike trail, “Empire State Trail” as in prior days, passed through woodlands and open fields, generally closely following the Canal, but not always. The Empire State Trail generally, but not always, follows the Erie Canal Trailway. One is marked on the maps (Erie) the other has signage. One would think that they would be in alignment, but no.
The highlight of the day was a stop at Lock 17. When built in 1917 it had the largest vertical lift in the world, 40.5 ft. It replaced 4 smaller locks that were a part of the original canal. The two pics below, were taken from the same place and show the water level on either side of the downstream lock gate.
There was no one there when we arrived except the lock operator. He was quite friendly, gave us a tour and showed how the controls work. He had to drain the lock when we were there to let a boat headed upstream pass through the locks. Two 6’ x 9’ tunnels are used to pass water to the locks and two more to drain it
Outflow from the tunnels draining the lock
Onward we went and shortly came to the Herkimer House. It was built in 1764 by General Herkimer after the French Indian War. The General was key in the defense of Fort Stanwix (yesterday’s blog) against the British in the Revolutionary War. The house fell into disrepair in the 1800 and early 1900s. It is now owned by the State of NY. Link below.
We encountered the Empire State Ride today, 222 entrants riding from Staten Island to Buffalo - a totally supported ride and fund raiser for Cancer research. The trail got a bit crowded at times.
Eventually we arrived in Amsterdam. We wandered around town and finally found a fried chicken joint. We did takeout and walked down to the riverfront park to watch the water ski show, performers are from local high schools. George thought the fried chicken sauce had a hint of black cottonwood infused with oak; I thought it had a hint maple with a slight fragrance of pine. What a deal $9.85 each!
The water ski pyramid
By the numbers:
Dist 66.6 miles
Elev Gain 855 ft
Elev Loss 799 ft
Moving Time 5:29
Total Dist. 3,407 miles
Dist Remaining 358 miles
What a great day! Love the pics and the mix of history, engineering, architecture and local cuisine! I think that waterski display should be introduced at Red Top as an alternative to croquet with extra points for funnelator direct hits. Ride safe. Tim
ReplyDeleteWell, it's nice to learn where "lock, stock & barrel" came from. That and the revolutionary war info at Ft. Stanwix was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you continued to have good trail riding, even with the large tour you ran into. The countryside with farms and small towns sounds very pleasant.
The lock tour reminded me of our river tour on the Duoro River in Portugal. Our boat went through several locks. It was fascinating to sit on the deck and watch the water inside the lock rise and fall.
The terrain and the ever-present canals as well as the many bike trails offer a pleasant view of NY as a state.
From here it looks like you might be entering Mass or New Hampshire. It would be nice to visit Hyde Park and FDR's home if you can. We really enjoyed that a few years ago. In the meantime continue to enjoy lush NY....