Ramble in the rain
Fifty-one miles and change today on a ramble in the rain.
A friend I met on the Bicycling Magazine Forums, ‘Tude, asked if I wanted to do the Henpeck Hop ride today. That’s the same 50 mile ride I did back on the 5th. The Weather Channel was calling for temps in low 70s, light winds and a 60% chance of rain. I accepted the invite knowing that it would rain, 100% chance.
It began raining shortly after we left at around 8:30. Halfway to Henpeck, it became steady and pretty hard. We left the path at Long Pond Road where the pavement ends, and took the roads to the beginning of the ride. There were eight or ten bikes looking forlorn on the backs of cars as we rode into the parking lot.
“Poor bikes,” I said. “They won’t get ridden today.”
We leaned our bikes against a picnic table under a tree and fueled up. And we laughed at the weather. Every so often, we’d look down and shake our heads a little to let the water run out of our helmets. I amused myself by periodically wringing-out my shirt—while still wearing it. Meanwhile, we planned an alternate ride if this one was called off.
Twenty minutes later, the ride leader announce the conditions were “too dangerous”. Translation: “I don’t want to get wet.” I’ve long since discovered that I don’t melt, my bike doesn’t disintegrate in the rain, and riding in a summer rain doesn’t cause hypothermia. ‘Tude and I hopped on our bikes and rode a mile on the path to Manitou Rd, where we said goodbye to the gravel for the rest of the day.
We took a rambling route, partly by choice and partly because the rain was washing the ink-jet ink off the map. Manitou south to NY 31, then west to Union St (NY 251) in Spencerport, north to Canal St, west to Gallup Rd, north to Gordon Rd and west to Sweden-Walker Rd, NY 260, which is the last canal crossing before Brockport.
Union Street through the village of Spencerport is probably not the best cycling route. There’s no shoulder and the road is narrow. But it’s posted at 30 MPH and with our blikies on, cars gave us adequate space.
Crossing the steel-grid lift-bridge was interesting. They’re not the best when dry. In the wet, well ‘Tude dismounted and walked across on the sidewalk. As my bike shifted back and forth sideways on the grid, it seemed a bit easier since everything was lubricated. Other times I’ve ridden these types of bridges, the bike jumps. Today it just slid. I think I prefer that.
The entire route out was seemingly endless rollers—and not the baby ones I practice on when I ride the Canalway. I’m glad I practice them, because it sure was helpful today. Despite the rollers and the rain, I enjoyed Canal St much more than the canal path, which it parallels. Road riding is just so much nicer.
The rain tapered off as we rode south on Sweden-Walker Rd. It had stopped entirely by the time we turned back east on Colby St. On the map, Colby St is arrow straight. Maps, however, don’t show elevation. Roller after roller, some I’d call hills. Well, one was certainly a hill. It was the first time either of us had been all the way down in the granny ring on the granny gear (in my case 28-23) in recent memory.
For what I remember as being a sleepy little two-lane bordering a park, it was loaded with traffic. Dump trucks—an endless parade of dump trucks, in both directions and of all possible varieties, but mostly 14-wheelers towing 10-wheel dump trailers. All going by at 55.
They gave us plenty of room, but the road spray, noise and wind buffeting made it significantly less than pleasant. We nearly turned north on NY 36. Only at the last minute we saw that that’s where the dump trucks turned too. We went straight and Colby St became the nice little country two-lane I remember. And the road itself was better too.
We stopped for sandwiches, water (and in my case a smoke) at Union St. Then we took Union St south, away from Spencerport, to Ogden Center Rd. At the corner of Ogden Center Rd and Gillet Rd. We faced a choice. Uphill, south to Lyell Rd, or downhill, north to Spencerport Rd. They join together a few miles east, so naturally, we went north.
It’s the first time I’ve regretted giving up my top gear when I replaced the cassette in June. I “spun out”, reaching my maximum sustainable cadence, at 115 RPM at 34.1 MPH in the 48-13 gears. But it was fun while it lasted, and I coasted the rest of the way.
Spencerport Rd (NY 31), it turns out is part of NYS Bike Route 5. So despite our initial reservations about the traffic speed and volume, it’s a nice ride. Oh, and did I mention the rollers?
We stopped at the McDonald’s where Spencerport and Lyell roads merge to become Lyell Ave (Remember when I used to live on Lyell Ave?) for a pee break, and to let our legs recover a bit. The next ¾ mile is through a busy commercial corridor and an interchange with I-390. It’s the type of place where you need to be strong and sharp in traffic. You frequently have cars on both sides due to the right turn lanes and expressway ramps. It’s not for the weary. Or the timid.
Successfully transiting that section, we turned right on to the Canalway. The quiet was overwhelming.
We determined that we wouldn’t quite hit or 50-mile goal without detouring south on the Greenway to the turnaround point on Scottsville Rd. That nice, easy two miles out and two miles back did the trick. I arrived home—sans victory lap—with 51.36 miles on the odometer and 3:51:01 ride time, (13.3 MPH average) in almost exactly five hours of total trip time.
It was a slow and easy ride, and quite unlike the canceled bike club one. I’d do it again. Rain or shine.
