A poor nights sleep in the hot, humid and somewhat pungent tent didn't set us up well for the days riding. We ate the leftover cookies, fruit and crisps John gave us for breakfast and set off along the canal again. The first stretch of canal was working, with watercraft moving up and down, and plenty of users on the towpaths enjoying Labour Day weekend. The canal joined a river further up, and widened significantly. We rode through archways of trees, leaves starting to turn ochre hues, with drops on either side of the path into canal and ditch.
We stopped in Lyons for a cold drink and a cake from the service station. In contrast to the picturesque canal side towns we have been passing the last few days, this area seemed rougher, with some form of altercation occurring on the corner by the station.
The route joined Cycle Route 5 for the afternoon, along roads over rolling hills. The gradients were gentle enough that it didn't slow us particularly. This section made us realise just how tedious the road sections were compared to the canal, and with the heat approaching 40 Celsius, we were all a bit worn down come lunch time in Port Byron.
After lunch we joined a mixture of paths and road until rejoining the Erie Canal Path, although on an unused section of canal. Deadwood floated in stagnant brackish water. The occasional toad leapt out of the way on the path.
We stopped at a fire station to ask directions to a free camping spot, and were pointed a couple of miles further down the trail. On approaching Camillus we came across a small museum, and went inside to ask again. We were offered by the very friendly, elderly volunteers a place to camp out back, with access to the wash rooms, kitchen and water in the museum overnight. Liz Beebe kindly gave us some soft drinks and set out food for us in the morning. They also recommended the New York State Fair which was ongoing this evening, 6 miles up the road.
It was nice riding our bikes unladen for a change, responsive to turning, acceleration and braking. The fairgrounds were expansive. We entered at gate 9, into a car park that stretched as far as we could see ahead of us. We found the entrance to the Fair, and a State Trooper directing traffic through interpretive dance, keeping himself and the crowds at the ticket office amused.
As we approached the office, a man behind us called us over, and gave us three free tickets to the fair! Today was definitely a lucky day. We wandered the fair grounds, large enough to have their own shuttle bus inside. Large tents housed livestock expositions, tractor shows and other agricultural activities on the outside. Inside, roller coasters, amusement park rides, music and candy floss stalls abounded. We meandered through, taking in the atmosphere. All manner of food was on offer, and drinks tents served wine slushies, beers and ciders at inflated cost to thirsty customers, ourselves included. We ate some fairground food and watched the Monster Truck show from the bottom fence for a while. Later, we stumbled across a ten thousand strong crowd watching the Steve Miller Band perform during a guitar solo.
An iced custard, root beer float and a corn dog later, and we made our way to the exit. I needed a new T-shirt to replace one which has become particularly worn on this trip, so we stopped at a stall for that. The T-shirt designs were all pretty garish and so rather than find the least sore on the eye, we decided to go all out and find the worst ones we could. Stand by, New York.
Cycling back in the dark was uneventful, save for exiting the fair through four solid lanes of traffic at an interstate junction. We bypassed it along a short cheeky section of train line. We haven't done much cycling at night, and so it was refreshing with the cool breeze and different aspect to the scenery, particularly along the canal. We opted to camp inside the museum and have a good nights sleep rather than the tent.
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