Скачать или смотреть I rode my Unicycle from NYC to Canada | 700-Mile Solo Camping Adventure (Day 6)

DAY 6 of my 8-day SOLO-CAMPING trip from NEW YORK CITY to CANADA 🇨🇦 via the Empire State Trail!

Day 6 started at Green Lakes State Park at 9:07 a.m., with 89 miles ahead and a hotel waiting in Macedon. Before returning to the trail, I rode deeper into the park. Morning light cut through mature forest and opened onto Green Lake, a deep emerald bowl ringed by beach and grass. The surface stayed glass-clear while the color darkened toward the center, the kind of lake that pulls your eyes and makes time feel negotiable.

I left the park and rejoined the Erie Canal Trail on loose gravel, moving west with frogs, dogs, and deer crossing in and out of the brush. The outskirts of Syracuse brought crowds and concrete. I stopped at a Chick-fil-A for brunch and a full charge, surprised by spotless tables, outlets everywhere, and staff who checked in like clockwork. I left with extra food, a full battery, and the sense that someone had gone out of their way to help.

Syracuse routed the Empire State Trail down a narrow median between traffic lanes, keeping riders centered and separated. Construction crews pointed me through fresh detours, building the trail forward in real time. Downtown signage welcomed cyclists. Audible crossings called out every intersection. Clinton Square marked the rescue of Jerry Henry in 1851, a moment that sealed Syracuse’s reputation as a free city when a crowd broke him out of federal custody and carried him to safety.

The trail followed Onondaga Creek through underpasses and murals, then opened onto the Inner Harbor and Onondaga Lake. Water reflected sky and color from every direction. Wetlands stretched beside long bridges, and the path lifted above cattails and open shallows before sliding back into gravel.

West of the city, solar panels lined a hillside while the heat pressed hard enough to make shade feel earned. By 2:13 p.m., I cleared Syracuse, 443 miles into the trip, fishtailing through soft dirt beside canal water clear enough to show turtles and fish below the surface. Sitting and standing both hurt now. Every position carried its own ache.

Route 31 West forced twelve miles of shoulder riding with traffic moving fast and close. Vegetation swallowed half the lane. I waited for gaps and rode hard through the worst of it, grateful for speed and wishing no one had to pedal through that stretch. Farmland followed—potatoes, open fields, long straight roads—before the trail pulled me back onto dirt and silence.

Near Lyons, Lock 27 marked the final approach to Macedon. Dogs darted ahead of me on the path, tails high and fearless. Newark passed as a quiet port village with spiderwebs stretched across trees and limestone dust under tire. The canal bent into a wide horseshoe as the sun dropped, turning water and sky the same deep red.

I left the trail near Wayneport and crossed into a strip of gas stations and fast food. Microtel Inn & Suites sat between a Walmart and a Taco Bell, bright carpet and clean rooms waiting upstairs. Laundry machines hummed on the second floor. I washed everything I owned, set alarms for an early start, and shut the door on Day 6.

Monday, August 11, 2025
Syracuse to Macedon, NY
98 miles

Watch next → Day 7 (coming soon)