Today was the first day of Cycle the Erie Canal, 400 miles in 8 days. A great ride today. Perfect weather, in the 70s in the morning, never above 83. Light cooling winds got strong enough to call a headwind only in the last few miles. When I rode CTEC in 2023, i mostly rode right through each leg.  This time, I'm trying to make more stops to take in the attractions. Today, I joined the other riders on a boat trip up Lockport's "Flight of Five" locks and back. We went through the more modern locks alongside. Now it's just two locks to go up 50 feet. Very interesting.  I got a photo of a bald eagle in a tree along the canal.  A lot of today's route was on the canal towpath, often expanded during the canal's history. Some paved, the last 15 miles or so on a crushed stone path, which my new gravel bike handled very well. Except for a short stretch where new crushed stone has been dumped lately, too deep, like riding on the beach. We all went around that in the grass next to the trail. Also a good gravel bike use case.  Tomorrow, 62 miles, Medina to Fairport. I'll try to start earlier. Today I started around 8 a.m., but I want to keep pausing to see the sites, which eats up the time.