On Monday, July 7, 2003 at 12:30 p.m., Stephanie Ball and Edward Graham will tie the knot at the Clyde Carter Gazebo in Spencerport. Witnesses will include most of her family, which includes four children; most of his family, which includes five children; and many of their 400 traveling companions of touring bicyclists. The bicyclists are participants in New York Parks and Conservation Association's Cycling the Erie Canal, an eight-day cross-state bike tour from Buffalo to Albany. This is the first marriage to be performed on the tour during its five-year history.

Stephanie, a nurse at the Strong Memorial Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Rochester and a school nurse with the Spencerport School District, and Ed, who works for Rochester Gas and Electric, have ordered plenty of wedding cookie trays to celebrate the occasion and provide "the energy boost of carbs" for their 400 traveling companions.

Reminiscent of the song "Daisy, Daisy," the bride and groom are outfitting themselves in bright yellow bicycling clothing and as many items of yellow biking gear as they can collect. They will be wearing tour bib numbers "1" (she) and "2" (he). "Just Married" license plates will complete the package. Stephanie and Ed are expected to look sweet upon the seats of their own bikes - not the more romantic "bicycle built for two" famed in the song.

On the first night of the honeymoon, the couple (who have known each other for 30 years) will set up camp at Nazareth College in Pittsford at the "tent city" organized by the tour.

More than 400 bicyclists from all over the United States begin the tour in Buffalo, Sunday, July 6. The event is organized by New York Parks and Conservation Association (NYPCA), a statewide nonprofit organization. The 400-mile trek follows the Erie Canal along the Canalway Trail and scenic rural roads.

The eight-day ride will end Sunday, July 13 at the Corning Preserve in Albany. During the course of the trip, bicyclists will experience the history and culture of the region by making stops at Lockport's historic "Five Flights" working locks, the National Women's Hall of Fame and Women's Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls, Syracuse's Erie Canal Museum, the Oneida Indian Nation's Cultural Center on Nation Lands in Oneida, the Erie Canal Village in Rome, Fort Stanwix, the Oriskany Battlefield and the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, among many other points of interest.