Day 10: Split Rim - and which we camp!

Day 10     9/30     Newark to Weedsport     37 Miles

Started on some paved road which is a nice change from the "stone dust" of the Canal Trail.  Of course, the downside is the car traffic.  Oh well, you can't have it all - or most of the time, at least.  Glenda's rear bike rim develops a split - unusual but true!  I tell Bob that I'm glad that we don't have fancy bikes, although he points out my crank needs tightening about every 30 minutes.

Camped by a nice river, although the whole place was infected with Canadian geese.  As long as you're camping, it sure is nice to have a little restaurant and bar at the same  location.  $2 draft beer and we watch the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team win on the bar TV!

Bob makes about 20 calls to Syracuse bike shops to find a new 20" rim.

The doggone geese wake us up early in the morning.  Nature!

Day 9: Sometimes Just Leave "Well Enough" ALONE!

Day 9     9/29     Fairport to Newark     () miles

Bob and Glenda have some very nice Bike Friday folding bikes.  We have classic Univega Alpina Unos from the early 1980's that are heavy as lead.  My crank was starting to grind a bit, so we stopped at the RV&E Bike Shop in Fairport.  They weren't busy so we all managed to help their gross profit.  Rather than grease the old one, they suggested a new bottom bracket, so I said go ahead.  Hmmm.  Bob got a new chain and sprocket, Glenda an odometer, and Mary Louise and I got mirrors too.

Off we go.  Ooops, my crank is loose.  I start to ride back and have everyone go ahead, but Bob says let's just use the old "two wrench trick" (one wrench on the nut and the other cranks on the wrench).  That seemed to work great.

Oops. Loose.  Tighten.

Loose. Tighten.

Sometimes it's just better to leave well enough alone.  Maybe there'll be a bike shop ahead somewhere.   Meanwhile, pedal softly and carry a bigger wrench than we have.

 Late in the day we had a nice 5 miles off in the trees next to the canal.  Bob tows Haagu in the picture below him.   Bob created a slick system by mounting a dog kennel on wheels that he tows behind his bike.  Sometimes Haagu gets in the kennel and gets a ride.  Other times, he is clipped to the side of Bob's bike and pulls Bob and his rig along.  Would that be called synergy?

Day 8: A Day ending in RAIN!

Day 8     9/28    Brockport to Fairport    35 miles

It's the serendipity that makes travel worthwhile.  I think the slower you go, the greater of the chance of serendipity.  For us, it was the stop in the pleasant town of Medina.  A grandson at home, who loves trains, was the motivation for the stop at Medina Railroad Museum.  After a few wrong turns, we found it - but alas . . .  CLOSED.  But as we were standing there looking stupid, the creator of the museum opens the door and says "Come on in!"  (unfortunately, I can't remember his name but an amazing person)  The model trains and displays are amazing in their complexity and just plain fun.  Go, even if you don't really like trains!

Just when we got to the Twenty Woodlawn, just off the Canal trail, WHAM.  The deluge began - and what a deluge.  We huddled on the porch you see below, waiting for Bill and Connie.  Soon the streets were rivers and we were just glad to be huddled.    

Bill and Connie showed up and we headed for the showers.  Just a bit of warning, Twenty Woodlawn is a great B and B, but don't put something down - you might lose it with all the other trinkets around!

Bill and Connie are wonderful people.  Thanks.

Day 7 Day of the Missing Wallet

Day 7    9/27     Albion to Brockport   ? miles

Not all goes as planned.  A bit of rain, but not enough to get out the rain jackets.  Brockport was a pretty little town with a business district that was alive and well - unlike some  of the towns that we had come through in the last couple of days.  Mary Louise got a new bike seat at Bicycle Outfitters Brockport.  It was great to be able to try different ones and have a real person help without getting irritated that you didn't just buy the first one.

Uh-oh.  Bob realizes that he didn't have his wallet.  Not a good thing.  He had taken a spill earlier in the day on the trail and items had fallen out of the front handlebar bag.  He wondered if it had fallen out and he hadn't seen it on the ground.  A call back to the Schoolhouse B&B confirmed that they hadn't seen it.  Here's Bob and Haagu and our gear in the back of the truck.

The short story is that Enterprise had no cars so we rented the smallest U-haul we could.  After driving all the gear and girls out to the Gingerbread B&B (another great B&B, but a bit farther off the Canal) Bob and I took our bikes to go look on the trail.  Luckily, before we got too far on the trail, Bob got a call that Jeri had found it.  They would deliver it that evening to our B&B!!!!  WHEW!  Lost . . . and found again.

Day 6 Dinner and a Show!

Day 6     9/26  Gasport to Albion     ? miles

Another great day riding alongside the canal - flat, pretty, and no traffic.  You can't beat that.  We continue to follow along the oldest part of the Canal that is still used by charter and private boats, so there are only small towns and little traffic of any kind.

At the end of the day, we were met by Lou and Jeri at the Erie Canal Schoolhouse B&B.  Lou helped us put the bikes inside as Jeri took the girls on a tour of our rooms.  They also told us of a restaurant across the bridge that was good - The Crooked Door - owned by a retired teacher which always made us raise our eyebrows.  They were right - it was very good and not crowded either.  And, very important in our crowd, the draft beer was fresh and cold.

The amazing part of the Schoolhouse B&B is the Exhibition Room on the top floor.  Part history, part entertainment, but it is amazing and worth seeing no matter who you are or where you come from.  What a show!

Day 5 - Wonderful World of Bed and Breakfasts

Day 5     9/25    Tonawanda - Gasport    () miles

The Erie Canal Trail is mostly off road, either paved or hard "gravel" (the guide book calls it stone dust), and well marked.  We had very little bicycle or pedestrian traffic - and didn't have one incident with a mean dog.

Bob and Glenda had done some research and reserved places to stay for our first couple of days.  It was a good thing and nice not have to make decisions.  Country Cottage Bed and Breakfast was a gold mine find - all because of the proprietess, Sue Pearson.   But I'm getting ahead of myself.

There wasn't much in the way of places to eat, so Bob and I volunteered to ride a couple of miles down the road and get what we could.  We got some great subs (Upstate New York is SUB country.   There are tons of sub shops and many of them very good.) and found some beer at the convenience store.  We all sat on the back deck of Sue's house and watched the light fade and listened to the train whistles as we ate much deserved subs and drank beer.

The next morning we noticed a map with pushpins in it.  When asked, Sue told us that represented all the places that she had been.  Bob and Glenda are pretty impressive travelers, but she had them beat all to heck.  With a great breakfast, we also learned about Sue's Mom, who came through Ellis Island.  Sue had the framed documentation with her Mom's name and "pertinent" information on it.  Stay there - you won't be disappointed if you like people.

Day 4 - In Which we really Start!

Day 4     Niagara Falls to North Tonawanda and a $170 Econolodge     20 miles by  BIKE!

Wow, Niagara Falls are beautiful.  It's worth a trip.

Mount up!  Let's begin!  Four people over 55 years old, 4 bikes, 2 trailers, and a dog. 

After a scenic ride along the Niagara River, we turn left and go east at the Erie Canal.  We want to camp a little further along, but alas, no camping permitted.  That meant a ride along a busy Niagara Boulevard.  At the 5th hotel we checked at, there were 2 rooms at an Econolodge that would take adults and a dog.  Great!  Until the bombshell dropped - $170 per room.  Better to be sleeping other than a park bench, so we took it.  Plus, it was dark.  Turned out the Buffalo Bills were playing the next day!

Day 3 "Getting Ready" yet again

Day 3    9/23     () miles by car

The good news is that we found the hotel fine.  But, no rooms available as yet.  Me, your image of cheapness, decides to return the car within the 24 hours.  I leave Mary Louise with all the gear in what is really the parking lot and run the car back to Buffalo airport.  Compounding a lousy decision, I pay more for the shuttle to Niagara than I should (by far, but we won't go into that).

I don't know about you, but there's always something we don't have.  I have checked around for bike shops on the internet before I left to find a front pannier rack.  I've followed up with a call, but none of the bike shops answer their phone.

Now that I've returned the car, we decide we may as well walk to the most likely choice (you'd think we'd ride, but one second item is that I have a tire pump for presta but not schrader - which my bike tires are schrader . . . )  We do, and walk, and walk, and walk - about 6 miles we figure later.  But we get there!  But they have no front pannier racks.  Hmmm.  Why can't a place just answer their phone.

Fortunately, Bob calls about that time and they've arrived.  He most kindly gives us a ride back - which by now is in POURING rain.

The bike shop does have a pump!  Progress!

I get tired of getting ready and getting ready and not being really ready. 

Day 2 Off to Niagara Falls by car

Day 2   9/22  Newark, NJ to Niagara Falls, NY   Many miles

After sleeping as late as possible, Bob calls.  He and Glenda (and Haagu, the dog) never got out of Alaska due to weather.  They might make it by that night anyway.

We slit the seal on the boxes and they explode with bicycle parts and gear.  We cram bike parts together to make some semblance of a bike and jam gear into panniers.

I take off to the airport for the rental.  All proceeds smoothly until I try and get back to the hotel across two limited 4 lane limited entry highways.  50 minutes later I arrive back at the hotel - a whole quarter of a mile from the rental place as the crow flies.

Mary Louise has had the unenviable job of getting all the gear out of our room and waiting for me.

We store the bike boxes at the hotel, and stuff the gear and bikes into the car and take off.

Day 1: Air Travel Challenge

Thursday, 9/22     Sitka, AK to Newark, NJ     3250 miles

Whew.  The logistics are always challenging.  Box up two 1982 bicycles (heavy!) and gear to live for three weeks.  Show up at the Sitka airport at 4:55 a.m. and get the bikes through security.  Hang out in an airplane all day and arrive in Newark where the airport doors do not allow bike boxes to fit through while wheeling them in a cart.

Are we having fun yet?

Erie Canal Bicycle Trip Overview

“Do you guys want to bicycle the Erie Canal next Fall?” my brother asked.

“I dunno.” I replied.

“It'll be flat,” Bob explained.

Eight months later, there we were. We made a good choice – it was a great trip.

The Erie Canal extends from North Tonawanda outside Buffalo to Albany for a distance of 360 miles – or vice versa. We decided to start on the western end to take advantage of the prevailing westerly winds. Hmmm.

You can see I took this picture on the eastern end.

The Canal Trail is well maintained and well marked. Most of it is along the towpath right next to the Canal which is closed to motorized traffic. There are times when you have to bicycle on real roads either in the countryside or in city traffic - but not much.

The Erie Canal has a very interesting history. I will let you read about it here, rather than pretend I know something.

These trip snippets are intended to be enjoyed and to entice you to go out and do your trip, wherever it may lead.

The Canal Trail was well marked, mostly with these signs:

I particularly like this sign, which was a bit confusing to me.  Unfortunately, it was a weekday!!!  Which way?









My only advice is to go.  It'll be fun.  I promise.