2016 Erie Canal Towpath Bicycle Ride

I had often dreamed of doing an extended bicycle ride.  As years passed I considered what it would be like to ride west to east across Kansas or Nebraska.  Why those two states?  Because they are mostly flat and with a predominately west wind, it would seem easier to make the ride.  The only problem with Kansas and Nebraska is that they are both quite hot in the summer.

When we moved to New York, my sights fell on the Erie Canal Towpath.

The original canal crossed New York from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo at Lake Erie.  It ran 363 miles.  Construction began in 1817 and has 36 locks.  It has an elevation differential of 565 feet.  Commerce before the canal was done primarily by pack animal. Creation of the canal reduced shipping charges by 95 cents on the dollar.  All work on the canal was human and animal powered.  The original canal was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep.  Animals pulled a “slip scraper” to help move earth.  Surveyors and engineers had little or experience in civil engineering yet managed to be precise in their work.  Most of the laborers were from Scotland and Ireland.

This is me on the first day of the ride.  The picture was taken in Pittsford, New York, at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 7, 2016.  Please note the helmet.

I saw only two canal boats.  While there were other boats on the canal, this one was a tour boat.  These folks were friendly and waved and greeted me as they traveled down the canal.

My first real break on the first day was in Palmyra, New York.  This was close to the halfway point in the journey.  Susan met me here and treated me to lunch.  I was sweating already and the temperature was already in the 90s. Notice the book in front of me.  It is a map of the route.  It was accurate sometimes.  Two of the most important items I took on my ride was a GPS that had an odometer and a mileage chart that I created before the trip.  These two items helped me know where I was most of the time.  Villages along the path did not have welcome signs on the trail.  There was only one time when the book map was a total failure and that was because of a path closure and detour with no directions as to where to go.  I lost very valuable time because of that.  It cost me about eight miles that I had to make up the following day.

This was one of the many locks along the trail.  This particular lock had a dry dock.  The lock could be filled with water then drained completely dry thus allowing for painting and repairs.

As mentioned in the previous picture, this particular lock had a dry dock.  This particular boat was getting a fresh paint job while I was there.  Unfortunately I was downwind of the spray painting that was taking place.  I took a brief break anyway.

Andy and Bonnie Underwood and their dog met me at Port Byron and treated me to refreshments and company while I was stopped here.  Their visit was most welcome.

Since I was dedicating the ride to law enforcement it was only fitting that I get my picture taken with a law enforcement vehicle.  This particular one was driven by Deputy Westover.  He was at the park at Port Byron with a half dozen trustees from the jail who were doing cleanup work at the park.  Westover respectfully declined to be in the picture.

I specifically chose to ride 120 miles on this ride.  On average, 120 police officers die in the line of duty each year. This year's ride was for those who have already been killed in the line of duty and those that I am sure will be killed before the end of the year.  My only fear is that I didn't ride far enough.  My hope is that I rode too far.

There have been at least three generations of the Erie Canal from what I could tell.  Obviously, this one isn’t in use any more.  It serves as an example of how Mother Nature reclaims her land when it is abandoned.  It was not at all unusual to see sections of the canal that had fallen trees, weeds, cattails, and other water vegetation growing.  Surprisingly, there were very few ducks and geese along the canal.  However, I saw a blue heron and a bald eagle on the ride.

This is part of an old canal lock just west of Weedsport, New York.  There’s some pretty fancy artwork there.  There were some parts of the abandoned canal that were completely covered by vegetation and barely noticeable unless you happened to be paying attention.  This one just happened to be in a clearing alongside a highway.  There are old abandoned locks visible along the New York Thruway (I-90).  This one was on NY-5.

Mother Nature won here, except it is now part of a park in Jordan, New York.  It was right after I left this area that I was caught in a torrential downpour.  There was heavy rain for about 20 minutes.  The only shelter I could find was under an elm tree, which provided absolutely no shelter at all.  Everything was soaked, including a $300 camera that was in a waterproof bag that wasn’t so waterproof.  No.  The camera isn’t working.  To give you an idea as to how much of a storm it was, I had to stop three times to cross over trees that had come down on the towpath.

While I stopped for a break I noticed this flag in the distance.  It was a nice reminder of those who built this great nation and specifically of those Americans who labored on the canal.  I took this picture with the camera that was later ruined.  The flag was in Jordan and was several hundred yards away from me.

This is Nine Mile Aqueduct just a few miles from the west side of Syracuse.  This picture was taken on the second day of my ride and a couple of hours after the rain storm.  Notice the puddle on the trail on the left side of the picture of the aqueduct.

The trail consists primarily of paved sections, highway, and crushed limestone that is quite smooth in most places.  The only problems with the crushed limestone is that  when it is wet the bicycle tires pick up the pieces of limestone and coat your legs and bicycle.  It feels a bit like being stung by bees – mile after mile.  In some areas the limestone can be a couple of inches thick, which makes it a little difficult to traverse.  Think what it is like to walk barefoot on dry beach sand and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

The ride was in early September. There were a few early signs of Fall; however, temperatures were in the 90s.

Half of the trail between Syracuse and Rome falls within the Erie Canal State Park.

This is one of the original bridges on the canal.  This part of the canal is no longer navigable, but the bridge is usable.  Notice how low the bridge is to the water.  Passengers on canal boats would have to leave the top deck in the open air and go below in order to go under these bridges.

During its peak year, there were 33,000 passages on the canal.  While several of the barges carried consumer goods, many also carried immigrants and vacationers.  Some canal boat captains provided entertainment on their boats (generally a band).  Sleeping accommodations were provided on the boats by hanging curtains down the middle of the inside of the boat and having women sleeping on one side of the curtain and men on the other side.  Beds folded out of the walls on the inside of the boat and cots were used in the middle of the floor.

The towpath is alongside the canal, which is on the left in this picture.  Here the towpath bridge and aqueduct cross over a small river that is on the right side of the picture.  There are several stream, creek, and river crossings on the canal, but many have been put out of service essentially draining the old canal.

There are occasional benches along the way.  There were about a half dozen parks or highway roadside parks along the path.  Much of the path along the canal is surrounded by trees, which is not the case on highway portions of the trail.  When there are covered picnic tables you tend to take advantage of them.  And when there is a shade tree over a picnic table, you take advantage of that also.

During the hay day of the canal, trees did not line its banks.  Remember that mules and horses had to tow the boats, so there could not be obstructions between the towpath and the boats on the canal.  Occasionally boats would meet each other while traveling in opposite directions.  A right of way pattern was established that allowed a team of mules or horses to cross on the lower and closer side of the canal while the other team crossed higher.

Dirt that had been in the path of the canal was dug up and thrown to the side to create the towpath.  There are portions of the canal where dirt was brought up from both sides of the towpath to create the towpath.  It is in these areas that the canal is actually higher than the surrounding earth.

My ride ended in Rome, New York at Fort Stanwix.  This is me about ten minutes after I arrived.  Though the trail crossed some fairly busy streets in Rome, most of the trail was on side streets with very little traffic.

Most of the people that I met on the trail were recreational day users out for their daily run or ride.  But, there were exceptions.  I met a couple on a tandem bicycle traveling from New Hampshire to Buffalo.  They were stopping along the way visiting the various museums along the way and staying in motels and bed and breakfasts.  I also met a man who was backpacking to Ohio.  “Handlebar” was a 70 year-old retired tech firm founder and wore a kilt.  In both cases we stopped and chatted with each other and exchanged trail information and used the chance to visit as an excuse to rest a bit.

The two pictures here are of me at the beginning of my ride and at the end of the ride.  You can see that I am no worse for wear.  Though I lost seven pounds over the three day ride I am certain that most of the weight loss was water.  That is in spite of the fact that I was constantly drinking water during the ride.

Would I do it again?  I suppose so.  In fact, I am hoping to do a 35 mile stretch later in October between Rome and Herkimer, New York.  I'm hoping I can talk a few friends into coming along with me.  Would I do the same stretch again?  Probably not except for the stretch between Syracuse and Rome.  Too much of the trail was on the highway between Lyons and Port Byron, New York.