Erie Canal Forum

Looking to ride Buffalo to Albany. Is there a bike rental in buffalo that rents for a thru ride? Perhaps return with bike on train? Searched the forum but did not find an answer.

Check out Campus Wheelworks in Buffalo. Post what you find out please.

I was able to reserve a bike rental from Buffalo Bike Tours. They're located downtown at Canalside. Ask for Marc.

Nina! That's great. Details? What kinda bike, return set-up, price?

Hi - planning a trip in June from Buffalo to Albany. I’m planning to stop my first night in Pittsford. Have you camped at the lock there and if so, what was your experience?

Many thanks!!

Haven't stayed at Lock 32, but I took a look using Google Maps. I can't imagine that you'd have a problem staying there -- looks like there is plenty of grassy area. Not that you have to, but it's polite to call ahead to the Lock Master and ask him if he will allow you to stay over. I noticed that there is a YMCA across the canal -- nice if you want to shower up as they usually have guest passes (or if you have a membership). Doesn't look like there are any food or convenient stores close by, but you can fuel up in Rochester -- not that far before on the trail. And, right down the trail in the AM there should be places for eating a/o restrooms at the village of Pittsford.

More insight (being experienced) there are lots of places that you can throw up a tent along the trail on this end of the Canalway. Just a little past the Lock on the Canalway trail there is a spot that Google Maps identifies are a "Erie Canal Nature Preserve". Street mode is available there and it looks like a perfect spot right along the canal and not really near anything.

Enjoy your ride and have a good time. PS: Know that there is an awesome Ice Cream place just a block off the Canalway in Pittsford, Pittsford Farms Dairy & Bakery Open Daily 7:30 AM - 9 PM. Google them. Breakfast is waiting!

Definitely get breakfast at The Dairy, not at the place on the other side of the canal where it took us 2 hours to get food.

I am interesting at this campground. I will be traveling by bike in mid-September. When should I make a reservation?

You should contact them directly. They might not see your message here.

I'm registered for the Erie Canal Bike Tour, July 10-17. I'm renting a bike and shipping my camping gear to my mom's house beforehand. I'm trying to figure out how to get me and my bike/gear to the start of the ride. Someone suggested I lock up my bike at Nichols School the night before and leave my gear in the gymnasium. People will be camping the night before at Nichols School but I prefer to start the ride the next day. My mom doesn't have a bike rack but I suppose I could remove the front wheel and pack it in the trunk of her car. Has anyone done this? Did you feel your stuff was safe?

There will be tons of people there the night before, either riders or SAG crews, camping at Nichols the night before. Find somewhere to lock up, everything will be fine. Totally safe. You might even find some Cycle The Erie Canal organizers to ask where to put it.

If you email staff with the ride now, they can tell you where to put the bike so you know what to expect.

Also, when I was there, the arena/ice rink (which was covered in artificial grass) was wide open. Not saying you can leave it in the arena but you never know, just ask. I’d still lock it somewhere for peace of mind

If you don’t have a bike rack, remove the front tire and store it all in the trunk. Depending on the size of the trunk you could even stick the whole bike in, rear wheel first, shut down the trunk and secure it down with two bungee cords so it doesn’t flop up, holding the trunk down. If most of the weight of the bike is in the trunk, it shouldn’t fall out.

John

Nina, did you also get your shuttle back to Buffalo sorted? Should be an option to buy when you bought your ticket. Really easy and convenient. Pretty cheap considering. Ride the Erie Canal are very organized.

Bill from Houston, we are planning Erie for 2023 on our tandem. Lots of Rails to Trails experience. would love your info.
greg.coulter@gmail.com

Thanks, John, for the suggestions! I did reserve a spot on the return shuttle.

Looking for accommodations near Fairport

I'd focus your lodging search in Rochester in the vicinity of Monroe Community College and Univ. of Rochester and also Fairport/Bushnell's Basin area, there are hotels in each area within a short walking distance to the trail.

Pittsford has a couple of decent places as well. We stayed at the Canal Lamp Inn. If you want good wifi, make sure you tell them when you make your reservation.

A friend and I want to do this ride from Buffalo to Albany or vice versa on our own. I live on the West Coast and instead of shipping/flying with my bike and having to assemble/disassemble it, does anyone know how I could rent a bike in the starting city and return it in the ending city?

I have no first had knowledge on rentals. If you use the search function at the top of this page and type in "rental" you'll find many past posts on this topic.

Nina: I would call bike shops in Buffalo or Albany and see if they do it. I suspect if they do it, it might be pricey as they have to come and collect the bikes 380 miles away. Might actually be cheaper to bring your own bike (as much as shipping and assembling bikes sucks).

Let us know your findings ok? This question comes up from time to time.

Good luck,
John

I do know there are shuttles that could return you and your bikes. I’m certain this will be easier for you to find this service as opposed finding one way bike rentals.

One of the previous posts on the topic suggested buying a bike and selling it at the end. At the time I hadn't considered a used bike, but if you considered that option, finding something on Marketplace could be reasonable (whether you sell it at the end or not). You could arrange the purchase ahead of time and have it waiting for you. I'd consider a day to tune (or schedule to have it tuned) and get it ready for the trip -- take into consideration what you are using to carry gear, etc. You could pack things like pump, tube, etc. ahead of time.

Other than that, catch this... Campus Wheelworks, a long time bike shop in Buffalo, highly rated and quite involved in the Bflo biking community does rent bikes (I visited their website). Copied from:

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Here at Campus, we offer high quality bike rentals. Our fantastic rental bikes are available in multiple styles and sizes so you can choose one that is best suited for your own personal adventure, be it a fat bike in the winter, road bikes for riding your triathlon or century, mountain bikes to hit the trails, or something to cruise the sights of Buffalo. Locks are included with rentals if desired, as are flat fix kits and helmets.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Here's what that will cost you (although you may be able to negotiate a weekly rental price).
Rental Bike Pricing:
$15: 1 hour
$50: 24 hours
$25: additional day after the first 24 hours

Then there's the logistics of getting it back unless there is some type of shuttle service.

You can find a decent bike on Marketplace for $150! LOL
(and if you did I'd consider helping you out if needed... I think!)

Ship your bike with Bike Flight to Dick Bike Shop in Tonawanda. They will put it together and have it ready for you. We have used them three times, great service. Albany bike shops will do the same. Call Dick's to let him know you are shipping bikes and date you need them ready. REI will pack and ship for you, allow two weeks.

I registered for the 2022 event. So excited! I found a couple of shops that rent bikes. Of course I'd have to shuttle/Amtrak back to Buffalo to return it. Has anyone else rented a bike for this tour yet? I'm weighing the costs of shipping my bike vs. renting. Thanks for any advice!

Nina, did you mean you registered for the “Cycle the Erie Canal” event? If so, I know you can pay a fee for the shuttles they arrange to get your bike and luggage back to Buffalo. I did that and it was a really smooth operation. Pretty much everyone except SAG people with vans do the same Just bring your bike to the truck(s) at the end of the ride and collect it when you get back to Buffalo after you hop off the bus.

John

Google is reporting this place is permanently closed. Clues?

I was the 2nd chef at the Village Inn back in the late 70s and 80s and still stop in when we get in the area. They have kept up a great little business!! Keep up the good job!!! Tim was in charge the last time we were there!

Does anyone have the fifth edition guidebook they would be willing to sell?

How much of the buffalo to Albany ride is gravel and can a road bike do the ride

I've ridden my Trek 2014 domane 4.3 for thousands of miles on the canal since I got it. 25mm tires, two flats in all that time.

Between Medina and Palmyra my riding area, it's mainly crushed limestone. Asphalt between Greece and Pittsford.

Here's a map from NY State showing which parts of the trail are on-road, off-road paved, or off-road gravel:

https://empiretrail.ny.gov/map

You'll need to zoom in a bit to differentiate between off-road paved vs gravel.

Happy trails!

We are just starting to plan a trip to ride the Erie Canal Albany to Buffalo. What is the best time of year to ride for the best weather.
We are thinking of doing the trip in August.

Check
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-York/temperature-july.php

Look at Finger Lake and Western NY. You can check all months temps here.

Do the bike racks on Amtrak trains actually work with 2 inch tires? Their website says yes but I saw a post that said 1.75 barely fit.

I don't know if the 2" tires will fit, but if you can take off the front tire you could hang the bike on the hook by the handle bars or have a short loop made of a strap or rope around the handle bars or tied to the back tire. The front tire has to come off because the bike will be too tall to hang, but it just has to hang, not necessarily by the back tire.

Keith -- the other thing is that you might not even have to use a rack. I've now ridden with bike three time and each time was different. FIRST: A baggage car with no racks, SECOND: A real rack in the passenger car, THIRD: A Baggage car that had racks - but you can choose to not hang your bike. I actually think that if you got onto the passenger car and it didn't fit in the rack, you could put it in the handicapped area across the aisle.

How about you just let some air out of the tire. I'm pretty sure the rim is not 2".
Just let out enough for a tight fit.
Good luck.

I have to LOL, my experience is the same as wnybubba’s; 3 train rides, 3 different places to store bike

See! :-) So did the wide tires fit in the rack?

Answering the question if your tires will fit in the bike cage.
I took my front tire off and my back tire hung on the hook.
I had 2.4" tires.

I own a bike shop in Brooklyn (718 Cyclery www.718c.com) that leads alot of overnight trips. We are leading a self-supported ride from Buff to NYC in May 2022. Any thoughts on camping spots at/near Albany? We are going to do 70 miles day, and night 4 gets us to Lock 15 (which is about 72 miles form Albany)

Thanks in advance

Joe
718

I had no problem camping at Lock 2E (Waterford). There is plenty of space, electric on the far corner utility pole and also on the side of the (close) lock building. Picnic tables, nice grassy park like setting and a Main Street section with convenient stores and restaurants only a few blocks away.

If you go to Google maps there is a picture of the park area behind a bicycle (and the utility post). If you search Erie Canal Lock 2E Waterford, then go into Satellite view you can identify the grassy triangular area above the Lock (on the right). Take the "Little Man" and hover over the dot in the far corner and you'll see the photo.

Possibly this link will work:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.7902298,-73.6825027,3a,75y,103.88h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNyC5E4Jomn2lVNjjzyD4195vx8EWepeYdajyp_!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNyC5E4Jomn2lVNjjzyD4195vx8EWepeYdajyp_%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya146.61035-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Hi everyone! My cousin and I just wrapped up our 7-day bike trip from Buffalo to Albany, and we wanted to share some findings/tips we learned along the way! We're so grateful for this forum so we wanted to add in our own thoughts to help the next wave of End-to-Enders!

Buffalo to Hulberton: We loved Steamworks coffee in Lockport! We also stayed at Red Rock Ponds RV resort - a great place for a quick night of camping.

Hulberton to Rochester: There's a great little diner in Brockport for breakfast and amazing lemonade at a nearby coffee shop in Spencerport (both are on the right side as you bike into those towns) In Rochester, we loved walking down Park Ave and exploring the shops/restaurants. We ate at Dorado for dinner (amazing Mexican food). We also stayed at this Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/40491824?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=ab082a71-fd15-417c-ac68-cbc538e5b472) for those looking for a cozy stay right off the trail!

Rochester to Lyons: There is *a lot* of road biking on this day so be prepared! We stayed @ Lyons fire station. Wonderful people and a nice view of the canal, but there were some drunk folks outside the nearby restaurant which we didn't particularly enjoy. Also, not many places to eat in general around Lyons - a few were closed and the next town over was additional mileage we didn't want to do after a long ride.

Lyons to Syracuse: Also a lot of road biking on this day - continue to use this website's interactive map for the best directions! It's also very hilly in and around Syracuse, so if you choose to stay more in the city, be prepared for a climb to get to your destination. We stayed at Ophelia's bed and breakfast which was amazing! AND we ate at Pastabilities in downtown Syracuse which was one of our favorite restaurants on the trip!

Syracuse to Utica: This forum mentions Lock 12 as a great place to camp, but that it can get extremely buggy. A quick tip: Camp on the OPPOSITE side of Lock 12, and you'll experience less bugs! Just walk your bike across the canal and you'll find picnic benches + an awning to lock your bikes in a dry space. We did have some animals get into our stuff that evening though, so definitely be aware of where you're storing your food. Lastly, in and around Utica gets tricky with the trail - we recommend using this interactive map! We ended up having to do some gritty highway biking before Utica (we missed the trail), which is not ideal.

Utica to Amsterdam: Overall extremely flat and paved - was one of our best days of riding! You'll also see Little Falls and have lots of different views across the way. We stayed at Amsterdam castle which is *right* off the trail - and we ate at Parillo's which is a 3 min walk right below the castle. AMAZING Italian!

Amsterdam to Albany: It gets hilly once you past Schenectady! We were very surprised with some of the climbs, but the downhills were awesome :) After we finished our grand tour, we stopped in at Charlie's Hot Dogs (right near the Amtrak station) for INCREDIBLE burgers and fries! The best victory meal!

That's the gist of our journey! Please feel free to comment with any questions as well - we were 2 young female bikers and felt completely safe and comfortable the entire way!

Cheers!

Great write up!

Just making a couple comments on your journey's log. I think that it is misleading to say that there are *a lot* of road miles ROC to Lyons. I don't think that this is true. I will agree that there is quite a bit of road miles Lyons to SYR, but the trail is being re-routed to lesser used roads where possible. I'd also question that it is "very hilly" in SYR - there are some hills coming into the area, and the new re-route around the Fairgrounds does meander up and over (but with a carefully plotted serpentine route), however I don't think it qualifies as "very hilly" from my perspective. I also feel the same way about it being hilly on the Amsterdam to Albany section -- yeah there are a couple downs and ups, but the trail is well maintained and fairly typical of a biking pathway.

Here is this websites elevation profile chart:
https://bikeeriecanal.com/elevation.aspx

Greetings
Seven of us are planning to bike between Buffalo and Syracuse May 31st to June 7th. Not sure which town we will begin and start. Still figuring our preferences. We will use the train to return to our cars. My question is....should we lock in reservations now or can we wait til much later such as beginning of May. We still have a couple who are not yet committed. I'm not sure how quickly the train fills up or is heavily used that time of year. Is it reasonable that we could just show up day of and purchase a seat with our bicycles? Truly appreciate your feedback and insight!

Couple thoughts here... unlike getting a bike rack on Amtrak in DC or Pittsburgh (GAP and C&O trails), securing a rack for returns on the Erie Canalway is much less crowded and offers more service. That said, you definitely want to make advance reservations. Obviously weekend travel is busier than weekdays - so that plays into your planning. I would hardly ever consider biking without a reservation unless I had plenty of time and a place to stay.

First issue: I'm not sure that any Amtrak train can handle 7 bicycles. A quick look shows that the Maple Leaf and Empire Service only carry 4 bikes and the Lake Shore Limited handles 6. You get to figure out how you are going to handle those logistics! Looks like there are trains that are a couple hours apart.

I was going to advise that you should watch and see when racks began to sell, but in your case, that won't work well in that you need them all. So I guess you should nail down a date and press on with reservations ASAP. I'm thinking that could be as late as February or March and still be good -- especially if you are a little bit flexible on starting/ending dates, but in any event, the sooner the better.

Also, there are different levels of ticketing. If the one couple was hesitant, they can purchase refundable tickets.

Now, for the big question... why so long to bike 150 miles? That's like a three day ride for most people. Just throwing it out there as an observation. Possibly you are planning stay-overs along the way.

On other tip... if you are trying to look at availability online and having difficulty (you have to select a train/ticket before you can see the racks available), telephone Amtrak ticketing because the Agent can see what racks are available over multiple trains/days.

Have a fun trip. Planning is a fun part of it.

PS - Leave extra time to get to your return train so you aren't having to worry about getting there in case of some mishap. The ride should be no-stress!

i stopped for the 1st time for a snack & was made to feel like a long-time regular

wonderful owner
terrific food
great ambiance

camping also available

be sure you stop – you won't be disappointed

I am considering riding the Erie Canal in 2022. Which portion is the most scenic with Points of interest? Buffalo to Syracuse or Syracuse to Albany? Or ???

Of those two, I think I'd choose Buffalo to Syracuse.

Bflo to SYR: Mixed surface, some rural sections, many small towns right on the trail plus Bflo/Niagara, ROC & SYR.

SYR to ALB: Mixed surface to Rome/Utica lots of paved after; older cities and towns along Mohawk River that carries the Canal, several cities and less "quaint" small towns.

Prevailing winds tend to be from the west. I found it a more pleasant ride with wind to my back, and no sun in my eyes. There are very beautiful sections Buff to Syracuse. Everything from biking along the mighty Niagara river, to crunching leaves under the tires through gentle woodlands. I love these sections ... great towns along the way.

Two questions:

1. From Buffalo to Syracuse, what mix of surfaces? Crushed limestone, pavement, hard packed dirt? I rode the C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland to D.C. and there were a lot of sections that were hard packed dirt, which is fine as long as it has not rained in the last 3 days before you ride it. Otherwise, it's a sloppy, muddy mess, with lots of puddles.

2. How much of the trail is shaded? The R2T route from Pittsburgh to D.C. is mostly shaded, making it very pleasant in the summer. How is the trail from Buffalo to Syracuse and from Syracuse to Albany as far as shade is concerned?

There's some mud between Buffalo and Syracuse, but nothing like an average day on C&O. It is small short patches, not unavoidable deep puddles. It's slimy though, so it can get really squirrely.

The official trail map shows different trail surfaces. Only the "stone dust" sections even have the chance to be muddy.

Not much shade at all. 10%? 5%? Very different from the GAP in that way.

From the waterfront in Buffalo to Albany, how many miles are on roads?

I'm leaving Monday for buffalo, will start riding there on Tuesday the 29th.
I'm wondering if there is a map I can print, a strip map would be great. Not sure I'll have internet access in many places with T-Mobile. Also I haven't figured out the interactive map.
Is there any app that will work like the gps for driving?anks

Thank your for your help,
Tom

Tom -- just use Google Maps in "Bike" mode. It will follow the Canalway. It will get you through places like Rome where signage is minimal a/o confusing. Also map it prior and print the "steps" showing the route. Stash it in you pack in case you get in a situation without service. However... service is pretty good on the trail -- Verizon anyhow.

Figure out how to use the interactive map. It is soooooo helpful for all those times you get the feeling you aren't on the trail anymore, or get to a fork and don't know which way to go.

Turn by turn maps and gps units exist, but you gotta have the right stuff to make all that work, and you're out of time.

Like Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road--take it.

We are headed from Rome to st johnsville tomorrow. I saw discussion about loose gravel. What is the current situation surface near Herkimer Monument. Thanks.

Pam! So what was your experience? Is it fixed or just too much loose gravel like I had experienced in June? It was pretty sucky, but I made it through.

There were sections east of the Herkimer monument that were soft, but not problem going through with 1 1/2" tires.