Reply to Buffalo --> Albany - What to know!

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