Buffalo to Rochester OR Syracuse?

My brother & I are planning a bike trip along the Erie Canal. He wants to bike Tonawanda to Youngstown along the lake to Rochester & back the Erie Canal to Buffalo. I want to bike the Erie canal Buffalo to Syracuse leave our bike then come back & get them. Sept 23-28th. What do you think?

Both options are good. You'll see the lake... they way your brother wants to go. However, with that route, you'll run side by side with more car traffic... between Tonowanda, the US Falls, where you connect with Lake Erie. Heading east from there, it should be peaceful with great views of the Lake.

However, the Canal is a bothmarvel of man's handiwork and nature. Its a definitive famous ride. As you get way from he Buf metro area it becomes a dreams ride: don't forget to look around t the farm and field surrounding you and not just at the towpath ahead of you.

I did a chunk of it this summer. You'll love the bars and pizza places in that are just a stone's throw front he canal in tiny towns along the way. It is so gorgeous!

With either option, make sure you are in very good shape, riding daily for a few months before you go, and have your doctor check you out and ok you for the ride.

On the ride I did I came a couple from NYC who had taken the train to the western part of the tow path: he was having cardiac issues, and she had to deal with that. Not a happy situation.

Please be prepared and get cleared for it from your DR before you go.

You could compromise and head east out the tow path to someplace between Lockport and Rochester, head north from there, and then head west along the lake. That would be very, very nice.

Old Jimma, thanks for the info. You mentioned pizza and pubs. Do you or anyone else know if there are hotels along the canal also. I could not find a lot on airbnb

You know what? This web site is pretty good for figuring out things about the resources that may avlail themselve so to you along the way.

For exammple,click on "Towns and Sevices." Also, look on "Interactive Map."

Start there. And look for books, too.

I agree with Old Jimma, this website is great for finding places to stay along the trail. It will show hotels and B&Bs. I don't know about Air B & Bs and VRBOs. I'll be doing a ride 9-17-23 - 9-21-23 from Tonawanda to Rockport and found the hotels and B&Bs on this site. You can just click on the town you will be staying in, and a list of all of the services (food, lodging, etc) will come up. You can also see how close they are to the trail.

Thanks, Cathy from Churchill.

Because of the capability of this web site, I gave thought to having a cell phone mount of my bike.

However, having been out in rural Western NY again this summer, rural cell phone coverage is not always there.

I wondered more about having a GPS since GPS coverage is quite good in my experience.

i don't like gadgets, but I like getting lost even less.