Biking the Erie Canal Trail, Days 6 - 8

[@thegreatexaggerator9077]

Nice series of videos Jeff. Good intel for a future ride. Thanks for sharing!

[@53Rambler]

Good job, Jeff! I decided to watch your videos because I had gone on the Ride the Erie Canal organized trip back in 2006 and wanted to see how much I remembered. The answer was "not much" due to the changes over the years. Back then, only about half of the ride was off-road. Now, according to the website, 87% of it is off-road. I remember a whole lot of the trail being cinder whereas now it seems to be paved. I guess those are the parts that are new since 2006. We camped out in fields at schools along the way, but a big difference was the ride organizers trucked most of our camping gear ahead for us. You've got me thinking about doing it again, although I'm not sure the knees are up for it. At 70 years old, if I go I will probably do the organized ride again so I don't have to carry all the weight you did. The downside to that is the ride is in mid-July when it's pretty hot. I also watched your GAP and C&O videos, something I've always wanted to do, so you've got me thinking about that as well. Rail-trails seem just the thing when knees issues are involved. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@robertbotta6536]

Nice work bro and thanks.

[@Mike-vd2qt]

Thanks, riding it in June with friends. Happy trails!

[@elwynanderson9947]

Many thanks. I will be doing the trail in June. This was informative and very helpful.

[@JeffRevell]

Glad you found it helpful. Enjoy the ride.

[@philhuffy7787]

Wow, the whole trip is nicely photographed and superbly narrated. Great job!

[@RoyceCoolidge]

I just watched your entire journey. As a guy who’s only owned a bike for what is now my second summer, this is super inspiring for me to get out there one day and do this. Excellent work! Thank you for these videos

[@JeffRevell]

You can absolutely do it. Just be careful. It’s very addictive. 😃

[@scottsterry8119]

Nice job and congratulations on a great trip. This was wonderful to watch and your overview of each day was just right. Wish i had done this trip in my fifties!

[@jabangs54]

Hi Jeff, I enjoyed your journal ride here for the Erie Canal. I am going to ride this trip this summer (2023). I'm now going to go over and watch your video of GAP/C&O. I have done that ride and really enjoyed it. Probably the best tour I have ever been on. Can I ask you to compare the two?? Which ride did you like better, or both just a great time??

[@FollowThomas]

Excellent guide. Thank you for showing the route I'm taking in August. Thanks 🙂

[@tommcgregor7620]

Hey Jeff... thanks for the great footage of the trail... hoping to ride it this summer (2023) and watching your videos is a great way to prepare!

[@JeffRevell]

It's a great trail. Have fun!

[@RideAlongAdventures]

Thanks, Jeff. I’ve “ridden with you” twice on this trail. Thanks for sharing your experience. Good stuff.

[@TheBane1979]

with enough rain they'll all soak through. you can re-treat it and that will help.

[@JeffRevell]

True, but it wasn’t even pretending to be a raincoat at that point in time. I will definitely recoat it with some durable water treatment stuff at some point in time.

[@timsmith5986]

Great videos (all three videos covering the 8 days)! I am planning on this in 2024. The video and commentary helps me a bunch in planning purposes. Looks like the navigation computer is a must on this one. Which bike computer did you use? Also if you don't mind me asking, did each of your camping locations have a shower?

[@JeffRevell]

I use a Garmin Edge 530 for navigation with route maps downloaded from RideWithGPS. I put a link to the route in the description. The GPS isn't needed for most of the route but there are a few tricky bits where it definitely came in handy, especially on some detours where it helped guide me back on track. Showers can be a tricky thing. It really depends on where you are camping. Middleport had publicly available showers as do some of the lock locations. I'm used to not having a shower every day of camping so I just took advantage when available. You could certainly research your route and probably find options for nightly showers along the way. Also, I believe there are multiple WarmShowers hosts on this route so you could definitely find showers that way. The host I stayed with in Spencerport had built a shower facility in his backyard. He hosts a lot of cyclists. The fire station in Lyons where I camped also had shower facilities that they offer to cyclists who camp at their station. I would suggest getting into a couple of the very active Facebook groups for the ECT. There is a ton of local knowledge there and they can point you towards the best places to stay for your ride to include locations with showers as well as good eating options.

[@spaceghost8995]

Oct.17 is kind of late in the year for that ride. Too chilly for my wimpy self! I may bike it in spring of 2023.

[@JeffRevell]

I actually had beautiful weather for most of the ride. I almost never needed anything more than a windbreaker and a base layer. Bonus points for only getting lightly rained on just once. That being said, Fall can be a sketchy time of year in upstate NY so a late summer ride would probably be better for most.