Erie Canal bike ride: We reach Albany on Day 7

Congratulate four new end-to-enders!

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Too much pie on the Erie Canal from Utica to Amsterdam

It seems hard to believe, but there is such a thing as too much pie. And I learned that lesson on day 6 of our Buffalo-to-Albany bike ride along the Erie Canal.

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Erie Canal bike ride: Syracuse to Utica on day 5

The highlight of the 58-mile day: meeting up with one of our East Coast Greenway friends who happened to be in the area.

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Erie Canal bike ride: Seneca Falls to Syracuse

Four important women who aren’t the usual Suffragettes.

Look for the references to 19 in Seneca Falls —we spotted signs for the right to run 19 (that’s a 19k run) and had breakfast (and a great conversation with two locals) at Cafe 19.

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Erie Canal day 3: Rochester to Seneca Falls

This is the day we really started seeing people on the Erie Canal trail — walking, biking, even some who, like us, had gear and probably also are end-to-enders.

And then the boats. The canal is still in use for pleasure!

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Erie Canal bike ride day 2: A wet day from Buffalo to Medina

This is not a photo Brian should see. He’s the guy who gives me grief over how filthy my bike gets.

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Erie Canal bike ride: A crisis on the way from Buffalo to Medina

It was shaping up to be a perfect day: sunny, warm enough for a sleeveless bike jersey, chocolate cake for breakfast… because why not?

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Erie Canal bike ride: Exploring Buffalo

We took a day at the start of this week-long bike ride along the Erie Canal to get a feel for Buffalo: the wealth from a century ago when industrialists were building their mansions along Delaware Avenue with the profits from their grain silos, from when the Pan-American Exhibition that showed off the promises of the new century was marred by a presidential assassination, and when Art Deco became the fashion.

Actually, there wasn’t enough time to see everything.

So if you have to pick one thing, my recommendation is Buffalo River History Tours and its boat and walking tour of Silo City, an abandoned collection of grain elevators stretching up to 10 stories tall as well as a couple of adjacent buildings that are slowly being turned into housing.

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The D&R Canal towpath from Princeton to partway to Trenton

At the beginning of May, we checked out the state of the D&R Canal towpath from New Brunwick to Princeton. For Memorial Day, we pushed further south.

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I’m planning a bike ride on the Erie Canal — your must-sees?

Four people, four bikes but no mules — it’s going to be an adventure going the other way instead of Albany to Buffalo. But west to east is considered the better option. Downhill? Plus we don’t have to time the train at the end.

We’re heading out in early June. This is the plan.

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