Day 54: August 8, Buffalo, NY -> Brockport, NY

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Start: 7:15 AM

Finish: 4:54 PM  

Saddle Time: 6:52

Ascent: 150 feet

Descent:  116 feet

Miles: 86

Total Miles: 3,356

Highlight: Riding into downtown Buffalo early on a Sunday morning, no traffic.

Lowlight: Nothing for lunch but ice cream, could be worse but I was lacking energy towards the end.

Cyclemeter:  Follow this link to see the data I’m collecting with the cyclemeter app. You can see gps information, speed, elevation, distance, cadence and heart rate. Better viewed on a computer where it’s easier to play around with the graphs.

I complained about last night dumpy motel but it turns out to have been a good place to stay. I had to travel ten miles into downtown Buffalo to pick up the canal trail but early Sunday morning traffic was almost non existent. Most of the roads had bike lanes but no traffic always makes the ride better. Once on the trail I rode alongside the canal all day. The first forty miles were paved up to the town of Lockport then the trail turned to stone dust which is a perfectly fine trail surface.  When dry it’s almost like pavement, although everything gets really dusty.

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.

New York is working on a lot of the trail in the Buffalo area. In the city they are adding separate bike paths on the roads and along the canal they are updating the trail with wider pavement for both cyclists and pedestrians. I’m glad they are investing in their Empire State Trail network, 700 miles of cycling trail from New York City north to Canada and Buffalo to Albany along the canal trail. I had to make a number of detours in the Buffalo area to get around trail construction.

Early on the Canal Pathway as it goes through a park in Buffalo. A lot of the path had space for pedestrians and bikes.

I rode the canal five years ago so most was familiar but there is a lot of new trail in the Buffalo area.  Back then the trail was closed under the Freedom Bridge to Canada. Now I see they added an observation deck next to the bridge.  With the border closed the bridge was almost empty.

The Peace Bridge to Canada. Looks pretty empty with the border closed.

I saw a lot of cyclists in the Buffalo area, not just day riders but people geared up to ride the whole canal trail.  I rode with a group of three for a while, we talked about my trip and their future plans for a cross country ride.

The Empire State Trail in Buffalo as it makes its way through some city streets. They did a nice job separating the bikes from traffic.

I reached the halfway point in the town of Lockport which has the first locks heading east, a set of two that drop he canal about 50 feet down the Niagara escarpment. The original canal had 5 locks, two have been restored as tourist attractions next to the modern locks. While I was there a couple kayaks entered the locks, seemed a little scary in a such a small boat. The majority of canal traffic now are recreational boats rather than commercial barges.

I like the landscaping along the Empire State Trail in Buffalo.

I remembered Lockport having a good ice cream shop so I stopped for a late second breakfast. I had a “lotus blossom” sundae with coconut and black sesame ice cream drizzled with vanilla honey.  Really good. Turns out it was second breakfast and lunch. I had hoped to grab a sandwich somewhere down the canal but I forgot there really isn’t much along the canal, the towns are pretty sparse. I didn’t want to venture off too far so I ate a cliff bar and just kept riding. I was also running low on water, I forgot to fill my bottles in Lockport. I started rationing my last drops of water but I found a gas station with 15 miles to go so I downed a Gatorade to get me to the finish line.

One of the two locks at Lockport.

A couple other interesting features along the canal are the lift bridges and the guard gates. The lift bridges are low bridge that lift vertically straight up to allow boats to pass. You may recall the Low Bridge folk song. They seem to lift whenever boats arrive rather than on a schedule. The guard gates can be lowered to isolate portions of the canal if they are breached or need to be lowered for work.

Kayaks in a lock at Lockport.

The Erie Canal is a great first trip for anyone interested in bike touring. It’s a very easy ride, almost totally flat and there are accommodations reasonably spaced. The New York Parks and Trails Department does an annual fully supported trip in July. It’s a camping trip but they stay in places that provide access to bathrooms and showers like local schools or they provide shower and bathroom trucks. You can have all your gear shipped ahead. Breakfast and dinner is provided along with snack stops along the way. They ride over the course of a week so the days are not too long making it very family friendly. Sounds like a great way to ride the trail.

Two of the original five locks at Lockport presrved for tourists.

I’m staying in Brockport tonight, one of the larger towns along the western end of the canal with plenty options for places to stay and eat. Tomorrow is another 80+ mile day to Weedsport.

A view from the bottom of the locks in Lockport. The locks drop the canal about 50 feet.
The Canal Path on the old towpath. After Lockport it was almost all crushed stone surface. Nice to ride on when dry.
A boat passing through the canal. The vast majority of traffic are now pleasure boats.
One of the low bridges on the canal. The whole bridge lifts to allow boats to pass. They seem to raise whenever a boat passes by, not on a schedule.
One of the low bridges on the canal. The whole bridge lifts allowing boats to pass. They seem to raise whenever a boat passes by, not on a schedule.
Along the canal towpath.
One of the gates they can lower to block off portions of the canal if work needs to be done.
Canal on one side, corn on the other.