My goal is to ride the Erie Canal Trail from Buffalo to Albany. I may add the trip from Albany to Kingston. I don’t have a timeline, I was hoping to travel between 30 and 60 miles a day. That depends on physical well-being, mood, weather, sites and availability of accommodations. I did not pack camping gear. I am hoping to stay in hotels and B&Bs. This is a solo tour, I couldn’t find anyone to accompany me. I also didn’t look that hard. 

  This is a relatively flat course with not much road riding, perfect for this 60 year old man’s first tour of a few hundred miles. Buffalo to Albany is 360 miles of well marked canal path trail, a mix of asphalt and crushed stone recently refurbished by millions of dollars of my tax money. 

   I am using "Cycling the Erie Canal" published by Parks and Trails New York as my primary guide. It appears to be excellent, with maps in 10 mile increments showing sites, accommodations and bicycle shops. There are mileage charts and accommodation information within the body of the guide. I will be tracking my route with the RideWithGPS app.

   “It’s called ‘wait training’. You wait until you leave - and then you start training.” Tom Allen, Guide to Adventure Cycle Touring. Well, not quite, but close. I got 115 miles in the last two weeks. My weekly average has been around the mid 50’s in mileage.

  I am riding a 1993 Miyata Elevation 400, a hard mountain bike with a shorter stem and curved handle bars for a more upright position. It has recently been refurbished with a new cluster, center chainring and rear derailleur (Utility Bicycle Works, Kingston, NY. Thanks, Brian). I have an Ortlieb medium handlebar bag with about 4 pounds of miscellaneous gear, 2 Venzo VPB rear panniers (thank you, honey) with approximately 13 pounds of gear in each one. The gear consists of 3 days of bike clothes, a nights worth of off bike clothes with extra undies and socks. I also have a 15-inch Chromebook, a Kindle, tools, a spare tube, toiletries and road food.

   I put out a question on reddit asking what people ate while riding. Bananas, peanut butter, dried fruit and fig bars were popular. I have stuff for pb and honey sandwiches, some Kind bars and other snacks. I figure I will have the B&B or hotel breakfast, hit shops as I travel for snacks and lunch and have a restaurant dinner.

   I am taking Amtrak from Kingston to Buffalo. The Amtrak website is a mess, I couldn’t figure out if I could roll the bike on in Rhinecliff, then I couldn’t add on the 20-dollar bike supplement. I ended up calling them, waiting a half hour for a call back, getting put on hold for 10 minutes before a capable person helped me book my $85 ($65 for my fare plus $20 for the bike), 6-hour train ride. I have booked train tickets for Italy and Spain while sitting in Brooklyn with less hassle. That is no way to run a railroad, Joe.

  In Buffalo, I booked a bed in the Hostel Buffalo-Niagara for $38. I wanted a private room, but none were available. I snore so I feel bad for my bunkmates. This price renewed my membership in the CBOA (Cheap Bastards of America). Hotels were a buck and a half to two hundred in town.

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