Day 2 - Lockport to Rochester - Erie Canal - Buffalo to Albany Bicycle Trip

June 8, 2024

Day 2 - Lockport to Rochester

Blue skies for now...

What a difference a day makes. We were greeted with sunny blue skies on our second day Erie Canal bike tour. We had breakfast in the hotel and headed back to the official path.

Lockport seemed like a great little town and took us right through some residential areas before we were back to the locks we visited the night before. There was a small Erie Canal museum (free) that was worth the visit.

The museum that sits between the old and newer locks.

One last look at the old lock before we head downstream

Lift Bridges

We saw one of many lift bridges along the trail as we departed Lockport. These bridges sometime featured sidewalk to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge when it's raised. I imagine that this was more relevant back when the canal was quite busy and used for freight, but most of the lift bridge sidewalks we saw still seemed to be operational.

Fence jumping our way to Middleport

The section between Lockport and Middleport was nice. It was mostly farmland with occasional homes along the canal. There was only one town called Gasport along the way that I recall, but we didn't stop there.

This part of the trail was well maintained and we enjoying seeing the green fields and the sunny skies. We saw the occasional boat navigating the canal as well.

Beautiful home and property along the Erie Canal outside of Lockport.

Mike attempting to match the blue skies with a blue shirt

Things were going great until we came across a sign that said the trail was closed ahead. It was at a bridge crossing and the detour would have required us to go across the bridge and do a few miles on the road. As luck would have it, we ran into a local road biking who told us to ignore the sign and that the trail was rideable.

So we jumped the fence. Being Saturday, no workers were around but we did see where they were suring up the walls of the canal in some areas, but overall it was all rideable. We had to dodge a few rough spots and muddle water puddles, and even a huge tree across the path, but made it through without too much trouble. We were happy to stay off the road and cover a few more miles of the official trail.

Middleport was a nice little town and we took a quick break. There were picnic tables, public restrooms, a place to get water and a camping area along the canal.

Festival in Albion

The 16 mile ride from Middleport to Albion was uneventful and we just enjoyed the farmland, the occasional town and varying sections of the canal.

Upon arriving in Albion, we hoped to grab a quiet lunch, but the streets were crowded with a music festival and street vendors throughout the town. We found a popular diner type place about 1/2 mile up a hill and away from the canal for lunch.

Albion, Podunk and Spencerport

After lunch, we continued our ride towards Rochester. I had heard the term "I'm from some podunk little town" before or similar, but I didn't realize it was an actual place. Now I know....

The 22 miles between Albion and Spencerport seemed to fly by but we noticed some threatening skies ahead. There were some pretty sections along this section with several towns.

A stop in Spencerport for some "pedal lube"

We were still deciding where to stay for the night when we decided we looked across the canal and were tempted by an outside bar along the canal. You'd think these types of canal side bars would be more common, but sadly it was challenging to find on many sections. We weren't about to let this opportunity to get off our bikes for a bit and grab a beer (Pedal lube) and make plans on where we'd be staying.

Spotting the pedal lube place. Maybe it was the red umbrella?

Beating the rain to Rochester

We decided to push on to Rochester and made a reservation at a hotel about a mile off trail. Just after arriving at our hotel a light rain started.

We struck out on places to dine within walking distance so we took an Uber to a local sports bar and got to bed early. All in all in great day!

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 96 miles (154 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0