Ride Report: Erie Canalway Trail
Jeffrey Zelevansky
I’m not much of a poster here, but thought I’d share a trip report as a way of participating. Two friends and I had a great time riding the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Albany during the second week in June. This was my first overnight bike trip since about 1987, and I’m really glad to have done it. I rode my 2023 Hillborne, and the bike was very comfortable and trouble-free. My fellow travelers made the trip on a Trek 520 and a Kona Super Jake CF gravel bike. We opted to ‘credit card camp,’ staying in an Air BnB and hotels along the way. We made the trip in six days, which felt like a good amount of time to not feel rushed but also challenging enough to make the trip feel like an accomplishment.
The Erie Canalway Trail follows various versions of the Erie Canal across New York State, roughly at the latitude of I-90. It is mostly flat and surfaced with smooth crushed stone. I had Gravelking SK tires in 700X43 and, other than my rear tire coming apart in Rochester, these were a good choice. I didn’t register how old my tires were I guess…about 2000 miles since I’ve owned the bike, and perhaps many more miles by the previous owner. Miraculously, there is an REI store directly on the trail in Pittsford.
There were some detours and on-road sections, but the majority of the 360-ish miles were off-road. Due to the locations of some of our hotels and some random wheeling around, I rode about 400 miles over the six days.
06/12/2025 - Buffalo to Albion - 68 miles
06/13/2025 - Albion to Palmyra - 67 miles
06/14/2025 - Palmyra to Syracuse - 72 miles
06/15/2025 - Syracuse to Utica - 70 miles
06/16/2025 - Utica to Amsterdam - 70 miles
06/17/2025 - Amsterdam to Albany - 47 miles
The Erie Canalway is celebrating its bicentennial in 2025 and the National Parks people are trying to make the most of it. We registered our trio as a team and earned some cool swag for being End-to-Enders. A great book about the Erie Canal is The Wedding Of The Waters and having a little knowledge about the project made the trip even more fun (for me at least).
We had perfect weather other than on the final day into Albany when it rained buckets on the ride from Amsterdam. With a non-negotiable pick-up rendezvous of 1230pm, we pushed through the weather and it was a really fun experience, especially knowing that it was the final day of the trip. My B17 may never be the same, but everything else performed perfectly in the storm. I ran Ortlieb low-riders on a Tubus Tara rack in the front and a BagsXBird Tail Grab classic on the bars. The Ortlieb Back Rollers were really too big for this trip, and though they were only half-full, I still brought too much stuff!
Anyway, if you’ve ever considered making this trip, this would be a great year to do it! I’d be happy to share any info that might be helpful.
