A 400-mile trek along the Erie Canal Trail is more than a bike ride.

My wife and I set out with some friends – and about 600 other people to bicycle The Erie Canal Trail.

Despite the excitement as we pulled into the staging area, my mind was clogged with a terrible earworm.

My name is Michael.  I’ve got a nickel.  I’ve got a nickel shiny and new. 
I’m gonna buy you all kinds of candy.  That’s what I’m gonna do…

As I nosed the car into the parking lot in Albany, NY with our bikes and duffle bags – essentially our worldly possessions for the next eight days, I had that stupid song in my head.

Here I was, trying to figure out parking, bike drop-off, sign-in, and all the stuff while the 1972 hit from Clint Holmes cycled through my thoughts. 

I close my eyes and soon I find.
I’m in a playground in my mind…

That’s what happens when your wife insists on listening to 70’s on 7 on the satellite radio. 

Click here if you want to listen to it – but remember I warned you.

And though that decade of music perhaps dates me, it’s right in line for this cycling adventure where the average age of participants was sixty-one.

That makes me just a tad older than my fellow riders. 

Great.

Cycling the Erie Canal Trail

As we unloaded the car and lined up to sign in, I began to find order in what appeared to be chaos as hundreds of people unloaded bikes and bags among a fleet of buses and trucks. My nervous energy finally trumped the song in my head as I focused on the trip that had dominated my more significant thoughts for months. 

We were finally at the beginning of our bicycle excursion across New York State from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal Trail which is part of the larger Empire State Trail network. 

With the chaos dispensed, I parked the car in a remote garage, boarded a bus with Mary and friends Karen and Greg, and headed west to Buffalo.  We would sleep in a tent that night, then repeat the process over the next eight days as we cycled back to Albany on the trail.  While we bused across the state, Parks & Trails New York, the event organizers were not far behind with those rental trucks toting our bikes and gear.

If you want to see the trail up close and personal, click here for my Vlog on the Biking 4 Boomers YouTube channel.

Unpacking My Thoughts on Cycling the Erie Canal

There’s so much to unpack when if comes to riding the Erie Canal Trail besides all the camping and cycling gear.

I mean, there’s a lot going on here.

There’s the distance.  It’s 400 miles in eight days. 

Then there’s the stuff. I worried incessantly about the quality of bike gear, only to arrive and find children doing the ride on single speed bikes and another man riding a 1970’s vintage Sears Ted Williams 10 speed. I’ll write more about the bikes in a separate post — because I was fascinated by all the different makes and models, but for the record my trusty 2019 Fuji Jari was more than adequate for the ride.

I worried about my fitness and whether I trained enough.  But looking around at the people in line around me- honestly, I saw folks who didn’t match my somewhat ignorant interpretation of “fit.” 

Then there was the whole thing about keeping electronics charged while camping.  It’s not easy to stay ahead of phones, Garmins and blinky lights when you are sleeping in a tent.

Oh and tents? I hadn’t slept in one in more than two decades. So there’s that.

Riding the Erie Canal briefly

There’s so much that I think it best to break all this out in multiple blogs.  Why not?  It’s a bucket list thing and I want to give it as much attention as I can.

That said, the riding was fantastic.  Coming from the mountainous area of Roanoke, Va. I was so happy to see nothing but flat terrain. It felt like cheating.

Although I prefer active vacations, I also know that the point is to get away. Forget about work and anything else that bugs you on a day-to-day basis. And the Erie Canal Trail is magic in that way. As the miles rolled out, my mood improved. The task was hard, but I was relaxed. Mary felt the same way. The stress of daily life and getting started on the trip melted away, so there was nothing but cycling and scenery.

We biked from town to town, riding anywhere from 27 to 70 miles a day.  The heat was a bit of a problem – especially when we arrived at camp mid-afternoon and there was no shade to be found.  But we managed.

As the days and miles rolled by, the song in my head matured a bit, as Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road found its way in. Unlike my previous distraction, this song was welcome. On some of the longer stretches of trail, I tried like crazy to work out all the lyrics, which I’ve never really known.

Screen door slams.  Mary’s dress sways.  Like a vision she dances across the porch while the radio played.  Roy Orbison singing for the lonely.  Hey it’s you and I want you only.

Don’t turn me home again I just can’t face myself alone again.

That’s the end of the first verse and all I could dope out in my mind.  So as the ride unfolded, I watched the canal go by and channeled my inner Boss, happy to be there.  Happy to be accomplishing the ride, learning how the Erie Canal changed our lives so many years ago.  And, happy to have a better song in my head.

This is one of many cycling adventures Mary and I have undertaken. Click here to read more about our travels, Maybe you would like to go as well!