Day 92- The Erie Canal

I got another geography lesson this morning. It turns out there is an extremely famous natural wonder that is just outside of Buffalo. Everyone has heard of Niagara Falls, but I had no idea it was so close to Buffalo. Well I wasn’t going to miss out on seeing that since I basically was riding right past it. Actually, I think the people at Adventure Cycling who made the route maps knew what they were doing and routed us here on purpose. So much so that their route actually goes through the Canadian side since it is supposed to have better views of the falls. I did not have my passport on this trip so I had to improvise a route on the American side but that was easy enough since there was a bike path right along the Niagara River that obviously lead right to the falls.

It was all very spectacular even though there were no attempts today at going over the falls in a barrel.

Going to see the falls and negotiating my way through the crowds and the city, I did not make very good time in the morning. I suppose that was to be expected. I hoped to make up for it in the afternoon. I finally got out of town and headed for Lockport, NY. Lockport is significant because it is the beginning of the Erie Canal. I will be riding on it for 90 miles before my route takes me off of it. There is a lot of history there.

The trail along the canal is not paved. It is mostly a compacted sand surface that is alright for my tires, but it is not as efficient for riding. I will not be able to maintain the same pace as I can on pavement. For that reason, I will have to see if I will ride the entire 90 miles or eventually deviate and ride the parallel Hwy 31.

Camping spots are not spaced out very well in this part of the ride. There was camping in Middleport and then again in another 24 miles down the trail. Because of my delays in Niagara Falls, I felt that I would be pushing it to ride those next 24 miles so I opted for the Middleport camping option. Plus, I got to quit a bit early today at 4:30 which is nice. The camping is free for cyclists and hikers and is right on the canal. My tent is within 20 feet of the canal. Good thing I don’t sleepwalk at night.