200 miles over 4 days on a bike? With camping in-between? Let’s do it!
My lovely sister-in-law Tina suggested we participate in the Cycle the Erie Canal (CTEC) ride this summer. She’s always up for a challenge and I love having someone to share it with. The CTEC ride supports Erie Canal parks and trails development. The full ride is 8 days Buffalo to Albany (350 miles). We opted for the shorter ride since we have Eagles concert tickets for Saturday. So training began in earnest and I managed to work up to one 40 mile ride under my belt before the tour. Also since Tina and I have not really camped before (well there was one or two Girl Scout overnights to Chestnut Ridge Park about 50 years ago), we assembled gear and studied the handbook and off we went!
With much maneuvering and support from our husbands, Tina and I arrived at the Nichols school in Buffalo on Saturday morning, with our new tint tent and sleeping bags and accoutrements in hand. After a quick setup we headed out for the bike tour around Buffalo. This 17 mile route profiled Albright Knox museum sponsored building murals and also architectural and historic gems around the city with Lesley and Justin as our guides. What a nice surprise to have my brother David and nephew William greet me upon our return to the tent City! And then my brother Ed stopped by to say hello as well. I love those guys. After dinner and much laughter upon meeting other fun cyclists on the tour, Tina and I headed to our tiny, tiny home away from home. No sleep was to be had, however. Motorcycle, garbage pickup, sirens and even noise from the nearby Buffalo Zoo animals contrived to keep me awake. Did I mention the tiny tent? Anyway, we packed up and started our real CTEC tour Sunday morning.
We headed north out of Buffalo past the Niagara river and on to the canal path. The path is nicely paved or compacted stone dust and the scenery is outstanding, on this beautiful outstandingly sunny day. There are 650 riders of all levels, multiple support vehicles, and two well-manned, well stocked rest stops. Tina and I moved along quite well and conversed and joked with riders along the way. All the riders are very friendly and supportive. Good thing too, as I had a flat tire not 2 miles from the end of our first day. Derek, a fellow rider, stopped and changed out the tube. I bought him a 15 minute massage in gratitude and now I have his cell number to call in case I have another problem (bike related only, I assume). My own personal SAG support!
The flight of 5, Lockport canal locks 34 and 35
Now we’re on our way to dinner. Rory has lent us a solar charger and vodka tonics after dinner. This is gonna be a great trip. #CTEC@20#CycleTheErieCanal2018
My new reality 