Preparing to Bicycle the Erie Canal

 Buffalo to Albany, 360 miles, 7 days

I’m getting my Surly Long Haul Trucker bike ready. Assembling essential—minimal—gear. Checking out electronic gadgets. Double checking travel accommodations. Riding hours in conditioning.

On Saturday, September 28, I fly to NYC. The next day a friend and I will drive to Albany and board an Amtrak train to Buffalo. On Monday morning, September 30, we will set out for a 7-day, 50-70 miles per day eastbound adventure along the historically significant Erie Canal.

A few things I’m reflecting on as I prepare:

1. This ride covers terrain and a trail/tow path that is well settled and populated, retracing an early 19th century industrial endeavor that opened “the west” for goods and hundreds of thousands of people. Like most of my cycling adventures, I will be traveling well-established, historic terrain. It’s not new, but it is overlooked and currently undervalued in significance.

2. I think of my ride along another well-established path a few years ago: The Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC. Part rail trail and part C&O Canal tow path, it took us back in history and showed us industrial and mindful feats that date back to George Washington.

3. Thousands of cyclists have covered this distance along this trail, but it will be a revelation to me. I have hardcopy maps and online GPS guidance. I have recommendations for lodging, food, sites. There is no mystery. And, yet, there IS mystery and revelation and wonder to be anticipated. What will I experience for myself, for my life, that may help me see differently, better, deeper? And how may this experience contribute to me that I may contribute to others and the community?

4. I am riding 360 miles this coming week aware of a critical juncture in my life: I am 65. I have announced my retirement from leading a local nonprofit. By year’s end, I will be anticipating a next chapter of work/service (what Bill McKibben talks about as a “third act”). I will be reflecting on this transition and an unknown future as I crank along. May fresh openness, perspective, insight, and clarity emerge along the way to Albany.

5. It’s been five years since I attempted a multi-day, long distance ride like this. In 2019, I pedaled over 300 miles in Ireland. That was pre-pandemic. So much is different now. The world seems to have changed. I have changed. I am full of anticipation and hope for good ride—uneventful physically and positively eventful emotionally. I’ll lean into the experience and dare to embrace what it brings.

I intend to post periodically along the journey. Stay tuned.