So I think I need to make a few tweaks before I ride the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Albany. But I'm going to shoot for doing it during early September.
eriecanalway.org/explore/cycling/cycling-resources
https://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal/camping
Jacqui's been helping her folks go to some appts (relatively minor stuff, no worries), so I think I'll time things to drive out while she's already near Albany helping her folks. So instead of driving home to Mass, she'll ride with me in the truck to Buffalo, we'll stay overnight, then she'll drive the truck back to her folks or her sister's place, she'll leave the truck and drive her car home to Mass, and I'll bike back to the truck just south of Albany. There's a Hudson River Greenway I can ride to get down to her folks/sister's place from where the Erie trail ends, and it only adds 14 miles and 450ft of climbing, easy peasy (relative to the 360 miles I'll have just done).
One of the things I've learned after my Vermont overnight ride is that I probably carried way more water than necessary. For the Erie trail, I don't need the extra large 1.5 liter Nalgene bottle; at least, not when water is so easily found. When the large Nalgene is full with water it weighs 3.75 pounds. I'll still have two 20oz bike bottles and a 1 liter soda bottle strapped on the bike's downtube. Reusing a 1 liter bottle has worked well, and it's light. The few times I've hit a pothole hard enough to knock it loose (even though it's also strapped to the downtube), it's survived getting run over my bike's rear wheel.
I think I'll skip bringing the hammock for the Erie trail. Can't depend on trees being near the Lock camping areas, and it weighs 1.25 pounds
So leaving the full nalgene bottle and hammock reduces the cargo weight by 5 pounds.
I actually have a small ultra light chair similar to the Helinox style chair I mentioned in the previous blog. It weighs 2.25lbs and it's rated for 325lbs, which I'm well under....WELL UNDER!!!! The new Helinox one is just as strong but even lighter (1.4 lbs), and packs down smaller. But, there's always something new and better. I need to use what I already have. I'm going to strap my little chair to the bike fork where the Nalgene bottle went. It'll be nice to have a place to sit at camp or when taking a long break during the day, better than sitting on the ground on a foam pad.
Here's a silhouette to give an idea of how small these kind of chairs are. They're very popular with weekend backpackers. You do sit low to the ground, so you need good knees to get up and down; not a problem for most backpackers.
Fitness, am I ready?
So even though the 43 mile loop I just did in Vermont was tough, it also had about 3,000 ft of elevation gain.
And while the Erie Canal ride is obviously much longer, 360 miles, it only has about 5,000 ft of elevation gain during the entire ride. So it should be far more manageable at my current weight. Also, I'm somewhat likely to get tailwinds biking east too. The main thing is being able to sit on the bike seat comfortably for at least 5 hours a day, and I've done enough biking this Summer I can do that. Touch wood, all my joints currently feel good. Nothing hurt on my Vermont ride. I just have to not do anything dumb between now and Sept.
Gear changes...
As far as other gear I'm going to leave at home, I'll think I'm going to leave my kindle at home and just use my phone for reading. A small Kindle doesn't weigh much, but it takes up valuable space with it's protective cover.
I apologize now, but I'm going to join team Crocs. They're ugly but light and functional. A tick under 1/2 lb for the pair. They'll make nice camp shoes, and I'm a big believer that the best anti-theft security is, "If you have stuff no one wants, then no one will steal it." I'll strap the crocs to the outside of the big red bag on the back of my bike. I don't want to have to wear my bike shoes after I'm done biking for the day, and from what I've read, some of the parks at the canal locks have showers I can use, so I want something I can wear in the public shower area.
I probably need a better bike lock because I'll be biking through areas with a lot more people. The one I'm going to get will add 2lbs, so with the chair, lock, and crocs, I'm back to the same cargo weight as my Vermont ride basically. C'est La Vie.
The lock below resists cordless angle grinders far better than the cheap $10 cable lock I've been using (which you could literally cut with a pair of snip pliers). I figure a good lock is probably a must for when I park in rochester/syracuse/etc areas to go into a grocery store/restaurant. The nice thing is it folds up small and it's holder uses water bottle mount holes on the bike, and I have a spare bottle mount on the main seat tube.
And last but not least...while i like the idea of making hot tea in the morning while waiting for my tent to dry off from the morning dew, I think I'm going to just leave my little butane backpacking style stove behind on this trip. There will be plenty of food along the way, and it's not worth the burn risk or the space it takes up when I'll be passing diners and gas stations frequently. I can pull my tent out quickly during lunch or an afternoon stop to dry off in the Sun, when I find a good spot to lay them out.
I also googled, it's not considered safe to filter water from the Erie Canal because it's contaminated with chemicals. the Sawyer is basically a glass filter with tiny pores that block bacteria and viruses getting through, but chemicals (PCB's for example) aren't stopped.
I'll probably bring the ursack, kevlar food bag to keep the chipmunks, squirrels and mise out of whatever food stash I have. I'll probably eat more gas station/convenience store junk food than I'd like on this trip but that's bike touring sometimes. In retrospect, I wonder if part of why I ran out of energy on my Vermont bike trip was because I didn't eat more. In retrospect, I was still in diet mode and didn't pig out enough when I had opportunities.
That's it for now. I'll end things with an updated packing list. yellow cells are new items i'm bringing. crossouts are things I'm leaving at home that I took last time. Definitely ping if you think I'm missing something.
I'll just keep updating this post as planning continues.
