Northeast - Erie Canal Trip

I am in the process of starting a Erie Canal Touring trip in June. I grew up just outside of Rochester, NY, but never was able to do the Erie Canal. If there is anyone that has had experience on the trip, let me know. I would love any helpful hints possible.

Park & Trails New York (http://ptny.org/canalway/index.shtml) does a yearly tour and publishes Cycling The Erie Canal Guidebook (http://ptny.org/guidebook/index.shtml)

I've biked the Erie Canal last summer as part of the 8 day tour with New York Parks & Trails. And in 2004 I was did Lockport to Palmyra as part of Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier (self-supported).

Currently the Erie Canal bike way is about 60% complete (the other 40% is on adjacent roads). They plan to be 100% in 2008 or 2009.

Most of the treadway is packed stone dust. Narrow road bike tires are not recommended, but I did it OK with 25mm wide tires.

My daughter found the towpath to be boring, so she opted to ride Bike Route #5. This route parrallels the towpath on adjacent roads. (maps available from NYS DOT).

There's a lot of history along the way. The New York Park & Trails ride includes stops at many of the historic sights, as well as evening programs focused on canal history. It's a well organized and well run ride, managed by Al Hastings (In-motion events). The price includes tenting at high schools and colleges along the way, and breakfast and dinner most days, as well as a morning and afternoon rest stop each day. Their shuttle from Albany to Buffalo is a great way to get started. No worry about how to get back to your car at the end of the tour. And it leaves the boring turnpike driving to someone else. We enjoyed the tour.

What else would you like to know?

I have the chance to live close to the canal(Penfield). It is wonderful to bike and admire nature.:)
I posted photos of the ride from macedon to Pittsford on my site:

http://italianrecipesblog.com/biking_erie_canal/biking_erie_canal.htm

I also wrote about the history of the canal and published old pictures.
Tommaso:twitchy:

I am leaving home, east of Toronto on Friday June 12 and will be in Niagara Falls Ontario Saturday June 13. On Sunday I am crossing the border and picking up the Erie Canal at Lockport. I will be riding the Erie Canal/NY Bike Route 5 to Albany and then north along the Hudson River and Lake Champlain to Montreal. From Montreal I will be riding home using the Waterfront Trail.
I have ridden a section around Rochester and Tonawanda previously and enjoyed it so much that I decided this year to ride the whole canal.
Do you have an itinerary yet? What kind of bicycle do you ride? I usually will recognize a bike before I will notice who is ridding it.
I am planning on camping with the odd hostel.
Perhaps our paths will cross enroute.
Happy Touring!

Please post a trip report when you are done with this ride. I've ridden sections near Albany that were terribly boring, and then I've ridden sections near Rochester that were much more enjoyable. Both rides were about ten years ago or more, so I'd love to know if this is worth revisiting now.