My family and I have done the Erie canal ride several times, it is a nice ride & well managed.
Our youngest was ten when he first rode it solo. There were riders of all ages, one year I believe the eldest rider was 80.
There are frequent lectures, depending upon your prior knowledge can be interesting.
With 400 riders you can get in a group or go solo - everyone was pretty friendly.
The food, is quite adequate you won't go hungry - variations of pasta for dinner and eggs for breakfast, two nights you are on your own to eat. Lots of easy to get to choices. We ate out a couple times - because we wanted to. We also often tried to hit a coffee shop around lunch time, as my partner likes iced coffee when riding and we usually found an ice cream stand in the afternoon. A place with ice cream and iced coffee was a double bonus. We were pretty care free about our diet. One son like chocolate milk and potato chips around nine in the morning - that gave him a good boost of carb and lytes. We have not yet figured out next summer's family ride - don't think we'll ride the erie canal -perhaps the following year we will go again.

Ps- what bike to use - the one that is most comfortable for you.
What tires - our 16 yo had 54 mm big apples one year, which allowed him to float over the crushed stone in the first part. Last year our youngest used a road bike with tires that measured 27 mm, he was fine. Have used 32, 37 and 42 mm tires - have to say I liked the 32 mm better, a good balance of speed, shock absorption and traction, probably 28 mm would be the min for adults; those folks with 22 to25 mm tires probably had more tire problesm. What ever the size- suggest you use some type of touring tire.