I definitely train. I'm always training. Not for anything in particular, other than the rest of my life. I just like it. I have a slightly different perspective. I don't train on a loaded bike. I train to ride as fast as possible. On my single, 28 kph is a good average for a hilly 100 - 150 km course. I'm 67. At least years are the same, Imperial or metric. I give it everything I've got on the hills. I ride 150-250 km/week, which isn't much, but many of those kilometers are specific trainings: pedaling drills, intervals, stuff like that. I also lift weights, ski in winter, hike in summer, etc. Riding up hills with panniers full of sand just isn't appealing. I'd rather ride multiple mountain passes on my light bike. I'm saying that I like my biking and other exercise to be really fun.

The important things are to get strong, develop your aerobic system, and develop endurance. A good way to develop endurance is to ride away from home until you are tired, then ride back. Endurance starts when you start to endure, not before. Put in a lot of saddle time. Riding frequently is more important for the butt than riding long, though you also have to ride long. You really won't know how the shorts/saddle interface is going to work for you until the fourth hour of continuous riding. That's a hard and fast rule. You can train very well with your commute, but find a longer way back home. 16 km isn't enough to properly warm up. Then on weekends, do back-to-back rides, longer each weekend, working up to a total of 150 km or so for the weekend. Most folks go easy the first day, then hard the second. Don't commute on Monday.

Then there's the matter of riding loaded. You also have to do that. For now, plan your gear list and purchase it. Then allow a couple of weeks before your tour to get that sorted on your bike. You should be able to easily get your load under 30 lbs. While you are sport riding and getting stronger, ride the chainrings and derailleurs you plan to use for the tour, but use a smaller, closer ratio cassette. Once you know the weight of your gear and are in your touring condition, you can use online calculators to figure out exactly what gearing you'll need to climb the grades you'll encounter on your tour. Then you can purchase the correct cassette. You can get your exact gradients by plotting your training and touring routes with an online mapping tool like RideWithGPS.com.

Finger Lakes is a hilly area. I did my first solo Imperial century around Cayuga Lake when I was 18 and didn't know squat about what I was doing. It was great fun.

I realize this is different from what most folks advise, except for this one thing: make it fun! I find it a lot easier to smell the roses if I'm having fun, not in pain, and there's no question about whether or not I'm going to make my stopping place by dark.