Erie Canal / Hutson River ?
 

Don't have all the specifics on me at this time but was told my CA club is going on this route and that some if not all is on gravel road:eek:. So my question to the ones who live around there is -

Can this be done on a 32cm 700 tire:rolleyes: (my coupled and easily carried touring bike:)) or should one consider buying a boxing and shipping a full cross bike:( (my cannondale), which I could run a fatter tire?

access www.ptny.org

"We highly recommend using a hybrid bike. Second choice is a mountain bike with smooth tires. Another option is a road bike with wide tires."

Sounds like you could go with the 32c bike. That's for the Erie Canal (which I've never ridden, yet). I don't know where your tour is taking you, but the Hudson can be done completely on road.

the canal part should be doable. i used to live in upstate and would ride the canal paths near rochester often on my go fast bike and on my tourer - it is crushed stone.. tourer had 32s on it. go fast had 23s or 25s.

not sure why they would recommend a hyrbrid. seems it would get uncomfortable after a good while.

compacted gravel can be ridden on 25s and 28s - the 28s will be more comfy.

might want to post this in the touring forum or the regional discussions to pick up some local info.

I have only ridden a short section of the canal path. This summer I plan to ride with my sister from my house in East Amherst (1 mile from the Canal) to my sisters' house in Pittsford (about 3 miles from the canal). That will be about 70 miles of the canal but will ride it in one day. The path is crushed stone. It does give a soft ride and feels a bit slippery, this is fine when going straight, but turns have to be taken with care. My friend went down when his front wheel slipped when he was not paying close attention when taking a bend. Most MUPs have a speed limit of 15 MPH so having a very fast bike is not a great advantage. Having a bike that YOU are comfortable riding on IS important. I haven't seen how soft the road bed gets after some rain. 28+ mm wide tires should be fine, but I could see 23 mm tires maybe sinking in a bit and that would not make for a fun ride.

I have been eyeing the 7 day Erie canal ride from Buffalo to Albany as well. I definitely can't do it this year, but maybe 2009. That particular trip has the ride broken down into 35 to 40 mile streaches each day. I could see them recommending a hybrid because the rides are relatively short (by long distance riding standards) and you are traveling along paths with low speeds. The slighlty wider tires of the hybrids should also deal very nicely with the gravel, but as stated in the 2008 brochure, some people bring along race bikes and it works fine.

Once the snow finally melts around here (the paths still are covered with a few inches of snow/ice) then I'll be able to regularly add 15 miles to my commute home and start working on adding some endurance to may daily rides. In the weekends I plan to start adding 30 to 60 miles rides. By the middle of Summer I hope to have no problem riding 60 miles. If the ride agrees with me enough I may to a round trip (Amherst - Pittsford) along the canal as well by the end of the Summer.

Happy riding,
André