New York – Bicycling the beauty around us

Erie Canalway Trail: Jordan NY to Camillus NY

On the morning of Sunday, May 29, we drove from the Airbnb in Scipio Center NY that we were renting for the week of May 25 through June 1 to Jordan NY, a distance of approximately 19 miles. Our destination was the Erie Canalway Trail. We rode only a small portion of the trail, Jordan to Camillus.

We parked at the Jordan trailhead, alongside Canal Street.

Bob is ahead of me on the trail.
At the Stop sign, we will cross over S. McDonald Road
Jordan, NY

As we crossed over Bennetts Corners Road, I spotted a sign.
The sign indicates that we rode alongside the Old Erie Canal.
Memphis, NY

I liked the Welcome sign on this portion of the trail.
Memphis, NY

A little farther along the trail we came across a garden. The garden is the Bryan M. Place Memorial.

Who is Bryan M Place? Bryan died in January 2010, when he was 39 years old. He was a well known financial expert. His interests included coaching youth sports, reading, downhill skiing, and long distance running.

The Bryan M Place Memorial is a beautiful place along the trail.

The pier leaned A LOT to the right. I took a couple steps forward on the deck, took this picture, and immediately turned around to walk off the deck!

We soon arrived at the Camillus Erie Canal Park.

This map shows where we were on the Erie Canalway Trail.

We ate a picnic lunch at this park pavilion.

A man and woman who had passed by us at the Jordan trailhead, as we were unloading our bicycles, were eating lunch at this pavilion as well. They were in for the long haul. This day they had started out in Niagara Falls and were riding to Syracuse, or beyond, before calling it a night. They had camping gear, or they stayed in a hotel on rainy nights.

After lunch we rode to the Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct, approximately 1 mile farther east on the trail.

The 9 Mile Creek Aqueduct was built in1842 and was in use from 1845 to 1918.
It was one of 32 aqueducts on the 19th century Erie Canal.

9 Mile Creek Aqueduct (base level)
Photo by Bob
If you look closely, you can see me on top of the aqueduct.

After seeing the aqueduct, we rode back to the pavilion where we had eaten lunch. At this point I had ridden 12 miles. The most bicycle miles that I had ridden so far this year was 8.37 miles earlier in May. I decided I had done enough riding for the day. My legs were very tired. My knee; however, was not hurting (yay!). I thought it best to stop before the pain started. Bob rode his bicycle back to our car, while I stayed at the park. I spent part of my time at a picnic table in the pavilion where we ate lunch. The rest of the time I sat at a bench alongside the Erie Canalway Trail.

I enjoyed my view, while waiting at Camillus Erie Canal Park.

It was really cool, when a tour boat went by where I was sitting!

This is a video that Bob took with our GoPro7 camera during our bicycle ride.

Bob left Camillus Erie Canal Park around 12:50 pm, and he returned with the car at approximately 2:30 pm. Upon his return, we visited Sims’ Canal Store Museum.

Sims’ Canal Store Museum
This wall mural of a boat traveling over the 9 Mile Creek Aqueduct is on the second floor.

Sims’ Canal Store Museum
This fully furnished dollhouse depicts life in the 1800s.

Sims’ Canal Store Museum
On the first floor is a replica of the original store.
I *almost” said “hello” to the store keeper.
The cutout looked very realistic.
The eyes followed you, too!

Will we ride on the Erie Canalway Trail again? We hope so! No plans have been made to do so, though, in the immediate future.

Allegany State Park Bicycle Ride

Yesterday we went on our first bicycle ride this year outside of Warren. We transported our bicycles to the Quaker Run area of Allegany State Park.

We met our friend Liz at the Quaker General Store. The three of us rode the new Quaker Run Multi-Use Trail (3.2 miles round trip). We didn’t realize that the trail from the Quaker General Store to the Taft Cabin was a slight uphill climb, until we turned around and began our ride back to the Quaker Store. We coasted most of the way back to the Quaker Store.

The new Quaker Run Multi-Use Trail is being built in two phases. We rode on Phase 1 of the trail. The second phase of the trail has begun and will run from the Quaker General Store to the Quaker Lake Beach. When completed, the trail will run over 5 miles. We are looking forward to the completion of this trail!

When we finished bicycling the Quaker Run Multi-Use Trail, we transported our bicycles to the Red House area and bicycled around Red House Lake (a 3-mile loop). This trail was somewhat more strenuous, as there were definite hills to ride (or walk) up. Borrowing the words from a friend “I was feeling my winter inactivity by the time we got done.” (Thank you for the suitable choice of words, Jim R.)

Total bicycle miles ridden: 6.27 miles.

This is a video that Bob took with our GoPro7 camera during our bicycle ride.

Bicycling Allegany State Park

It was nice to see Liz again. It had been more than 15 years since we saw each other. We have seen Larry (Liz’s husband), though. Larry sells automobiles. We have purchased two cars from him. We hope that both Larry and Liz can join us on a bicycle ride in the near future.

Allegheny River Valley Trail (Allegany/Olean NY)

This past Saturday, August 8th, Bob and I went for a bicycle ride on the Allegheny River Valley Trail. We began our ride near the tennis courts at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany NY. Taking the trail to the left, we reached the Allegheny River in about 0.25 mile.

This is a video that Bob took with our GoPro7 camera during our bicycle ride.

I took several still images, while bicycling the trail.

Trailhead at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY

There are many opportunities along the trail to sit on a bench and enjoy the views of the Allegheny River.

This is one of several bridges that we crossed, while on the trail.

I noticed a big chair sitting alongside the river on the opposite side.

The trail along the river is well shaded. The rest of the trail … not so much.

The trail turns away from the river at 3 miles and heads north.

The trail crosses over Washington Street.

This memorial bench and flower garden is located at a curve on trail.

After about a mile, we came to a fork in the trail. We made a right turn at the fork.

The trail runs alongside Constitution Avenue for a short while.

Country Fair is located at the intersection of Buffalo, Wayne and 12th Streets.

I took this picture inside a pavilion, where we made a rest stop. We also took advantage of the restroom inside Country Fair.

From Country Fair the trail continues on the sidewalk alongside Wayne Street and turns right alongside a railroad track (opposite Olean Intermediate Middle School). We turned around shortly after reaching the trail along the railroad track.

We returned to the fork in the trail and turned right to continue on the main loop trail. After crossing Constitution Avenue we stopped at Twist and Shake.

We stopped for ice cream at Twist and Shake.

We were on the local “Ride for Roswell” trail, but we didn’t participate in the ride.

St. Bonaventure University. Approaching the end of our bicycle ride.

Total miles ridden: 8.84 miles.

Bob’s Bicycle Ride

We went to Allegany State Park the morning of Sunday, July 14th. Bob rode his bicycle around the perimeter of the park. Total miles ridden: 24.2 miles. He completed his ride in 2 hours and 6 1/2 minutes.

While Bob was riding, I read and took a couple short walks.

Greenway Nature Trail

On our way home from Niagara Falls on Sunday, June 9th, we made an unplanned stop at the Buffalo Outer Harbor, where we discovered a bicycle trail — the Greenway Nature Trail.

We parked off Fuhrmann Boulevard at the trailhead parking lot. We had a choice of taking the trail to the left or to the right. We began our bicycle ride on the right-hand side of the trail. At the end of the trail in that direction, we turned around and rode past the trailhead and explored the left-hand side of the trail.

Here are a few photographs of what we saw, while on the Greenway Nature Trail.

Off in the distance is the Flatman Sculpture.

The Flatman Sculpture once resided at Griffis Sculpture Parkin Ashford Hollow, NY. The sculpture moved to its new home at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor in August 2017. The Flatman Sculpture is 25-feet-tall and made of steel.

Bicycling at Niagara Falls

On Sunday, June 9th, Bob and I went for a bicycle ride in Niagara Falls NY.

The Niagara Scenic Parkway Trail was our ride destination. We planned to park at the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. We encountered road construction detours. We eventually made our way to the Discovery Center, only to find that the parking lot was closed. I believe a portion of the Niagara Scenic Parkway is being removed. That project is the cause of the street detours that we encountered, while attempting to park at the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. We ended up going to the Niagara Falls State Park parking lot, where we could park for free as we have the New York State Empire Pass.

We made our way from the parking lot, with our bicycles, to Prospect Point. We found (not easily) a starting point for the Niagara Scenic Parkway Trail, heading north towards Whirlpool Bridge. This part of the trail was not attractive. The trail runs alongside Niagara Scenic Parkway. This portion of the Parkway was closed to traffic, which was nice but still not an attractive trail view. As if it wasn’t enough that we encountered detours, while in our car, the trail itself had detours. At times we were bicycling on sidewalks. Being discouraged by this part of the trail we turned around, while still some distance away from Whirlpool Bridge.

On our way back to Prospect Point we stopped at an overlook of Niagara River. The overlook was reached by leaving the bicycle trail and walking a short distance to the Niagara Gorge Hiking Trail.

Niagara River, with Canada skyline in the distance

Bicycles must be walked at Prospect Point.

I thought it quite cool to take a picture of our bicycles in front of the falls at Prospect Point!

The most pleasant ride was from a little south of Prospect Point (when we believed that bicycles could be ridden again) to Goat Island and all the way around it. We didn’t stop for pictures, while on Goat Island.

All total we rode 6.82 miles.

Bob’s New Bicycle

Bob transported his bicycle to Hollyloft Bike & Ski today. He wanted to obtain an estimate to get his bicycle tuned up and find out how much the shop would give him for a trade-in. The end result of the tune-up vs. trade-in discussion was that Bob became an owner of a new Specialized “Crossover” bicycle. He accessorized the bicycle with fenders, rack, mirror, and computer. He also purchased a bike helmet. Bob’s new bicycle replaces a 30+-year-old Univega Rover Sport.