Cycling the Erie Canal

[JimK]

Just got back from Cycling the Erie Canal

Here are my slide show and their slide show.

My Nomad MkII worked like a charm, no trouble at all. I just rode it. Covered up the leather saddle at night to protect it from dew or rain - that was the extent of the maintenance! My riding partner was my sweetheart's 18 year old son, riding a Jamis Trail X1. I did tighten up his derailleur cable once and put a bit of oil on his chain at the little derailleur cogs. Other than that, his bike rode perfectly too.

We both had Schwalbe Marathon Dureme 50-559 tires, which were good for the varying conditions. Maybe 60 percent of the time we were on the old canal towpath or on rail trails, either way the trail was covered in fine stone which occasionally had sandy patches and was often quite rocky. We had our tires at roughly 45 psi in front and 50 psi in back.

I didn't see any other Thorn bike or any other Rohloff bike. There were a few internal gear hubs there - a couple 8 speeds and a 3 speed come to mind. The route was mostly quite flat but there were occasional hills with some steepness, maybe around 8 percent grade. I asked the lady riding the 3 speed who seemed to be a bit of a novice cyclist and she said yes she did walk up the steeper parts.

There were a total of 544 riders registered, I heard. Some folks may have ridden just portions. Trek was probably the most common brand, then Specialized. Those two brands surely accounted for the majority of the bikes. There were at least two trikes - one with the two wheels behind and the other with the two wheels in front. There were perhaps half a dozen tandems.
 
Among the special bikes that caught my eye, there was a nice Rivendell Saluki 650B bike, and also an Atlantis but I only saw the Atlantis on the first and last days. A pair of women were riding Comotion Americanos and carrying all their gear, training for a cross continent ride someday soon. The rest of us had our camping equipment carried from site to site by truck. I also saw a nice Cannondale tourer - such a pity that they have stopped making those. There was one Brompton and maybe two Bike Fridays and I think a couple Dahon folders. The oldest bike I noticed had a 1980 Nishiki frame with the shifter bosses brazed on the head-tube! That was a tall bike with the down-tube rather out of reach.

Anyway, that's a bit of the experience! Ah, the teenager told his Mom, when we got home, that he wants to go on the tour again next summer!

 

[Danneaux]

Jim!

What an outstanding ride report, and photos to match!

I'd marked my calender, was hoping to hear from you soon, and today was the day; so glad it all went well and the bikes worked like champs. Best of all is the news your sweetie's son enjoyed it enough to wish for another round next year. He was lucky to go with you, Jim.

Jim, in looking at your photos, I developed some questions I hope you won't mind my asking...

1) I notice your companion is sitting in a chair, tentside while reading. May I ask what kind it is? He surely looks comfortable. My Alite Monarch Butterfly chair is working beautifully, but I'm still interested in what others use.

2) I can see that fine silty talc on your chain and rear sprocket. How'd the chain lube hold up? Did you reoil along the way? What did you use? I notice you reoiled his, but I'm wondering of you went with the idea of oiling first and then just leaving the "cruft" atop the outside. That sometimes works really well to avoid carrying dirt in with more lube (assuming there's enough lube to start). The bike looks great, by the way, and the BuddyFlaps look like they worked really well for you.

3) With regard to your training...did your stratagem work well for you? Was the pacing and daily distance about right?

Again, a great ride report and some really wonderful photos (I like yours betters than "theirs"!). I like checking-out the rides of others as well, so it was a treat to see them through similar eyes. Thanks!

All the best; welcome back!

Dan.

[JimK]

1) I notice your companion is sitting in a chair, tentside while reading. May I ask what kind it is? He surely looks comfortable. My Alite Monarch Butterfly chair is working beautifully, but I'm still interested in what others use.

It's a GCI Outdoor Quik-E-Seat. I used it too sometimes. It's quite light and compact on the car-camping scale, but way too bulky for bike camping. I sat in this chair too for a bit most evenings and it is very comfortable. Not a lounge chair - the back rest just supports the lower back. But that bit of support goes a long way!

2) I can see that fine silty talc on your chain and rear sprocket. How'd the chain lube hold up? Did you reoil along the way? What did you use? I notice you reoiled his, but I'm wondering of you went with the idea of oiling first and then just leaving the "cruft" atop the outside. That sometimes works really well to avoid carrying dirt in with more lube (assuming there's enough lube to start).

Funny but I didn't even bother to lube before the trip. It was already pretty gooey already from the wax lube I've been using. Yes that chain is now just utterly caked with dust from the trail. It is still running quiet and smooth so, just as you suggest, I decided to leave well enough alone and avoid pushing dust down into the works. Probably I will put on a new chain now that I am back home and then I can work on a thorough cleaning of the current chain at my leisure.

The teenager's drive train got to be squeaking rather dreadfully so I was forced to lube that. It must have been from the shifting but his chain didn't look anywhere near as filthy as mine does.

3) With regard to your training...did your stratagem work well for you? Was the pacing and daily distance about right?

Here is a plot of my training this year before the tour:



I don't have summary data on the climbing I've done - living in the Catskill Mountains, there is a lot of up and down!

The average age of the riders on this tour was 51. The youngest rider was around 8 years old and the oldest was 88. There was a very wide range of riding capability. This morning at breakfast I met one fellow with a long white beard who told me he ride 12k to 15k miles per year. OK, where he lives it is not too hilly but still that sounds like big miles to me, especially for a guy who looked to be in his late 60s. He wasn't challenged at all by the riding on the tour but certainly other people were. I was probably averaging about 11 mph or a tad more. I have a little bit of numbness around my right little finger and a couple small delicate spots where I sit but overall I didn't have any significant physical problems. Pulling into camp I could lug my duffle from the truck to our tent site and get the tent put up without falling over or anything!

I'm trying to get the teenager interested in a big challenge ride in a month or so, to New Paltz and back, about 90 miles with some good hills. The tour should have gotten us stronger, so... why not see what we can do on a one day ride?!
  

[NZPeterG]

 

Pete