Published: July 09, 2007 03:43 pm      

BIKE PATH: Hundreds travel along Erie Canal during annual bike tour

More than 500 bicyclists will arrive in Medina on Sunday afternoon during the 2007 Cycling the Erie Canal Tour. They plan to set up camp on the lawns between the high school and Clifford H. Wise Middle School to create ’Tent City.’

Medina Central School District and the Medina Canal Task Force helped arrange for the cyclists to spend the second evening of their eight-day, 400-mile trek from Buffalo to Albany here enjoying a rest and some free entertainment.

’We’re proud to be the host,’ said Richard Galante, superintendent of Medina Schools. ’They tent out there and have a real nice time. It gives us a chance to showcase our schools.’

Sponsored by the New York State Canal Corporation and Parks & Trails New York, among others, the Cycling Tour will kick off Saturday with a reception, dinner and pre-event bike rides around the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

Between Sunday and July 15, riders will bike 40 to 60 miles a day along completed portions of the Canalway Trail and marked roads and tour communities along the waterway once termed ’The Eighth Wonder of the World.’

Overnight stops for the cyclists will be in Buffalo, Medina, Pittsford, Waterloo/Seneca Falls, Syracuse, Rome, Canajoharie and Schenectady.

’These folks come from all across the country as far as California and New Jersey,’ said Carmella R. Mantello, director of New York State Canal Corporation. ’The trail has so many benefits other than recreational. We’ve certainly seen firsthand that it brings terrific economic benefits and tourism benefits.’

Individuals as young as 2 years old will be traveling alongside, or attached to, their parent’s bicycles, Mantello said, making the event a popular one for families taking a summer vacation. Detailed handbooks, maps and brochures are provided for cyclists ahead of time with training tips and suggestions for packing, allowing cyclists to plan ahead.

’It’s a family affair,’ Galante said. ’It’s a very professional group of people. We don’t have any concerns about safety or vandalism.’

Galante, who has welcomed the cyclists on school grounds for the past seven years without incident, will open the computer lab, gym, swimming pool and tennis courts for use upon the cyclists’ afternoon arrival. There is no outside cost to the school, since the maintenance staff is available anyway and the lifeguards are volunteering.

A presentation about the history of the canal will be given by historian Tom Grasso at 7 p.m. in the Middle School auditorium. The Middleport band ’Pocket Change’ will perform on an outdoor stage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Both events are open, and free, to community residents.

Any luggage or baggage the cyclists don’t need with them during the day is driven from site to site during the week’s tour. According to Medina Canal Task Force member Martin Busch, volunteers will help unload these items Sunday morning before the cyclists’ arrival.

Information booths, massage and bike repair tents will also be available to the participants, said Busch. The Women’s Auxiliary of Shelby will provide a complimentary dinner and breakfast and the Medina Railroad Museum, which is normally closed, will open for the visitors. The Book Shoppe will have books about the canal available for purchase.

’People are always impressed with our architecture and our downtown,’ said Andrew Meier, a local attorney and Medina Canal Task Force member.

Last year, Meier said he gave a spontaneous tour of Medina to four interested cyclists who admired the buildings.

’These folks will come back,’ Mantello said. ’It once again puts the canal system on the map. They will get a true experience of the communities.’

According to Mantello, when the Cycling the Erie Canal Tour began nine years ago, only seven people participated. Now, it has become a national tourist destination. Parks & Trails New York have published the book, ’Cycling the Erie Canal Guidebook,’ and Niagara University’s College of Hospitality and Tourism Management offers a three-credit course on the subject.

’It’s a great opportunity for our community to shine,’ Meier said. ’We have a lot of great heritage here. This is one of the bikers’ favorite stops and we want to make sure that continues.’

Plans are under way to complete the trail along all four branches of the New York State Canal System, Mantello said. The Canalway Trail will one day stretch an uninterrupted 524 miles, making it the longest multi-use trail in the country. Two-thirds of the trail, 250 miles along the Erie Canal, has already been completed.

’Eventually you will have a trail connecting Buffalo to New York City,’ Mantello said. ’The canal is alive and it’s breathing.’

For those interested in participating in the 2007 Cycling the Erie Canal Tour, there is still time. The cost is $520 for adults plus a $50 late fee. Weekend trips and rates are also available for those unable to get away for an entire week.

On Monday, the cyclists will take a pit stop in Albion to tour the buildings there, and later, the Village of Holley.

For more information and to register visit www.ptny.org.

Contact reporter Nicole Coleman

at 798-1400, ext. 2227.