The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Cyclists enjoy 400mile ride along trail
20th anniversary: Cycle the Erie Bike Tour brings 600-plus cyclists through Madison County
ONEIDA, N.Y. » More than 600 people took to the Erie Canal this week as part of the 20th annual Cycle the Erie Bike Tour.
From new cyclists to long time riders, everyone began the 400-mile journey in Buffalo, leaving their cars behind and riding towards the several scenic trails of New York, including those in Madison County.
The Oneida Community Mansion House invited around 650 cyclists for a free tour of the Mansion House on Thursday, while the Oneida Parks and Recreation department sponsored a welcome table along the trail, offering water and inviting riders to take a side-trip into Oneida for something to eat or to see the sights. Several riders stopped in Oneida for a hot meal, swinging by Madison Bistro in Wampsville or Napoleon Cafe on Madison Street.
Mansion House Visitor Experience Associate Benjamin Adams spoke with riders taking a break, explaining some of the history surrounding the Mansion House to first timers.
Joan Kasprowicz, of Northern Virginia, learned a bit about the history of the Mansion House and the community around it before asking Adams when it went out of business.
“The sights are wonderful. As far as the towns, I have been very welcomed and the people are wonderful.”
– Mike Lupovici, first-time rider
“I wouldn’t say they went out of business, but I’d say they evolved. They democratically elected to dissolve the utopian commune and form one of America’s very first joint-stock companies, Oneida Community Limited, in 1881,” Adams explained.
It was Kasprowicz’s first time doing the Erie Canal tour after she was inspired to see the Canal while in college.
“I went to Syracuse Uni- versity way back when and I had been to the Canal while visiting someone who lived there. It was so gorgeous and it had so much history, so I wanted to come back. And here I am, 40 years later, biking the trail,” Kasprowicz said. “We’ve seen so much. We started in Buffalo, stopped in Medina, stopped in Seneca Falls and saw the Women’ s Movement there, then went through south of Rochester. And I learned something new. I knew about Oneida silverware, but I didn’t know the community it had.”
Another first-time rider is Mike Lupovici, who took it up for the challenge to keep fit and active while seeing the sights.
“The sights are wonderful. As far as the towns, I have been very welcomed and the people are wonderful,” Lupovici said. “Andwe still have around 150 to 175 miles left.”
All the way from Delmar, Robert Moak and his son John passed through Oneida for the fifth time.
“We’ve done the trip before and we enjoy it. It’s a great vacation,” Robert said. “It does take a bit of preparation. You gotta ride as many miles as you put in on the trail”
“The trail is 400 miles, so you’re supposed to do 400 before you do it just to prepare for it,” John said.
Coming through Oneida again and again, Robert and Johnhave seen the area change over the years.
“This area in particular has changed, definitely. It’s more cleared out than the first year we did it. And there’s going to be the new section of trail,” John said. “It’s definitely developing.”
Whether it’s the towns, the people, nature itself or the history of days gone by, the Cycle the Erie Bike tour offers a chance to see something new along its path.