A few miles west of Erie Canal Village, we came to the Erie Barge Canal which the bike path followed to
Lock 21 where we stopped a while to wait for a small boat to pass through. It's a change from the
quiet and narrow Old Erie Canal to the wide channel of the barge canal. From here the route crosses the
barge canal and follows Lock Road south to the bike path just south of Rt. 46. The bridge was closed and
the lock tender told us to cross on lock walkway. Canastota about 10 miles further along is the only
town where the canal and bike goes through the main business district of town. It has a pleasant main
street with a few restaurants for a lunch stop. We didn't have time to stop at an Erie Canal museum in Canastota. It is often fun to stop at small town museums; there is usually someone there who takes a personal interest in explaining things to visitors.
