Syracuse NY to Pittsburgh PA?

[geegee]

Anyone have some good advice on roads to take from Syracuse to Pittsburgh? I'd like to do the GAP and C&O sometime and I'm looking for a good route to get there from Canada. I've cycled to Syracuse before, but not farther southwest.

[aratajczak]

Where will you enter the United States and/or from  where do you intend to begin your bike trip?  It makes a difference in how anyone replies.

[geegee]

I'm in Ottawa ON and I usually enter the States at Ogdensburg NY via the bridge or Cape Vincent NY via the ferry from Wolfe island. Getting to Syracuse from both points is pretty straightforward.

I suppose I could follow the ACA route to the Lake Erie shore and the question remains what the best route to get to Pittsburgh from there?

[paddleboy17]

2 years ago, I tried to lay out a route that traced the PA Canal.  The route is north-east from Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River, and then east.  I gave up on the route because I felt the state (or at least this part of the state) was not bike friendly.  There are all these narrow river valleys, so the road are narrow, there are no shoulders, and the drivers go 20 MPH over whatever the posted limit is.  That said, here is a web site that will help you plan your route once you get into PA:

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/biking.aspx

The GAP does not actually start in Pittsburgh, but in one of the suburbs.  There is a route to the airport, but they discourage you from starting in Pittsburgh.  Here is the GAP website:  http://www.atatrail.org/

Good luck, and I would like to hear details of your route.  My profile shows my private email address.

[paddleboy17]

I just looked, and there an ACA route from Erie to Pittsburgh. 
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/undergroundrailroad.cfm?pg=detail&s=6
Perhaps that will be useful for you.