Y will again offer kayaks, hydro-bikes on Erie Canal

Bent’s Opera House covering costs this season for free use for public

File photo by Tom Rivers: These three people enjoy hydro-bikes on the Erie Canal in Medina in July 2023 near the Horan Road bridge. The hydro-bikes were offered for free in an “On the Canals” program where hydro-bikes and kayaks can be rented for free through the Orleans County YMCA. Bent’s Opera House is covering the cost for the kayaks and hydro-bikes to be offered free to the community and visitors this season.

MEDINA – This summer the YMCA will again offer its Canal Club program for people to have fun while exercising on Erie Canal with kayaks and hydro-bikes.

Beginning this week the Y will be allowing people to go kayaking and to pedal the hydro-bikes from Thursdays to Saturdays, from noon to 9 p.m. The program ends on Aug. 9.

People can sign up on Event Brite and rent them for free. (Go to eventbrite.com and search for kayaks and hydro-bikes to make a reservation.) The Y has 10 kayaks and four hydro-bikes from prior years. Bent’s Opera House is covering the costs of the Y’s staff time to run the program.

“We want people to get out and enjoy the summer and the canal,” said Coby Albone, who helps run the program for the Y. “It’s here and it’s free for them to use.”

No experience is needed. Participants need to be at least 12 years old. The Y will have the kayaks and hydro-bikes behind Captain Kidz at 143 East Center St.

The Y received the kayaks and hydro-bikes in 2020 through grants from the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation and the Erie Canalway Corridor’s Consolidated Fund.

The state covered the Y’s staffing costs to run the program with the “On the Canals” initiative in 2021 and 2022. About 1,200 people signed up to use the kayaks and hydro-bikes those years. Albone said the Y would like to reach 2,000 users this summer.

He thanked Bent’s Opera House for its financial assistance this year.