This is dope. I’m doing NYC to Burlington in April and will basically follow your trail. I’d love to get more information on what it was like, places you camped/stayed, places for food etc
pixel_pink on
## Report
As I prepare for the work week by procrastinating and planning 2024’s trips, I found myself reminiscing about a trip I took in fall of 2023. Sharing this late report, some photos of the road, tips about logistics, and more. Hope you enjoy or find this useful!
### Stats
14 days total, 12 days of riding, 4 nights camping, 4-5 friend/warmshowers, rest hotels
~700 miles
~25k feet elevation gain
0 flats, 1 uncooperative shifter that was easily fixed
### Gear
I carried two full size rear panniers and two smaller front ones. I am not sure the mini front fork packs make much sense, but they got the job done. Might invest in a front rack next time and real panniers or consider the bikepacking route for this type of lower-camping trip. As I get more into this hobby, I’ll learn what I like more. Camping and bike stuff was pretty basic, won’t go into exact gear list here.
### Route
As mentioned, I was planning to ride the Empire State Trail (EST) all the way to the border. I didn’t totally end up doing that. I found there were limited camping opportunities before Albany, as most of southern NY is developed land. There were some very expensive campgrounds (95 dollar tent site) or very out of the way campgrounds available (20 miles off course). I picked the latter (near Spencertown) for one night pre-Albany. Things were considerably better the further north I got.
Once I hit Albany, I decided I was getting bored of the EST and didn’t have that much excitement about the Adirondacks. I ended up cutting east to Vermont and taking Route 22A + Lake Champlain Bikeway up through to Burlington on advice of locals. This ended up being a couple days of very very wet and then followed by a couple days of new friends and the most beautiful country riding a girl can ask for. I miss Vermont the most on this ride.
Then, again on the advice of locals (there’s a theme here), cut through the Hero Islands to Alburgh. An absolutely beautiful ride. Finally, I followed route 1 on the La Route Verte network up into Montreal, a bit past into Oka, and then back down across the border to catch a bus home to NYC.
The reason I added the extra bits were
1) I had time to kill
2) You cannot take an unboxed bike on the Adirondack Amtrak line – checked baggage is not allowed because of customs. Rather than deal with the hassle, I just extended my trip since I was having fun
tamerenshorts on
nice! I did MTL -> NYC 3 times already but I always took route 9N between Ticonderoga and Lake George. Looking forward for a fourth time in 2025 maybe.
lsd_runner on
Sweet looking route. The Hero islands are gorgeous especially around sunset.
4 Comments
This is dope. I’m doing NYC to Burlington in April and will basically follow your trail. I’d love to get more information on what it was like, places you camped/stayed, places for food etc
## Report
As I prepare for the work week by procrastinating and planning 2024’s trips, I found myself reminiscing about a trip I took in fall of 2023. Sharing this late report, some photos of the road, tips about logistics, and more. Hope you enjoy or find this useful!
### Stats
14 days total, 12 days of riding, 4 nights camping, 4-5 friend/warmshowers, rest hotels
~700 miles
~25k feet elevation gain
0 flats, 1 uncooperative shifter that was easily fixed
### Why
The trip was borne of minimal planning and two weeks of paid time off to burn. I had a dream to ride the empire state trail so I did, or, well, I kind of did. My prior experience was [Boston to NYC](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/8ovxna/just_finished_my_first_bike_tour_boston_nyc/). I took pictures this time…
### Gear
I carried two full size rear panniers and two smaller front ones. I am not sure the mini front fork packs make much sense, but they got the job done. Might invest in a front rack next time and real panniers or consider the bikepacking route for this type of lower-camping trip. As I get more into this hobby, I’ll learn what I like more. Camping and bike stuff was pretty basic, won’t go into exact gear list here.
### Route
As mentioned, I was planning to ride the Empire State Trail (EST) all the way to the border. I didn’t totally end up doing that. I found there were limited camping opportunities before Albany, as most of southern NY is developed land. There were some very expensive campgrounds (95 dollar tent site) or very out of the way campgrounds available (20 miles off course). I picked the latter (near Spencertown) for one night pre-Albany. Things were considerably better the further north I got.
Once I hit Albany, I decided I was getting bored of the EST and didn’t have that much excitement about the Adirondacks. I ended up cutting east to Vermont and taking Route 22A + Lake Champlain Bikeway up through to Burlington on advice of locals. This ended up being a couple days of very very wet and then followed by a couple days of new friends and the most beautiful country riding a girl can ask for. I miss Vermont the most on this ride.
Then, again on the advice of locals (there’s a theme here), cut through the Hero Islands to Alburgh. An absolutely beautiful ride. Finally, I followed route 1 on the La Route Verte network up into Montreal, a bit past into Oka, and then back down across the border to catch a bus home to NYC.
The reason I added the extra bits were
1) I had time to kill
2) You cannot take an unboxed bike on the Adirondack Amtrak line – checked baggage is not allowed because of customs. Rather than deal with the hassle, I just extended my trip since I was having fun
nice! I did MTL -> NYC 3 times already but I always took route 9N between Ticonderoga and Lake George. Looking forward for a fourth time in 2025 maybe.
Sweet looking route. The Hero islands are gorgeous especially around sunset.