Fall 2021 Bike trip details

I used Amtrak twice on this trip. The first time was from Buffalo to Albany-Rensselaer. The second time was from Penn Station in NYC to Trenton.  Why I didn’t just use NJ Transit? NJ Transit is less expensive and carries bikes. That said, Amtrak was just so much more pleasant than NJ Transit, not to mention that NJ Transit doesn’t carry bikes between 5-7 pm out of NYC.

Day 3 – Biking the Hudson River Valley north of Poughkeepsie

I left the Rensselaer Amtrak Station around 12:45 and figured I would hop on the newly completed Empire State Trail that is paved most of the way to New York City.

While on the train, I had looked up state park campsites and found one at Mills-Norrie State Park.  That would be a 65 mile ride.  I took some wrong turns in Rensselaer and ended up on the NY State Bike Route 9 instead of on the trail. The on-road route seemed more direct, had a wide shoulder and followed the river. I stuck with this scenic route.

Because Mills-Norrie State Park isn’t on the Empire State Trail, I didn’t cross over the Hudson River and take the trail through New Paltz.  New Paltz has a lot of character, but I visited there in July. 

Trip tip

If I was looking to plan another trip by car or bike to the Hudson River Valley with my family or friends, I might go to Mills-Norrie S.P., stay in a cabin, and do a loop that includes Kingston, Mohonk (mountains), New Paltz, and Poughkeepsie. There is world class hiking, food and history in this area.  We stayed at Mohonk Mountain house in July and liked it a lot. You don’t have to stay there to appreciate the beautiful area. You can get a day pass to hike the trails. I would want to visit the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt estates as well as the Culinary Institute of America.

Back to the bike ride

The towns on the east side of the river had character. I liked the views of the valley and mountains to the west. This bakery is in Red Hook.

I enjoyed the views between Hudson and Poughkeepsie. And the route remained fairly flat.  I got to the campground around 6 pm.  It took me some time to find my site. I quickly ran out of daylight and ate broccoli and cauliflower with dip in the dark.

It rained overnight. I stayed dry.

Day 4 (final day) – Heading south to NY City and then home

Up at 5:45 am, I left at 6:28 and biked 104 miles in 8 hours 47 minutes plus an additional hour for stops.  This brought the travel time to about 9 hours and 45 minutes. I was at Penn Station a little before 5 pm.

I suppose I should show some photos of the Empire State Trail System. The day was drizzly. The route often felt like I was biking along a rail corridor with little connection to towns. The entire trail south of Poughkeepsie was paved. 

This first photo is from about 35 miles into the ride, shortly after I crossed the Appalachian Trail.

Biking on a trail through the woods is quiet. It’s good for distraction free thinking.

The trail followed along roads and parkways sometimes as I headed further south. It didn’t feel very urban considering how close I was to New York City.

Coming into New York City, I ended up on Broadway for a bit.

Signage for the East Coast Greenway wasn’t apparent, and coming into NY was a little disorienting. Getting to the Hudson River Trail required some google mapping, and I made it there via Broadway and some neighborhood streets. I found myself among the relics of Robert Moses’ influence.

I passed under the George Washington Bridge on the Hudson River Trail.

At Penn Station

I got a falafel sandwich and a green smoothie and had a doughnut for dessert.  The Amtrak waiting area was pleasant amidst the rush of the station. And while I wanted to get home, I didn’t feel like rushing.

I chose to take Amtrak Keystone service because I knew it would have a bike rack. My last experience with bikes on NJ Transit wasn’t pleasant. You can get on a car with your bike, only to see that there’s no space, and it’s difficult to roll your bike to the next car.  People seem harried. I prefer the quiet atmosphere and predictability of the Amtrak train.

From Trenton to Yardley

I biked through the dark along the Delaware Canal to Yardley Station.  Yardley has high platforms to easily roll a bike onboard the mostly empty SEPTA Train.

My family was surprised that I’d be home that night. They went out and bought ice cream for a little birthday celebration.

A quick summary

Getting away for 9 days during the fall semester of my daughter’s last year in high school was a bad idea (too long away from family). And when I wasn’t feeling well in Buffalo, I took advantage of biking the Hudson River Valley, which I’m currently mapping for a guidebook. By truncating the trip, I was home to watch two field hockey games and be with my family during a very busy week.  My wife and prepped meals to make things less stressful at home.

While I shortened the trip, I still bike about 110 miles in one day and a total of over 310 mi. After the first day, the route was flat. I wasn’t working too hard, just spending time on the bike. I was more bummed about not finding places to fill my water bottles along the trail. And when I finally did eat lunch at Mahopac, about 60 miles into the day, it was greasy deli food.

Trails got narrower and washboard-like  as I neared New York. And once I got to NY, I was ready to be gone. I saw maybe 150 people on the trail all day, including when I was in NYC. It was cool and drizzly, keeping people away.

Thoughts on my bike setup

I rode an 1×11 speed gravel bike that felt a little wrong.  The new HED wheels I bought were dented from a pothole a couple of days before the ride, but they worked fine. But when I installed the rear cog on the new wheels, I had the spacers wrong. This gave me only 9 speeds to use and made the shifting weird.

Apparently I also had my seat at the wrong height or something. I experienced numbness in my toes.  This has kept me from biking since I’ve been home. I was almost ready to buy a new bike, but made some modifications to the seat location and have been trying to work out the numbness through swimming and walking. 

I almost didn’t use panniers and tested several seat & frame bag options. I finally did choose to use panniers to hold my gear instead of bikepacking bags. A rack + empty panniers weighs 7.5 pounds before you put anything into/on them.  But using panniers was easier because I did not have to crush my stuff tightly into bags and I could bring some extra warm clothing.

Stuff

My battery pack didn’t work well. I need a different one (or two), or maybe a hub charger. I used less than half of the clothes I took. The weather didn’t get cold.  I didn’t use my down jacket or most of my socks. If I was traveling on my own, I’d probably take a stove. But cooking takes time. A bag of raw vegetables from a grocery store works really well for food.

My tent went in front of my handlebars in an Ortleib dry bag. My phone slipped into the top bar bag, and this was convenient.  My tools went into a water bottle-like container on the underside of downtube. And everything else, including food, went into the panniers.

Next bike trip

Assuming I feel up to it, I’ll do a long weekend bike trip in late November. It’s too early to commit to a direction. I’d like to do a loop using the D&H and O&W in NE PA and NY. And I’d like to bike to DC. Or I could just bike someplace from home and not worry about where I’m headed. That’s most likely because the route doesn’t matter. Biking is about experiencing where ever I happen to go.