bikiola

hey all

checkin in after a long hiatus :-)

wanted to see if anyone has done a route from albany to montreal. i live in nyc and was going to take the train to albany to shorten time, and bike from there to montreal. has anyone done it? what are some of the nice routes - should i take 9 all the way up, or should i cross into vermont? i was thinking of taking route 9 up to rouses point and then getting on the route verte to montreal... can it be done in 4-5 days by a pretty fit biker?

EDIT: I will probably go to schenctady because the amtrak doesnt allow me to check luggage to albany. so strange.

thanks for all the help and hope y'all are enjoying your weekends!
bikey

bullwinkle

Check out Lake Champlain Bikeways. I've never ridden their routes, but they look pretty interesting.

Trueblood

Yep, Amtrak is not that bike friendly, you could take metro north to Poughkeepsie and bike from there. You have to get a bike pass at Grand Central for 5 bucks, but otherwise you can take the loaded bike on the train.

masterlink

Your best bet for getting to Albany and home from Montreal is the bus, greyhound is fine with bikes as long as it's in a box, I've done it a few times without problem.

I did a bike tour to Toronto two summers ago from NYC, with Montreal being one of our destinations. I rode up 9w to Albany and from Albany we made our way to Burlington Vermont, Vermont was the most beautiful part of the ride in my opinion and also the most rural, but if you chose to stay in NY, I'm sure you won't be at a lost for beautiful scenery. From Burlington Vermont we rode to Montreal, riding into Montreal was probably the sketchiest part of the ride, but this was probably because of our on the fly routing more than anything else.

With ultralight credit card touring we made it to MTL in three days (I probably wouldn't do it this quick again), but fully loaded, 4-5 days from Albany sounds totally reasonable.

Montreal is an awesome city, have fun!

Our route, although not 100% exact.

Mazaev

Thanks for that route! I'm planning a similar trip right now and was thinking of coming back through VT for some variety. I noticed you took 9w up to Albany (I've only taken it as far as Newburgh). How is the riding there compared to Bike 9, which goes up the other side of the river?

BTW, bikiola, you can call up the number on this page (https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/ope...tes/index.html) and they will send you the NYS bike maps free of charge.

masterlink

No problem. I've never been on 9 north of Bear Mountain so I wouldn't know, although I'm curious too. South of Bear Mtn, 9 wasn't as bike friendly as 9w, but again I have no idea how 9 is north of bear mtn. We chose 9w because of our familiarity with it (at least up to bear mtn), and because it's more direct. From what I remember, 9w wasn't so bad, yeah you have your occasional strip malls but mostly rural areas where you have a decent shoulder, my favorite being when 9w goes near the Catskills which was beautiful, but was also the longest climb of the whole trip. NYC to Albany was probably the toughest leg of the trip as far as hills go, Vermont (at least the part that we went through) had a lot of rolling hills but no substantial climbs, and our route through Quebec didn't have much hills. In all it was a great trip, enjoy!

bikiola

masterlink - looks like a really interesting route. thanks for the comments. the time is the only thing i'm thinking about, and your thoughts about climbing are perfect - here's what i had planned before:

route via gmaps

Peaks

The New York side of Lake Champain has some steep climbs and descents. Better to cross over to the Vermont side.

Mazaev

BTW, sorry to hijack the thread, but has anyone ridden that climb on 9w around West Point recently? Does it still have that nasty gutter for a shoulder?

OneIsAllYouNeed

You might just want to sign up for the Adirondack Ultracycling Montreal Double Double trip. https://www.adkultracycling.com/montreal/index.htm
It's 200 miles on the first day from the Saratoga area to Montreal, then a rest day, then 200 miles return on day 3.

You should be able to find a decent route from Amtrak to Schuylerville, NY (where the trip starts).

danacf

A section of the Adventure Cyling Assoc. Adirondack Loop runs from just east of Schenectady to Port Henry on the southern end of Lake Champlain. The riding on the Vermont side of Champlain is excellent.

Morrison

North of Lake George, Rt. 9 is fine. It's not rural but wilderness. The nicest part about riding in Vt. is looking at the Adirondacks of NY.

Actually Rt 9 is very nice. It's wide, good shoulders and since Rt 87 was put in place has very little traffic.

Rt. 22 is also a great option the further north you go.

I think if you spent a little time in the North East section of NY you'd find it's a biking mecca. Wonderful roads, little traffic and beautiful landscapes. A great area to train or tour.

bmike

check my route for the champlain 200k / 300 - it runs from crown point to the canadian border/
https://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Cour...x?course=66351

also check the lake champlain bikeways:
https://www.champlainbikeways.org/

ny side is pretty flat once you get past port kent / plattsburgh.
vt side is flat to rolling in the champlain valley.
ferries back and forth to either side.
and the bike ferry on the causeway to the islands from burlington, running on weekends, saves riding on rt. 2 and keeps you on the bike path:
https://www.localmotion.org/programs/...-news-bluebird

bikiola

thanks bmike and morrison

does anyone have any good tips on stealth camping north of lake george (ticonderonda area) and up to burlington? what about on the VT side in the hero islands? are police pretty cool or aret here things to look out for?

bmike

you could camp in a nys park @ crown point. cheap, water, restrooms, just before crossing the ferry.
i think if you are within the ADKs there are areas where you can just get off the road and follow primitive / wilderness area ethics.
you can also camp right in burlington on the waterfront - campground, reasonable rates, right on the bike path.

the islands are pretty flat, and farm and vacation home filled. not sure you could pull it off, unless you managed to find a nice hollow or something.

that all said - its doable to ride from crown point or ticonderoga to btv in a day, and then from btv to montreal in a day (about 90 miles from here by car).

Morrison

For camping on the NY side, there are two state campsites, Ausable Point (beautiful) and Cumberland Head. The Cumberland Head gives you easy access to the ferry to VT. Both sites are within a days ride of the border.

Sounds like you'll have a great trip!

bikiola

wow gents and ladies, great suggestions. am planning the trip now. love these forums!

GetUpnGo

CAMPING: Stealth not required! The DEC allows primitive camping on most of its lands: "Back-country camping is allowed on Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks as well as State Forests (reforestation areas and multiple use areas). Generally, camping is prohibited on Unique Areas, Wildlife Management Areas, Historic and Nature Preserves, and Conservation Easements." Info at https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/41282.html

You should contact the local ranger for places to camp. I got great, friendly tips from rangers. Also, local people are aware of many primitive campsites you would never guess were there. Legal primitive camping is one of the joys of the Adirondacks.

One thing that I always found was a factor from the border to Montreal (i.e., Lake Champlain to St-Jean), was WIND. It's all farmland with open fields and no trees for windbreaks. Nice and flat, though.

Research the Montreal bridges carefully. https://www.quebecscience.qc.ca/fr/re...onts_traverses Some have sidewalks and/or allow bikes and some don't. My preference was always the Jacques Cartier bridge (bikes allowed on the WEST (downstream) side of the bridge) It brings you into a small neighborhood rather than straight downtown and is next to Old Montreal and its bike paths.

bikiola

just got back - and wanted to thank everyone. was a great ride, especially vermont, the people there are amazing! here's a picture after crossing the border at 6:45am :-)