CrankyMigs

Hi. I'm brand new to this forums. On April 30th I'll be taking off for a trip to Montreal, from New York, my first long, solo trip. Any advice would be welcome (best routes, lodging, what to bring, etc...) Thanks, in advance.
Cheers

brooklyn_bike

i'll be watching this thread too - i'll be doing this same trek sometime this spring / summer. also curious about best option for return transportation. i've heard the Amtrack Adirondack might allow bicycles and goes from montreal to NYC.

thinking about taking Hwy 9N all the way but heard the other side of lake champlain through vermont is a nice ride.

CrankyMigs

Hi, brooklyn_bike! I'm also thinking 9N. For the return, I'll simply rent a car, with a rack. Straight to Williamsburgh!
Cheers

john426

I rode from Montreal to Quebec City and it was a great ride. Canadians are so friendly and the car drivers are courtious. Try to take one of the Route Verte (Green Route) trails. If you get the guidebook it will list accomodations, bike shops and points of interest. It makes going as a solo rider much easier.

The Adirnodac train does not accept any checked luggage. What I did was to take the train to Montreal and then buy a used bike there. At the end of my trip I sold it for $ 15 less than I paid for it! John

kaos joe

Check www.roberts-1.com for lots of route options in the Hudson Valley. Also www.champlainbikeways.org for info in that area.

I rode up the Vt. side of Lake Champlain from Whitehall NY as far as Burlington and back a few years ago. I hugged the lake shore using the champlain bikeways route, with a few minor deviation to keep me close to the lake. I camped in Button Bay St. Park near Vergennes VT, which was the most immaculate state park I have ever seen. It was a delightful ride although I expected it to be flatter than it was. There were some dirt roads which I like. No killer hills though. If you camp at Button Bay be ready for mosquitos, but it is a beautiful setting. One of these days I'll repeat the ride & go further north.

Enjoy your trip.

CrankyMigs

Just trying to keep the thread alive. Really need some tips
Thanks

berner

Cranky, spring or early summer riding is likely to be plagued by clouds of stinging, biting insects. Bring bug spray or mosquito coils so that you will have relative peace during rest stops. Ticks are now active year round so be careful near brushy areas.

rogerstg

We toured the area last year starting June 10, after historic flooding, and several days it rained. The bugs were not bad at all. Just normal summer levels prevelant at dusk. Mainly mosqitos and noseeums.

CrankyMigs

I think I'll avoid most of the bugs, since I'm not camping (crappy motels for me). But I still have to map out motels along the route (mostly 9N) and figure out what to bring.
Thank for all the responses!
Cheers

djb

My wife and I did a supported week long trip which went from lake George (about 1/2 way between Nyc and Mtl) back to near Montreal. Youll see, its fairly hilly but really pretty and a really nice area to bike through.

Btw, your nickname makes me think of ill-humoured Mig 17 pilots.

pasopia

I did this ride 4 or 5 years ago, but unfortunately I don't remember my exact route. In general, stay off of the main route 9. It can get confusing because there is 9w, 9D, etc, but in general, the main route 9 is all ugly strip malls and busy traffic.

Are you familiar with the bike route to Nyack? You cross over the GW bridge and ride up the west side of the hudson. The bike route is fairly well marked at least until Nyack. After that, I like to ride up to Bear Mountain state park and cross over the Bear mountain bridge. From there 9d is a nice ride up to Beacon. I can't remember what I did past that.

I took a ferry over to Burlington, which is a nice place to stop for a night, or a rest day. From Burlington you can ride up to South Hero and North Hero islands. I really enjoyed that part of the trip.

djb

I second the Champlain islands suggestions. The very first bike trip I did was from Montreal down to lake Champlain and into vermont, was probably 1990, but have nice memories of it. Last summer revisited those islands for a biking weekend with friends and our teenage kids (they had a great time) .
Do keep in mind to find out if the old rail causeway / bike path that goes over to the islands is still closed due to the flooding last year. If it is open, there is a part of the causeway that used to have a swivel bridge, which is no longer operating, so a boat service takes.you across (have to pay) but can't recall when it begins, probably a summer thing.

Senor pasopia, its been a long time..hope you are well.

chiroptile

Funny.. Sitting in Montreal right now.. Driving back to the Bronx tomorrow.. Thinking of retracing the route my buddy and I took two summers ago.. Montreal-NYC.. I will share some of the details of our trip with you, and you may backtrack if you wish on your ride Up north.. Google Maps could help.. Our route in Reverse would have been.. Riverdale, BRONX -- Pawling, NY -- Williamstown, MA -- Manchester, VT -- Vergennes, VT -- North Hero Island, VT -- Montreal, QC..

This was our route.. https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.883026&z=10

We did go off it at one point in Massachussetts on advice from a friendly road cyclist we met along the way.. He suggested that once we reach Pittsfield, MA, we head west and get on Route 41. It turned out to be a long country road. Beautiful, Very little Traffic.. Followed it to connecticut, and then all the way across the NY border and made for Dover Plains, NY, where we got on the 22. We did about 15 to 20 miles down the 22 towards the town of Pawling, NY. When we reached Pawling, the 22 turned into a highway that was off limits to cyclists. From Williamstown, MA to the Bronx, it took us two days.. W-town to Pawling was about 110 miles, and another 65 from the Pawling to the Bronx. We used Google maps to navigate that last leg, so there was a good deal of back street and residential neighborhood riding the closer we came to NYC..

We went through Vermont, entered the state/country through the Lake Champlain islands, and did a straight shot down Route 7 all the way to Pittsfield, MA.. Very ample shoulders.. There is a section of route 7 in southwest VT where bicycles are not allowed, but 7A runs parallel and is a pleasant, though rather hilly ride.. Over all it's a great ride, very cyclo-friendly, and takes you straight through Burlington.. I should point out two destinations, should you choose to ride through Vermont.. Just north of Bennington, VT, on Route 7A there is a small Mennonite country store. If any of you guys are fans of fresh-baked pies.. Do not pass this place up.. Another little Gem is Wood Fired Pizza Co. in Manchester, VT.. Margarita with Pepperoni is the way to go, unless you are a vegetarian of course.

There isn't much that I can tell you about the portion of the route in Canada, other that to say than we took country roads with almost no traffic. The distance from the border crossing to the center of the city was about 60 miles. If you were to backtrack along our route, At some point you would hit something of a service road. This goes on for a couple of miles, then a little residential area with houses.. Then a Bridge over the river.. And then you're in Montreal.. Hope it helps.

Whichever way you decide to run this thing, Have a great, safe ride, and enjoy yourself.

indyfabz

That's a great description of Button Bay. I did AC's Green Mountains Loop trip a few years ago. It was like camping on a well cared for golf course.

+1 on going up the VT side of the lake, although you might not find a whole lot of "crappy" motels. There is a border crossing just north of Richford, VT. The riding on the other side of the border there is supposed to be gorgeous.

If you are not camping or cooking, you don't need much. I'd stick with one set of off-bike clothes (pants with zip off legs are great) and some light shoes or sandals. Some chillier and wet weather wear might also be in order. Keep it simple. It's not a beauty contest. No one will know you are wearing the same clothes as the day before. Don't forget your passport. You will need it to get back into the U.S.

CrankyMigs

Thank you for all the responses! I only have a feel for the trip, so I cannot deviate much form the straight path. Using Google Maps's bike route as a reference, I'm planning to cross de GWB, take the bike path to Fort Montgomery, cross back to he east side of the Hudson and use smaller roads parallel to route 9. Any better ideas are welcome.
Cheers

AdamDZ

I rode 9N from Poughkeepsie (took the train up there) to Adirondacks, never again. Boring. Traffic. Going through Albany was ugly. Flat though and easy. The whole thing about state bike route is a joke. Next time I'll take Metro North to Wassaic and ride up from there. But this way is more hilly, but prettier and less traffic.

chiroptile

Hey, cranky.. Word of caution regarding using google maps for navigation. Last year I rode NYC - Athens, Ga.. Used google for the directions. They were good for the most part, but there were times when we would end up on a road that was clearly marked against bicycle traffic.. Google Maps put us onto route 1 leaving DC and heading into Virginia.. One of the scariest rides i have ever done.. Other times we would be led out onto gravel roads that would eventually come to a grassy dead end in the middle of a field somewhere.. A road in South Carolina was blocked off by woods and a train track. There was an electrical storm fast approaching and we had to backtrack about six miles to get onto a bicycle-restricted state route. Made it to shelter as it was starting to rain. Google showed a cleared path.. It was on point most of the time, but it still has bugs to work out. From my personal experience with the tour you are undertaking, ride up broadway to get to Tarryttown.. G-maps it to Pawling, NY.. Then head up into Pittsfield, Ma.. Take route 7 into Vermont. Continue up it til you Connect with route 2 just north of Burlington.. Take the islands through Alburg, VT into Canada. Then G-maps through to Montreal.. Lake Champlain is breathtaking..

Jim Kukula

Always worth searching around Crazy Guy to see what others have done, e.g.:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=6695&v=Hm

Good to look too at:

https://www.ptny.org/hudsontour/index.shtml

which might help you get to Albany.

If you wanted to pass west of Albany, you could try going through Phoenicia in the Catskill, go north on 214. You could go through Stone Ridge and take 213 up to the Ashokan and then 28A along the southern edge of the Ashokan and get to Phoenica that way. This is the area where I live so these roads I know.

That's a big trip you're planning! Have fun!

CrankyMigs

Thanks. What do you think would be a reasonable mileage per day? I have about 9 days (wanna stay a couple of nights in Montreal).
Cheers

Jim Kukula

How much do you ride now? Surely you won't be doing too much more than that! How much will you be carrying? If you are staying in motels so you don't need tent etc. then that will help in keeping up mileage. Another factor is the hills. You could plot some routes using https://www.mapmyride.com or a similar site, to get a look at accumulated elevation gain. Plus you want to be sure you have gears low enough, which depends on your route and how strong you are.

roughly 400 miles over 9 days, call it 50 miles per day. If you are lightly loaded, that should be very doable.

djb

cranky the crane (yes, Thomas The Tank Engine) yup, do you ride often, have you ever ridden with stuff on your bike????
Have you ever ridden for more than 3, 4, 6 hours?

without knowing your riding experience, we cant give your recommendations, and anyway, even if we did, it might not be fine for you, only you can know that (but yes, 60-80k, or in Imperial, 40-50 miles per day, is a good start)

brooklyn_bike

just working backwards: you got 9 days. one to drive back home. two in montreal. leaves 6 for your tour = about 67 miles per day. hopefully no big detours, no major breakdowns and no crazy long rain storms...

rogerstg

FWIW, two nights at a location on a tour usually means just one day spent there.
That gives 7 days of riding ~57 mpd

djb

90-110km per day is quite a whack of distance, depending on all the various factors, including if you have ridden long days like that before you start the trip (with the added weight)

just a heads up to prepare beforehand.

Standalone 

67/day is tough in hills. Getting into and out of cities isn't the fastest thing, either...

I'd recommend a small tent and bag to open up your route options and provide for emergencies.

https://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___23888

I've bike toured Ireland with the solitaire, and gone on hitch-hiking voyages up to Canada, over to Idaho, on Martinique, and down the west coast of France with one.

That was like 15 years ago, though-- this one's a more modern design:
https://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___23889

Good luck!