Hey guys,

I haven't had a chance to tour, even a little bit, for a couple years now; so I've been avoiding this forum since the incessant dreaming makes me unhappy!

But I've been wanting to get away for a week or so maybe later this summer.

I can ride right from home... which will get me into unfamiliar territory in a couple days, which I guess would be okay. But then I thought, it would be sooooo easy to take an Amtrak from NYC, put the bike in the box they sell me, and ride from... well, where?

So I called up Amtrak today and asked something like this:
I: where I can get to from NYC, with my bicycle as checked baggage?
Amtrak: Where do you want to go?
I: Anywhere I can go with a bike as checked baggage.
Amtrak: You have to tell me your desired destination.
I: Okay, how about Montreal?
Amtrak: No, you can't go to Montreal. That train doesn't have a baggage car.
I: Okay how about Boston?
Amtrak: No, you can't go to Boston. That train doesn't have a baggage car.
I: Montpelier?
Amtrak: No, that station does not have baggage facilities.
I: Burlington?
Amtrak: No, that station does not have baggage facilities.
I: Plattsburgh?
Amtrak: No. That train doesn't have a baggage car.
I: Montpelier?
Amtrak: No, that station does not have baggage facilities.
I: Okay, well, where can I go?
Amtrak: Where do you want to go?
I: Anywhere where I can go with a bicycle.
Amtrak: Amtrak has hundreds of destinations. I can't list them all for you.
I: I don't want you to list them all. I want you to suggest one where I can get off the train with a bicycle.
Amtrak: I can't help you with that.

In the end the agent and I agreed it would be best if I pick up the national schedule from the Amtrak information office at Penn Station on my way home. But by then (3:50 PM) the office was closed.

Anyway, I am frustrated. Advice?

Or, at least, a feel-good story that will reassure me that Amtrak and bicycle touring are not incompatible?