El Paso to Albany NY
I am riding the GDMBR this year after I finish I need to get to Albany, actually Bennington in Vermont, going up to see Vermont in the Fall. If I am feeling up to it and I have the time I would like to ride there.
What I am looking for is a relative flat route( I think I will be over hills after the GDMBR) that will still be interesting but get me there in reasonable time, I will want to keep off major roads as much as possible. I have plotted a couple of routes on RWGPS, one using parts of the ACA Route 66. I dont mind if ppl give suggestions for sections that shouldnt be missed, ie Rail Trails that I can link in to my route. Thank you |
The Katy Trail and OTET are two longer trails on your route to consider.
I don't know what time of year you expect to finish the GDMBR but if it were me, the other factor I would take into account is potential heat/humidity. The dew point map below is for July. Generally, about 65F I is listed as "muggy" and temperatures I start to find uncomfortable. So( the other item (somewhat at odds with the first) is I might consider swinging further north first. For example, roughly following the Rio Grande River north at least through Albuquerque and coming via eastern Colorado to connect into the Platte River valley and then across... However, I would be trading off some nice Katy Trail riding for slightly better odds of cooler temperatures. In either case, I would come across the Erie Canal drainage towards the end. Hopefully earlier parts of Route 66 are better but I mostly followed Adventure Cycling Route 66 between Springfield and Chicago ad found it not as pleasant as many other Adventure Cycling routes - with a fair amount of frontage road riding. The final parts of getting into Chicago are probably nicer though I actually followed mostly quieter/off-road parts from Joliet into Chicago and then a fair amount of trails across northern Indiana. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d881f7f13c.png |
Katy towards Illinois/Indiana, then farm roads to Cincinnati, then the Ohio Erie trail up to Cleveland, Along Lake Erie to Buffalo and the Erie Canal Trail, then across to Albany and over to Bennington. A good chunk of this is off road trails. This route also avoids central Pennsylvania, which is very hilly. The Erie Canal trail is pretty flat, has some road sections with rolling hills, is then in the Mohawk River valley to Albany.
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Thank you for your suggestions, I will look into those option. I do enjoy planning out a route. It would be nice to see some of the middle of the US, I have hiked the AT, PCT and the Montana section of the CDT, so I have seen some of the East and West coasts.
I dont fly into Edmonton until the 26 Jun so I definitely wont be finishing in July Mev. Roger |
Also someone has sent me a Private Msg, as I havent had 10 posts I can not access it.
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Oh Boy! That sound like a great touring idea! Here is my suggested routing plan...
Good luck with it! |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23172494)
I dont fly into Edmonton until the 26 Jun so I definitely wont be finishing in July Mev.
Roger |
Thanks for that Lambkin. I will look into those options.
I would think that it will be well after Labor Day Indyfabz, so it will be something to keep in mind and there might be a few extra motels in Sep. |
Just an FYI, if you run low on time, Amtrak would run from Toledo OH, or Cleveland OH, or Buffalo NY to Albany NY.
I do not know if there are other routes or if this is the only route. I plan to ride on this train in Jun and again in July, so I was researching this. https://www.amtrak.com/routes/lake-s...ted-train.html You would need to get on at a baggage station, some stations are not baggage stations. And either box your bike or make a reservation for your bike to be carried in a bike rack in baggage car. |
Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
(Post 23175983)
I do not know if there are other routes or if this is the only route. I plan to ride on this train in Jun and again in July, so I was researching this.
https://www.amtrak.com/routes/lake-s...ted-train.html You would need to get on at a baggage station, some stations are not baggage stations. And either box your bike or make a reservation for your bike to be carried in a bike rack in baggage car. |
Thanks for the info on Amtrak. Amtrak is plan B if after the GDMBR I dont feel like riding another 4000plus ks.
Or if I get tired after some of the ride the option is always there. I like traveling by train so much nicer than plane, if I could travel by train from Tasmania to Canada I wouldn't be sitting in a narrow aluminium tube a few thousand metres in the air. |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23176111)
Thanks for the info on Amtrak. Amtrak is plan B if after the GDMBR I dont feel like riding another 4000plus ks.
Or if I get tired after some of the ride the option is always there. I like traveling by train so much nicer than plane, if I could travel by train from Tasmania to Canada I wouldn't be sitting in a narrow aluminium tube a few thousand metres in the air. More recently, some trains have added bike racks in the baggage car, such as the Lakeshore Limited route that I cited above, that you need to reserve in advance. And apparently some trains, you carry your bike onto the train and put it in a bike rack in a passenger car. This option, you do not need to be at a baggage stop if my understanding is correct on this. I have not used that option since 2010, so procedures may have changed. And some stations may be a bit different. So, any route you pick, look first to see how the bike part of your trip works, as that may prevent you from using some stations. Folding bikes are different because they can be a piece of carry on luggage, but given what you plan to do, I doubt if you are using one of those. |
Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
(Post 23176671)
More recently, some trains have added bike racks in the baggage car, such as the Lakeshore Limited route that I cited above, that you need to reserve in advance.
Prior to Chicago, any of the three trains you would likely take: - California Zephyr including Omaha - Southwest Chief including Albuquerque and Kansas City - Texas including El Paso, St Louis all have the same scheme for bicycles: trainside-baggage and checked baggage. The trainside checked baggage option is similar to what is described above, you reserve it when you make your reservation, the bike goes in the baggage car and you can only board bikes at designated baggage stations. This and the connecting service in Chicago would be similar - you reserve/pay when you make your tickets and can book a bike all the way through. You need to pick up the bike in Chicago to bring it from one train to the other. The checked baggage option is where your bike goes into a box. You can get the box and pay for it at the Amtrak station and useful to make sure a box will be available. |
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Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23172494)
It would be nice to see some of the middle of the US...
Just for fun: Amtrak El Paso to San Antonio A perhaps more interesting for you Texas Hill Country/Quachita Mountains route to connect to the ACA TransAm. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45168732 https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34587746 From there it's pretty much your choice of five or more ACA routes east. |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23175856)
GDMBR...I would think that it will be well after Labor Day...another 4000plus ks...to see Vermont in the Fall
"The foliage season in Northern Vermont runs from early September to mid-October. The peak usually falls on the last two weeks of September when visitors can see the whole palette of colors: green, yellow, red, and orange." I'm either not following you (quite possibly!), or you need to research airline flights between El Paso and Burlington. |
Originally Posted by tcs
(Post 23177829)
Uh...
"The foliage season in Northern Vermont runs from early September to mid-October. The peak usually falls on the last two weeks of September when visitors can see the whole palette of colors: green, yellow, red, and orange." I'm either not following you (quite possibly!), or you need to research airline flights between El Paso and Burlington. That aside, I agree that making it there in time could be tight. Plus, you have competition for accommodations from “leaf peepers.” My school was in a historic village. For a short period every fall we would have lots of fall foliage tour buses stop in town. |
Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 23177873)
That aside, I agree that making it there in time could be tight.
Shrug. It's Norts' call. |
Originally Posted by tcs
(Post 23177924)
Google suggests 2650 miles on a fairly direct route to southern Vermont. "Well after Labor Day" start date in El Paso, Texas to catch some of "Vermont in fall". Maybe five weeks? 76 miles (122 km) a day, seven days a week, no rest or weather days.
Shrug. It's Norts' call. |
Not sure how it came about that I would be not starting from El Paso until after Labor day, I meant that I wouldnt be getting to Vermont until after Labor Day.
I start the GDMBR on the 26 Jun hopefully I will be in ElPaso by approx 25 Aug at the latest. Also this is also all hypothetical at the moment. If I get to El Paso and had enough or weather not favourable I'll just hop on Amtrak and got to Albany where I will be able to be picked up by the people who I am staying with in Vermont. My main goal is to ride the GDMBR and secondary is maybe to ride to Vermont. I wanted to have a rough route sorted before I get to El Paso, I think I have a route planned, Thank you for all your input. I have used some of the information to plan my route and of ccourse it isnt set in stone and I will remain flexible. |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23178221)
Not sure how it came about that I would be not starting from El Paso until after Labor day, I meant that I wouldnt be getting to Vermont until after Labor Day.
I start the GDMBR on the 26 Jun hopefully I will be in ElPaso by approx 25 Aug at the latest. Also this is also all hypothetical at the moment. If I get to El Paso and had enough or weather not favourable I'll just hop on Amtrak and got to Albany where I will be able to be picked up by the people who I am staying with in Vermont. My main goal is to ride the GDMBR and secondary is maybe to ride to Vermont. I wanted to have a rough route sorted before I get to El Paso, I think I have a route planned, Thank you for all your input. I have used some of the information to plan my route and of ccourse it isnt set in stone and I will remain flexible. |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23178221)
I start the GDMBR on the 26 Jun hopefully I will be in ElPaso by approx 25 Apart of ug at the latest.
Also this is also all hypothetical at the moment. If I get to El Paso and had enough or weather not favourable https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/1...edy-and-Deming |
Seriously, I would consider flying out of El Paso, going to either Toronto or Buffalo, and putting more miles from there to Vermont.
But if you have it in you, Nuts. I don't know how to upload GPX files. |
1 Attachment(s)
This thread seems to have come to a natural ending but I do want to share the routes that I've generated using Brouter.
Using app parameters that I came up with for finding the flattest, but not necessarily completely flat, route to my brother's house, I wanted too see what might be coughed up for a cross-country trip such as what the OP is contemplating. I made only a very few manual tweaks: staying on the Katy Trail and riding the entire Ohio-to-Erie Trail. Otherwise, the primary consideration would be that this route should be as flat as possible and the secondary one being to find the shortest route. For the original route I generated, using any part of either the Katy Trail or the OTET at all was purely accidental. Brouter allows you to choose whether or not you're willing to use ferries and this made for a dramatic difference between the two alternate choices. Hooray. I couldn't upload the individual GPX files previously but I can upload these while packaged together in a single zip file. Anyway, I used the end of the Great Divide Mountain Route in New Mexico as the starting point and Bennington, Vermont as the destination. |
estasnyc,
In the Cincinnati area, the auto-generated routings aren't too bad. There's some supposed gravel roads that I'm not sure are public accessible, though. And the portion from the Indiana-Ohio state line to downtown Cincinnati has better alternatives. Riding on the north shore of the Ohio, it's hard to avoid highways at times, unless you do a lot of hill climbing. The original route: Milan Indiana to Milford Ohio-original My edit: Milan to Milford-preferred I picked a very nice alternative out of Milan, with a long, shallow downhill into a quiet valley. This includes some miles riding on US-50, near mile 30 of the route. You'll want to avoid rush hour times -- other than rush hour, the cars and trucks can pass you pretty easily since it's 4-lanes. Green path--I haven't ridden these roads, but they do have good heatmap activity. Purple path--the busy US-50 section. Once you reach mile 44, it's all great riding to the start of the Little Miami Trail, part of the OTET. The off-road paved trail starts at mile 53. |
Thank you again for all your input.
I've got a lot to play with over the next couple of months. I do enjoy planning out routes, just wish Google Maps could be relied on when it comes to minor roads, so many times I have ended up on farmers properties here in Australia. |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23181948)
I've got a lot to play with over the next couple of months. I do enjoy planning out routes, just wish Google Maps could be relied on when it comes to minor roads, so many times I have ended up on farmers properties here in Australia.
I cycled ~19000 km around Australia in 2001 - https://mvermeulen.org/oneyear/australia.htm before Google Maps was launched and so mostly use combination of local maps and most of my time was spent in sparsely populated regions and on sealed roads. The lower 48 US states have 10x the population in the same area as Australia but there will still be some sparsely populated regions along the way. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ff91b1f9d5.jpg |
Originally Posted by Norts
(Post 23181948)
Thank you again for all your input.
I've got a lot to play with over the next couple of months. I do enjoy planning out routes, just wish Google Maps could be relied on when it comes to minor roads, so many times I have ended up on farmers properties here in Australia. And sometimes if you see a lot of vehicles in that air photo, that is a busy road. A few weeks ago I was mapping out a route between a couple bike trails where I will need to go by road for several days. Did that by Google Maps, mostly with satellite view. I tried to find roads with almost no cars visible in the air photo maps, and if there were some cars, I looked for shoulder width. Google maps has errors for sure. My condo association property is posted as No Trespassing because we are near a large school and have had a lot of vandalism on our property, small scale theft problems, excessive litter, etc. Google Maps has plotted two bike paths through our property, disregarding the no trespassing signs. That however does not help if there is road construction because of the age of the air photo or if a bridge is closed. A closed bridge on an air photo might look open. And of course, when you plotted the route you may not know that there would be a closure in the next few months. On the route I was plotting a few weeks ago, I also used satellite view to see air photos to double check some of the campgrounds I saw on Open Steet Maps. Some of those marked RV parks on the Open Street Maps, when I located those on Google maps I found they did not exist, or maybe existed and had a website, one was listed as permanently closed, some had tent sites, but some were mobile home parks with permanent residences only. And many were day camps for kids, not campgrounds at all. |
One thought came to mind. If you are going from South USA, heading Northeast, Natchez Trace might be a nice piece of your route. It is a 440 mile highway that is operated by the National Park Service in USA. No commercial traffic allowed. Virtually no shoulder, but bicycles are allowed to ride in the traffic lane.
I did a bike tour on most of the Trace a year ago. I put a brief summary here: https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...p-summary.html That said, the downside of that route is that once you get to Nashville and that route ends, you are in hilly terrain and may have difficulty finding a good route north and east of there. There is no Amtrak route from Nashville. The map in my write up is the route we actually took, we did not do the first 100 miles of it, which starts at a community on the Mississippi River. |
Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
(Post 23182432)
That said, the downside of that route is that once you get to Nashville and that route ends, you are in hilly terrain and may have difficulty finding a good route north and east of there.
Might enjoy playing with: https://cycle.travel/ |
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