fixedmonkey

This will be my first real independent tour and i am having a little trouble planning the route so i was wondering if anyone out there might lend my some experienced advice. I am a bit turned off by doing a tour that is printed by a publishing company, but am open to insight by people who have used these methods.

thnx

jnoble123

Check out Brian Hedley's website.

https://www.hedney.com/

He has a number of interesting routes on his site.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

Cyclist0094

two ways to go to montreal. one is the official NYS bike route 9 which I know really well between Hudson and Plattsburgh. But My favorite way to go and I have done this route is to ride up through Westchester on the Harlem valley railtrail which hooks you up with NY route 22, Route 22 is IMO one of the most beautiful roads in NYS. it mostly follows valleys except for Northern Columbia County and Northern Washingtion County where you will encounter a few hills. Much of the route has a 4' shoulder and traffic is not bad .

North of Salem NY Rt 22 gets pretty busy with trucks and the shoulder narrows. When I get to Salem NY I like to get on NY Rt 315 over to Rupert VT then north on VT 153 through West Pawlett to VT 30 then north on 30 through Wells and past St Catherine State park ( you can camp there) to Poultney VT. from Poultney pick up the rail trail to Castleton VT( I rode this section last Saturday) When the trail ends at Castleton State college find South St and go north, After it crosses US Rt 4a it will become North st and then North road .

Continue on north road till the road ends on VT rt 30 continue on VT Rt 30 north to West Cornwall then north on a local road to VT rt 125. Go west on 125 through Bridgeport VT and across 22a. Rt 125 will join Lake St near Chimney point. you would head north from there on Lake rd through West Addison ( good country store and deli) continuing on Lake road to Panton VT along the way is a DAR campground on your left (very nice sites for tents and a trail to the beach) From Panton VT you will take Panton Rd east towards Vergennes. From Vergennes you will ride up VT rt 22a till it joins RT 7 and then rt 7 north through Ferrisburg. After you pass through Ferrisburg you will see Greenbush road on your left take that road . Stay on Greenbush rd till it makes a "Y" with Beach road . Bear right onto Bostwick rd and that takes you across Rt 7 again and into Shelbourne falls, go through Shelbourne falls on Irish Hill Rd to Spear st, left (north) on spear st till you end up in downtown Burlington VT at Main st and University of Vermont. If you are camping there is a public campground just north of town on the bike path.

This is a pretty common route through Vermont for cyclists the idea is avoid RT 22a especially since it has high speed traffic and lots of trucks( 50-55 mph) with little or no shoulder on much on the route. Rt 7 has a good shoulder but as you approach Burlington it gets very congested , Greenbush rd and Spear st are the most used routes by the local cyclists. There is also the "Lake Champlain Bikeways" route ( google to find thier website) which goes through Whitehall NY, but I don't like that route it goes through the scuzziest part of Vermont over some bad roads.( mostly between Benson and Hough's crossing)

From Burlington to Montreal I have done that route as far north as St Jean sur Richelieu, which is about 25 miles short of Montreal. From Burlington I took US Rt 2 west ( 4-6' shoulder) through Alburg to it's intersection with VT route 225 north, this will take you across the Canadian Border. After crossing the Border you will be on Quebec route 225 the road will not be as good and there is maybe 10" of shoulder at best but there is also very little traffic and it's flat, Rt 225 will join Rt 133 north at Sabrevois. 133 is a little busier but I never had any hassles with Canadian drivers. Continuing north on Quebec rt 133 you will come into Iberville. A map would help at this point but look for a road called Rue Kelly which will be on your left after crossing a 100' bridge over a creek Go down Rue Kelly a few blocks to Rue Bellerive (sp) turn right(north) on Rue Bellerive and ride through Iberville ( this gets you away from the worst of the traffic). Rue Bellerive will join the Route Verte' Bike path . The path will take you across the river/canal into St Jean sur Richelieu. after you cross the bridge the path splits left and right. I don't recall if there is a sign telling you so but the path to the right takes you to Montreal (about 25 miles) I have not ridden that path.

Jay H

I've done LC bikeways route on both sides of LC, since I went north from Whitehall to Quebec and then south through Vermont. Surely the NY side needs a little caution to to a lot of logging trucks up by plattsburgh. Do a seach here as this question about riding north around the Hudson valley has been asked before.

As far as vermont goes, I've found that vermont is a bit easier navigationwise with a little planning, I didn't find as much places to avoid than in NY and that looking at a county map or so would be sufficient enough to plot a route without resorting to anybody's published map. The VT DOT should also be able to provide you with a cycling feasibility map listing traffic densities and/or shoulder width. Those are very helpful in doing your own planning.

Of course LC allows you to cross the lake in three places, you could work that way up to say the town of Essex, NY and then take the ferry over if you feel like the change of scenery.

I've done the HVRT from Millerton to Amenia and I second velonomad's rec. it's a really nice paved trail. Nice views of the Berkshires and the Taconics as well as the east hudson parks. And on Rt 22 to Hillsdale is a nice ride. If you want a short detour, go visit Bash Bish falls in MA (right on the border, NOT a long detour at all).

Jay

Cyclist0094

As Jay said there is a bunch of info in archives about riding through the hudson valley, NY Bike route 9 from Hudson is pretty good, Route 9J to Rennaslaer is a nice ride. through albany and troy ignore the map and take the bikepath between Albany and Watervliet . Take surface streets through Green Island and Cohoes and peebles Island State Park to Waterford where you can rejoin Bike route 9. It is a good is a good ride from Waterford to Fort ann (about 50 miles) You do have some local traffic to deal with in the towns of Mechanicville Schuylerville and Fort Edward/Hudon Falls. Road shoulder is anywhere from 2-6 feet in width. The 10 miles From Fort Ann to Whitehall can be a bit of a hassle especially on Holiday weekends as it is the main route from NY to Central Vermont. You have a wide shoulder but people are often driving like A-holes through this section and there is frequent accidents, just watch your back, be visible and it will be cool. From Whitehall to Fort ticonderoga on Rt 22 is awesome! Excellent road with wide shoulder, great scenery and some Big F'ing hills!
I rode this stretch coming back from Quebec last summer on a loaded touring bike instead of on my road bike as usual. It was also pouring rain that day, That was a helluva ride! In Ticonderoga you will join NY route 9 to Crown Point, another yucky section with heavy traffic and very little shoulder in many places. Beyond Crownpoint to Plattsburg there are areas where you will encounter some logging trucks but for the most part it is a pleasant ride. As Jay said there is opportunities at 3 places to bail out and take the ferry to flatter lands and queiter roads in Vermont.
From Plattsburgh North to the Border there isn't that much traffic on NY route 9 and there is a good shoulder most of the way. once in Canada you will follow route 223 which I am told is not a great road it will take you to St Jean sur Richelieu. where you can meet up with the Route Verte" bike path.

BTW The border crossing at Rouses point into Canada takes a few minutes usually,but the return trip into the US can take up over an hour on a busy day. Make sure you have government photo ID and a current passport or a certified(or original) copy of your Birth certificate to re enter the US. Most of the time all they ask for is photo ID to re enter. but some times the US agents can and will hassle you and if you don't have a birth certificate or passport on you, you could be in for several hours of aggravation.

get your free NYSDOT bike route 9 map! woo hoo! https://dotweb1.dot.state.ny.us/br9/index.shtml

This dude has a good website with bike routes for the mid and lower Hudson Valley https://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/index.html