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Sharon and I rode from Albany south to the GWB on a
Sunday in June. It was a good adventure for us and an interesting and
pretty route. Total distance about 164 miles. (to make our day shorter, we did not follow this
website's NYC to Albany
route for some sections)
see also:
our story for the day
overall route
details on each section
-- route, report, hills, alternate roads
see also
Sharon and I rode from Albany south to the GWB on a
cool and cloudy Sunday in June. It was misty and rainy for the first
three hours or so, but we had a bit of a tailwind, so overall it was a
good day to for us to choose. It was a good adventure for us and
an interesting and pretty route.
When we explored the different River
routes on this website, Sharon and I never imagined we could ride this
in a single day. Each weekend on our long ride, we just kept riding
farther than before, and then it struck us that we were ready for this
one.
The total distance of our route was about 165 miles
with 8800 vertical feet of climbing. To make our day shorter, we did not follow this
website's NYC to Albany
route for some sections, but we still were
able to ride lots of pretty roads -- with very few miles on major roads
from Rensselaer down to Newburgh.
For most of the ride, we focused on not going too hard
-- and drinking and eating frequently. Later we worried about the pains.
best
The next day Sharon said the parts she liked best was
southern Rensselaer county and Columbia county, the farms on quiet
roads, especially the bison up close with babies and the horses up close
with babies -- and bagel with cream cheese at our first food stop in
Kinderhook. She also like doing something new, in this case Lattintown
Rd. And the feeling of engagement with continuous active movement.
I also felt I had my best memories from southern
Rensselaer and Columbia county -- and the Storm King Mountain highway -- but there was plenty of interesting
variety through the entire route.
what could have stopped us
After the first half, my butt was getting sore from
being on the saddle too long, so I was giving attention to getting to
all or partly off the seat, or at least on it differently. I was a
little afraid the pain might get so bad that I'd have to stop, or
somehow finish the ride standing the whole way -- but that didn't
happen. Sharon said that sitting was often painful for her after the
Bear Mt Bridge.
About three-quarters of the way through I got a pain in
my upper front right knee near the top of a long steep hill climb. It
recurred a few times later. Fortunately it didn't get any worse,
and the next day it felt fine.
what got us through
-
lessons learned from our 138-mile ride on Sunday
the week before
-
endurance from a progression of long rides, each
weekend farther than before
-
waiting for a day with favorable weather (not too
hot and not too wet) and wind (some tailwind for much of the day).
-
being careful to go easy up any hill more than
short and gentle, choosing a gear lower than what we thought we
could use on a shorter ride.
The total distance of our route was about 165 miles (including crossing the Albany and Manhattan bridges, but not including
any riding in the two endpoint cities). The total climbing south-bound
is around 8800 vertical feet (the tougher climbs are described below).
Although we did not follow this
website's NYC to Albany
route for some sections (to make our day shorter), we still were
able to ride lots of pretty roads -- with very few miles on major roads
from Rensselaer down to Newburgh.
We went on the east side of the river from Rensselaer
down to Poughkeepsie, and then on the west side for the rest of the way
down to the George Washington Bridge.
Some the cities and villages and sites we visited along
the way were:
-
Empire State Plaza in Albany + bridge over Hudson
River into
-
Rensselaer city + south to big bison farm
-
Kinderhook village + Hudson city
-
our favorite farms + barns of Columbia county
-
Rhinebeck + Red Hook villages in northern Dutchess
-
Poughkeepsie + Mid-Hudson Bridge + apple orchards
-
Newburgh river view streets
-
Storm King Mountain highway
-
West Point USMA Army academy gates
-
Bear Mountain state park alongside Hessian Lake
-
Stony Point beach + Haverstraw
-
Nyack + the river view road to Piermont
-
Englewood Cliffs (NJ) + Fort Lee + George
Washington Bridge
The counties we passed through along the way were:
-
Rensselaer county, NY
-
Columbia county
-
Dutchess county
-
Ulster county
-
Orange county
-
Rockland county, NY
-
Bergen county, NJ
In the south-bound direction, the total climbing is
around 8800 vertical feet.
-
steepest climbing section was over 10% on Hayes Rd
east-bound up from Rt 9J (between Rensselaer and Kinderhook) --
about 140 vertical feet at a grade over 10%
-
longest climb was about 550 vertical feet on Rt 218
starting along the Hudson River south of Storm King Mountain, climbing
southwest past the northern gates of West Point USMA Army academy up to
the intersection with Rts 293 + 9W, with like half at a steepness grade
of around 7%
-
another memorable one was Rt 9W just south from Rockland
Lake, includes about 250 vertical ft at a steepness grade around 7% or
more -- with lots of high-speed vehicles whose drivers were hoping we'd
confine all our climbing struggles to the shoulder of the road.
We planned our route to avoid lots of high-traffic major roads. Except
for the southern third, we were able to keep the distance on major roads
below 15%. Even for the total route, the major roads were less than
30%.
Here's the distances on major road segments in each county:
- Rensselaer county: 2.0 miles on Rt 9J out of 18 miles
riding
- Columbia county: 7.4 miles on Rt 9 out of 36 miles riding
- Dutchess county: 2.7 miles on Rts 9 + 9G out of 35 miles
riding
- Ulster county: 1.0 mile on Rt 9W out of 12 miles riding
- Orange county north of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge: 0.7
mile on Rt 9W out of 5 miles of riding
Total from Rensselaer south to Newburgh-Beacon bridge:
14 miles on major "9" roads -- 13% out of 106 miles of riding.
South of the Newburgh-Beacon bridge there's lots of
miles major roads: 30 miles on Rt 9W out of 57 miles of riding
could easily have avoided 1 mile on Rt 9W near
Highland Falls NY, by taking Old State Road.
Total from Rensselaer to GWB is about 44 miles on major
"9" roads -- 27% out of 163 miles of riding.
The straight-line distance on a map from Albany to the GWB
of New York City is about 124-125 miles.
A "simple" route on major roads could perhaps be:
- from Albany, take north sidewalk of Dunn Memorial Bridge into
Rensselaer
- Rt 9 South from Rensselaer, soon turn Right onto
- Rt 9J South to its end
- Rt 9 South to near Poughkeepsie
- some local streets thru Poughkeepsie to the Mid-Hudson Bridge
- cross Mid-Hudson Bridge to Rt 9W
- Rt 9W South thru Newburgh
- Rt 218 South thru Cornwall-on-Hudson to its junction with Rt 293 +
9W
- Rt 9W South into Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
- Left on Palisades Avenue going east
- Right on Hudson Terrace / Bergen County Rt 505 South
- Left onto the south sidewalk of the George Washington Bridge into
Manhattan
The total distance of the route is about 145 miles, and the
total climbing south-bound is about 8400 vertical feet (an average of 58
vertical feet per mile).
This website's
NYC to Albany route is about 185 miles.
Comparing
Our single-day route in June 2006 was about 164 miles with
8800 vertical feet of climbing (for an average of 54 vertical feet per
mile).
-
"simple" route: Compared with the "simple" route,
our single-day route had less than 30% of the major roads (44 versus 140
miles), yet it was only 13% longer with only 5% more climbing.
-
this website's
NYC to Albany route:
Our route is 21 miles shorter and also less climbing, but has very
little more distance on major roads.
Since a key motive for starting our ride in the city of
Albany is that it's the capital of the state of New York, we thought
we'd make a loop around through some of the state office buildings. Our
route was roughly . . .
-
west up State St
-
bear R on Washington Av (going west)
-
L Lark Av
-
L State St, then
-
ride around Empire State Plaza (off the right side
of State St in the midst of a downhill), then back onto State St and
-
east down State St to its end,
-
R Broadway, L to to under the expressway,
-
Right onto the sidewalk of the Dunn Memorial Bridge
-
across the Hudson River to the city of Rensselaer.
Report: Since we started riding about an
hour before sunrise, there wasn't any light in the sky. We discovered
that the state buildings and Empire State Plaza were not lighted very
much, so we didn't get to see much of what makes Albany the state
capital. Much better to see it during the day.
We followed -- in reverse direction -- the first half
of this website's Rip
Van Winkle to Albany loop route.
Report: More miles of Broadway and the streets
south in Rensselaer had streetlights than we might have expected. The
climb up Hays Rd east-bound looked really steep, so we got off our bike
and walked up. But it was worth it for the pretty farms and interesting
riding on mostly quiet roads through Rensselaer county. The bison farm
had much expanded its number of bison, and we saw more horses than
before at other farms. Bagel Tyme in Kinderhook was open at 6:00am.
Hills:
We just got off our bike and walked up the
steep section -- seems like most people who could do this whole route
could also walk their bike up this steep section in less than 10
minutes.
Alternatives to the Hays Rd climb:
-
Muitzekill Rd -- We've never tried all this, but
... could possibly continue south on Rt 9J about 5 more miles, Left
on Rensselaer county Rt 4 (or is Rt 1?) or Van Hoesen Rd, then quick
Right to go southwest on Rensselaer county Rt 1 / Muitzekill Rd --
which starts with a climb which includes about 100 vertical ft at a
steepness grade near 9% (which is rather steep) -- later cross
Rensselaer county Rt 2, and enter Columbia county, where the road
becomes Columbia county Rt 21 and goes into the village of
Kinderhook.
But to me the miles on Rt 9J are not very
interesting -- although on the map it goes near the River, in the memory
of my experience I didn't get to see much of the River, and wasn't very
impressive when I did. Instead the roads we took south from Hays Rd were
much more interesting and pretty -- well worth walking up that
admittedly very steep hill.
-
Castleton and Rt 150 -- We've never tried all this,
but ... could possibly continue on Rt 9J South another 3.7 miles to
Castleton-on-Hudson, then Left on Rt 150 (or similar). This reaches
same pretty farms and orchards as the Hays Rd climb. But it still
includes a climb with a significant section at 9% steepness grade or
more. Seems to me that it's got to save time just to walk up the
Hays Rd hill rather than ride those extra miles on Rt 9J.
-
Rt 9 South to Phillips Rd -- this keeps all the pretty
farms and orchards and avoids any "very steep" climbs. But we've never
tried all of it, and I'm not sure what the shoulder quality and lane
width is on this section of Rt 9 South, and there's usually a lot more
vehicle traffic on Rt 9 than on Rt 9J, and Rt 9 South from Rensselaer
includes some substantial climbing in the range of 6-7% steepness grade.
-
for less steep climbing than on just going up Rt 9, but
more navigational complexity, and unknown vehicle-interaction difficulty
and risk -- We've never tried all of it, but could possibly consider
going east in Rensselaer up 3rd Av / Rt 43, then R on High St / Red Mill
Rd, R on Rt 151 east, soon R on Sherwood Av, to its end, L on Rt 9 South
(likely includes 50 vertical ft of climing at steepness grade of 6-7%),
R on Phillips Rd.
We followed roughly this route:
-
southeast on Warren St which extends into
-
Rt 9 South, then cross Rt 23 onto
-
Columbia county Rt 31 south, then after passing by
Wire Rd ...
-
L Sparrow Bush (east)
-
straight cross Rt 9 onto Maple Av to its end
-
R Columbia county Rt 19 south
-
bear R to join Rt 2 into Elizaville
-
L R 19 south, which becomes Dutchess county
Rt 55 and Spring Lake Rd
-
R Dutchess county Rt 56 west
-
R Old Post Rd (going north)
-
L Pitcher Lane extension
-
straight cross Rt 9 onto Pitcher Lane going west to
its end.
-
L Dutchess county Rt 79 - Budd Corners Rd,
becomes Linden Av to its end in the village of Red Hook, NY.
Then we joined the finish of this website's
Rhinebeck -
Bard - Red Hook route.
Report: The section of Rt 9 south from
Hudson was pretty, overlooking a valley to its west. Then lots more
pretty orchards and farms. Sparrow Bush Rd had some rough-pavement sections, but
we thought it was worth it. The food store at Elizaville seemed to have
closed its business. Just after DC Rt 56, Old Post Rd and Pitcher Lane
had some coarse-stone pavement sections -- next time might consider Rockefeller
Lane instead. Old Post Rd (north of Rhinebeck from Hook Rd to Mt Rutsen
Rd) had a notably coarse-stone surface -- I'd love to have a good
alternative, but I'm not sure what it would be.
We followed roughly this route:
-
east on East Market St (Rt 308) for about four
blocks
-
R Parsonage St to its end
-
half L onto Closs Dr (full L is Mill St) to
its end
-
L Rt 9 South about 0.2 mile
-
L Ackert Hook Rd to its end (starts east,
then south, then southeast) -- along the way turn R to pass by Burger Rd, then
bear R to pass by Vlei Rd, and bear L to pass by Ackert Hook
Extension.
-
R Rt 9G South
-
L Creek Rd to its end
-
L Hollow Rd / Dutchess county Rt 14 east
(starts up hill)
-
R Quaker Lane / Dutchess county Rt 16 south,
then at traffic light
-
R Netherwood Rd / Dutchess county Rt 41 west
-
L Cream St / Dutchess county Rt 39 south
-
R Haviland Rd to its end at traffic light
-
L Rt 9G south
-
L Creek Rd south
Then we followed -- in reverse -- the early section of
this website's Mid-Hudson
to Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge loop route.
Report: Ackert Hook Rd was mostly nice,
but south of Primrose Hill the pavement became coarse-stone. Both of the Creek Roads were nice. Haviland Rd had some
coarse-stone surface, but it was good enough in the west-bound
(mostly downhill) direction.
Alternate roads:
-
Next time might consider using Vlei Rd and Rt 9G to
avoid coarse-stone pavement and extra hill-climb on the southern part of
Ackert Hook Rd.
-
North-bound? I'd consider following the Mid-Hudson
to Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge loop route from the Mid-Hudson Bridge
to Hollow Rd. It's hillier, but nicer views, and thost hills work better
going North-bound.
Going south-bound, the hill up Cream St / DC Rt 39
just south of Haviland Rd is about 100 vertical ft total, including 50
vertical feet at over 9% steepness grade.
We followed roughly this route:
-
after crossing the Hudson River, from the bicycle
route access to Mid-Hudson Bridge sidewalk goes west up hill on
Haviland Rd, then at traffic light
-
L Rt 9W South
-
R Chapel Hill Rd
-
L Perkinsville Rd
-
bear R Gabriety Rd (where Perkinsville turns
left) to its end
-
R Mahoney Rd
-
bear L Peach Rd (where Mahoney turns right) to its
end
-
R Milton Turnpike / Ulster county Rt 10 west
-
L Mulberry Lane to its end
-
L Lattintown Rd / Ulster county Rt 11 South
-- then just after road curves sharp left R to continue on
Lattintown Rd (where Old Indian Rd goes straight up hill)
-
after crossing Plattekill Rd / Ulster county Rt 14
and entering Orange county, reach an intersection with Holmes Rd
(near Taylors Way)
-
bear Left to stay on Lattintown and pass by Holmes
Rd, then immediate
-
R Carter Rd, some climbs, then down a
steep-ish hill to its end
-
R Rt 9W South (mostly downhill here) -- at next
traffic light
-
L Balmville Rd, then after passing by Old
Post Rd (which goes steep uphill to left), then (? perhaps at a stop
sign ?)
-
L Commonwealth Av, immediately pass by River
Rd, down hill
-
bear R onto Grand Av (where Commonwealth continues
straight town hill), to go
-
underneath the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge highway (near
the bicycle access to the bridge's sidewalk)
Report: Overall we found these roads a
nice alternative to Rt 9W. Lattintown Rd was nice riding with pretty
houses and orchards. It had somewhat-coarse-stone pavement most of the
way
through Ulster county, then smoother surface in Orange county -- but
definitely worth riding.
Hills:
-
West from the Mid-Hudson Bridge sidewalk up Rt 9W is
about 200 vertical ft at an average steepness grade over 4%, including
some sections with steepness grade over 8%.
-
Lattintown Rd just south from Plattekill Rd / Ulster
county Rt 14 has 80-90 vertical feet at a steepness grade around 7%
Alternate roads:
-
Going thru Milton as in the
Newburgh-Beacon /
Mid-Hudson Bridge loop route is also nice, but adds some steep
climbing.
-
There are some pretty views by taking Old Indian
east to Ridge Rd south, but the climb up Old Indian is rather steep
-- and partly wasted since Ridge Rd is down the hill on the other
side.
-
We could have avoided some hills on Carter Rd by
staying on Lattintown all the way to its end, but that would have
led to more riding on Rt 9W South where it is climbing uphill
-- which we did not enjoy when we tried it a few weeks before.
-
Could have avoided the section on Rt 9W between
Carter Rd and Balmville Rd by turning east on Leslie Rd (before the end of
Carter) then cross Rt 9W onto Old Post Rd. But we were OK with that
section on Rt 9W, since it had a decent shoulder and was mostly
downhill. And we had tried Old Post Rd south-bound a few weeks
before, and it mostly OK, but then ended in a steep curvy downhill
into a stop sign.
-
North-bound? I'm not sure I'd want to climb
up Carter Rd going north-bound from its south end. Might consider
more of Rt 9W North, then L on Lattintown, where the climb is
shorter but likely at least as steep. Or I might consider
trying reversing some of the
Newburgh-Beacon /
Mid-Hudson Bridge loop from Newburgh-Beacon Bridge north to
Marlboro -- some nice views of houses above the river going
north-bound, but also some steep hill-climbs.
North-bound climbs: Carter Rd might have a
climb of 175 vertical ft at a steepness grade around 7.5% -- Leslie Rd
start is similar -- Lattintown Rd southeast end initially climbs up from
Rt 9W for about 125 vertical ft with much of that at steepness grade
around 8%. Later north in Orange county, Lattintown Rd has a 100 ft
climb with major sections in the 6-7% range.
We followed roughly this route:
-
south from underneath Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on
Grand Av to the obvious major interection, then down along the
Hudson by turning
-
L on Leroy Place, becomes Water St, becomes
River Rd, finishes with steep climb, then after bridge over Rt 9W,
bear Left down access ramp and get onto
-
Rt 9W South, down hill, then up hill, then we took
the exit ramp Right for
-
Rt 218 South into Cornwall-on-Hudson, then continue
on 218 into a steep-ish climb to a great viewpoint on perched on the
side of Storm King Mountain over the Hudson river, then south with
some ups and downs with more views of the River, leading into a long
climb past some gates for the West Point U.S. Military Academy, to
the interestion of Rt 218 with Rt 293 and Rt 9W, where we took the
entrance ramp to get on
-
Rt 9W South to the Bear Mountain Bridge
Report: Beautiful views, but some hard
work to get to them. That section of Rt 9W South from River Rd to Rt 218
had a lot of rough pavement both in the shoulder and in the right-hand
traffic lane [but later that 9W shoulder looked smoothly newly paved
in January 2007]. But it was ridable, and then Rt 218 thru
Cornwall-on-Hudson was pleasant. The river views seemed fine even on a
cloudy day, but the second climb on Rt 218 south-bound up to the Rt 293
/ Rt 9W intersection felt pretty tough (I can see why we usually prefer
to ride this section of Rt 218 north-bound).
Hills:
-
Rt 218 east from Cornwall-on-Hudson up to the big Storm
King Mountain viewpoint includes about 225 vertical ft at around 7% or
more -- but to us it seemed pretty evenly graded.
-
further south on Rt 218, going up past the West Point
USMA gates to the Rts 293 + 9W intersection: 550 vertical ft total, with
a gentler section in the middle. Lower part of the climb includes about
300 vertical ft at around 7%.
Alternate roads:
-
I think it's less hilly to ride on the east side of
River for this section. And we like the crossings of River on both
the Newburgh-Beacon and Bear Mountain Bridges (like see the first
half of the Bear Mt /
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge loop route). On the other hand the
views on the east side are not as big, and Rt 9D gets more vehicle
traffic than the Storm King Mountain highway.
-
near Cornwall-on-Hudson, when we're going
north-bound we usually prefer to take Dock Hill Rd and Shore Rd
(like the second half of the
Bear Mt /
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge loop route). But
south-bound the climb up Dock Hill Rd is pretty steep: could
have a section of like 80 vertical ft at 10% steepness grade, and
total climbing of 150 vertical ft at average grade around 7%.
We followed roughly parts C and D of the
NYC to Bear
Mountain Adventure route, except we stayed on Rt 9W for the big climb
over the shoulder of Dunderberg Mt (just south of the Bear Mt Bridge),
instead of the unpaved "Jones Point" Dunderberg bypass trail. (It had
been been raining for several days, so we guessed that trail would be
muddy and difficult).
Report: Going down by the River by Beach
Rd seemed nice as ever -- glad we got off Rt 9W through there. Just
after climbing up Short Clove Rd and rejoining Rt 9W, the next
intersection just south seemed pretty tricky for us to manage the
traffic pattern. The climb up Rt 9W south-bound from Rockland Lake
toward Nyack seemed notable tough for us -- near the top I felt a funny
pain in my right knee which concerned me (but next day it was OK).
Hills:
-
Rt 9W just south from the Bear Mountain Bridge climbing
over the shoulder of Dunderberg mountain includes about 300 vertical ft
at a steepness grade around 5% or more.
-
Rt 9W just south from Rockland Lake includes about 250
vertical ft at a steepness grade around 7% or more.
We ride this section a lot. This time we noticed how slow we
were up the hills. But then we felt very fast on the gentle rollers for
the last eight miles. The usual nice views of Manhattan and down the
Hudson river from out on the south sidewalk of the GWB.
Hills:
-
the entrance ramp up to Rt 9W South from Sparkill is
about 90 vertical ft at a steepness ground around of nearly 10%.
-
the hill just north of the New Jersey / New York state
line includes about 175 vertical ft at steepness grade around 7%.
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