It was another foggy morning just above freezing, and we rode out the door the earliest time of the trip – 8:00! Kelly and Rebecca were peeling off the Canalway to ride the road home to Kelly’s house, and Jeremiah and I were continuing on to the end of the Canalway in Albany. Since we were out earlier than yesterday, it felt like it took a lot longer to warm up and for the fog to burn off, but it eventually did by late morning.
We stopped for second breakfast at a gas station since the Super 8 breakfast had been lacking. Aside from a few road connectors, the trail was almost all off-road in the morning. We made really good time to Schenectady though, and had ridden 30 miles before stopping for lunch at a Stewart’s just after Schenectady. I kept it healthy-ish with a green salad and a Mediterranean pasta salad, not my usual Stewart’s fare.
There was a lot of beautiful paved trail today, mostly following the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail. Being a sunny Sunday in a more populated area, there were a lot of people out too.
There was a longer road connector through Cohoes and Watervliet, but we were able to follow Empire State Trail Signs through. We reached the point where that trail goes north to Canada or south to NYC and we turned south, reaching the Hudson River soon after.
At almost 50 miles, my muscles weren’t doing terribly, but I started thinking twice about our plan to finish the Erie Canalway Trail in Albany and then ride an additional 70+ miles home. I mostly worried about the hills since we wouldn’t be on rail trail any more and Ketchup had warned that the hills are neverending once off the Canalway. It didn’t take much to convince Jeremiah that one of us could Uber home and get the truck and then come back for the other person and the bikes. Now we wouldn’t have to do another 12 miles to Schodack Island State Park, where I’d made a reservation for tonight, and then bike another 60ish miles tomorrow. Wonderful.
Just like in Buffalo, there really isn’t any indication of the end of the Erie Canalway Trail in Albany. We called it in the Corning Riverfront Preserve since it had a nice sign saying “Albany” to take our finish photo in front of. A couple sitting nearby watched and laughed at me as I set my phone camera’s timer and tried to run back into the frame fast enough in bike shoes, repeatedly.
We rode just a bit farther into town, taking the bikes down a steep three flights of stairs, and went looking for the nearby visitor center to use the bathrooms before Jeremiah Ubered home. It was closed, of course, but there was a great little pub next door and I grabbed a table outside to wait with some soup and ciders. I caught up with Kelly on the phone about the rest of their day, and by the time I left, I only had to wait a few minutes on a bench outside before Jeremiah was back in the truck.
About 50 miles total today to round out our mileage of 424 miles for the trip. I’ll share tracks and more information later. For now, I am happy to be home and in my own bed. First bike tour – success! 10/10, would do again.
Good for you! I wish Colorado was a bit more level. My wife & I roughly parelleled your trip in ’08 in our camper. Like to try it on bikes.