In the weeks leading up to my trip, I spent days researching bikes, gear, and itineraries for my trip. Researching and getting organized helped me tremendously!
Starting off in Clove Valley, NY I packed my my Ortleib Backroller Panniers to the gunnels, locked and loaded to get to the Poughkeepsie Rail Station. I packed mostly t shirts and shorts, lots of socks and underwear. Later in the trip I realized I should have packed more cycling shorts. The ride was about 30 miles from my house in Clove Valley, NY to the Poughkeepsie rail station. I rode this in underwear and pants, which was a colossal mistake, as it began a chain of events that nearly caused me to abort my trip due to saddle issues.
After about 8 miles on road I entered Empire State Trail in Poughquag the Depot Hill Road. This section is called the Maybrook Trail and is relatively new and slightly downhill most of the way to Poughkeepsie. The rail trail here is picturesque going through parts of Dutchess County. An ominous presence is the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville.
Hopewell Junction had some cute old rail cars and soda/water machine if you needed a drink.
As I biked through Poughkeepsie I saw a new north-south rail trail. After googling I found out it was the Dutchess County Urban Trail.They built in connections to the Empire State Trail and this crossroads is a great example of a network effect in transportation planning!
The toes on my left foot towards the end of the ride started going numb. After inquring with a cycling friend, he said it could be related to my shoes and in fact, this was the first time wearing my New Balance 990v5 normcore dad shoes out of the box!
Before the Poughkeepsie Train Station, I stocked up at Rossi’s, an awesome Italian deli a couple blocks away from the train. Knowing that Amtrak’s food is unspeakably bad I got delicious oriechette with sausage and broccoli rabe for lunch, some meatballs for an snack, and a little pizzette for a “just in case” snack. My train wasn’t scheduled to arrive until almost 7 pm so I needed to cover my bases.
Important notes about Amtrak:
Train 281 was supposed to leave at 11:43 am on track 2. When I arrived it said delayed till 11:52. At 11:49 someone else near me on the platforms says, “hey it looks like they changed the track to track 1”. With 2 minutes to spare, me, my bike, a woman, and her 93 year old mother all ran into an elevator up and over and down another elevator to get to track 1. What a pain in the neck especially considering there was no audio announcement about a track change. If the woman had not alerted me to a track change I would have been completely screwed. Watch the screens about timing and track changes like a hawk if you take Amtrak!
It is easy to book a seat on Amtrak and add a bicycle but there are some major caveats. Each train can only accommodate 3 bicycles. That is, if you are a group of 3 you can book 3 people onto an Amtrak from NYC to Buffalo, but no more. Also, you must be the first 3 people to book with a bike. For example, if one person books a train trip from Utica to Syracuse with a bike, you will only be able to book 2 people from NYC to Buffalo with a bike. That is, it’s first dibs on any part of the journey. You could book NYC To Utica or Syracuse to Buffalo, but because someone booked a section from Utica to Syracuse it won’t allow you to book all the way through for that bike rack from NYC to Buffalo if another part of the ride is filled w a bike.
Another important note with Amtrak is you are required to remove your front bike wheel to put the bike on the rack on the train. That is, you must have a quick release on your front tire or a configuration where you can take the wheel off with a tool. Some bikes don’t have an easy way to remove the front wheel so this is an important factor when you ride on Amtrak. Furthermore, if you have a big bike (like mine) even with the wheel off its tough to fit into the rack.
The front wheel off the bike requirement to get on Amtrak shows how cyclists are second class citizens. Does Amtrak require cars to remove their wheels to get on the auto train from Virginia to Orlando?!
When I got on Amtrak I tried to get on the wifi. Goosegg. About 10 minutes later a conductor came on the PA system and said they had reset the router. Still no internet.
IF YOU ARE TRAVELING ON AMTRAK EXPECT THE WIFI TO BE BROKEN. It’s much easier to assume that than to hope the wifi will work. This is the 3rd time in a row riding Amtrak that the wifi was down.
The ride to Buffalo is nearly 7 hours from Poughkeepsie through many rural areas of Central and Wester New York. I arrived in Buffalo at 6:53 pm and biked directly to Best Western on the Avenue in the Allentown section of Buffalo. While they did not allow my bike in the room they happily escorted me and my bike to a secure storage area in the rear. The hotel was neat and clean and I would recommend it for anyone travelling on the Empire State Trail.
I walked around some areas at Buffalo including Allentown and Elmwood Village, which included some cool art deco architecture. I ended up at Gabriel's Gate for dinner. I had chicken wings, which were expensive ($17.95 for 10 wings), unusually soggy and seemed like a poor representation of Buffalo's famous wings.
That being said, I enjoyed my one night in Buffalo and wanted to explore more another time. Stay tuned for Day 2 of my ride when I begin to have some saddle problems from Buffalo to Albion
The public wifi situation in this country is horrendous. Great post.
Great read, looking forward to the next blog post!