By Day 9 I was beginning to get into the groove of my journey. On day 2 someone I bumped into on the road said it takes "7 days" for your body to adjust to long rides. He was right!
I woke up at the Microtel in Amsterdam and went directly for the breakfast. While the staff at indicated that it was only a continental breakfast, I was pleasingly surprised by the pancake machine. I pressed a button and it methodically spit out 3 delicious pancakes. Wow, THE FUTURE IS HERE! The hotel had a lot of good fruit and muffins which I stocked up for on my ride. This day was a little less than most, roughly 55 miles, and lots of it was downhill so that was comforting. My first leg of the day was a big push from Amsterdam all the way to Waterford, 39 miles.
As I headed east from Amsterdam the Empire State Trail was on road for a bit. This is when the rain started.
After some on road sections I cut over to the canal trail and kept heading east towards Pattersonville. By now the rain was steady. There was not a lot in Pattersonville to see except this large quarry operation.
The rain became steadier and heavier as I kept riding. The trail was recently resurfaced in this area so it did not suffer from big puddling issues, but there were a number of spots where I was splashing as I rode by. By now I had my poncho on and was beginning to really get rained on. I was lucky the rain happened on a section where the trail was paved, as opposed to a dirt track.
Some parts of the trail go by sections of the old Erie canal and the water quality in the canal leaves something to be desired.
In this area the trail crosses under the Amtrak/CSX railroad tracks. Supposedly there was a lot of inter-agency coordination to execute this section of the trail. CSX is not known for its bike friendliness.
Pattersonville had a new water fountain installed, including a water bottler refiller. I am not sure if I saw a proper water fountain between Spencerport and Pattersonville. That is over 220 miles! C'mon New York State, you can do better! The Empire State Trail should have more water fountains.
By the time I arrived to Schenectady it was pouring. I was able to snap one photo in the downtown Schenectady area but it wasn't much.
As I headed into Schenectady, I went through the Stockade District, one of the oldest areas in the Capital Region. There were a bunch of attractive houses, but it was pouring so hard I could barely get my phone out of my bag. I later learned the hard way the difference between a water resistant and a water proof bag. After heading through the old Little Italy section, I passed through Union College and the Price Chopper HQ.
From Schenectady to Cohoes, the Empire State Trail mostly follows the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail which is the old railbed of the Troy and Schenectady Railroad. GE controls a section of this abandoned railroad east of Schenectady, so the trail route goes off the old railroad right of way and up some steep hills in Niskayuna.
The trail in Niskayuna is picturesque, hugging the Mohawk River. Below is one of the rare Erie Canal Trail signs displaying distances. I saw only two similar signs, one in Buffalo and one in Rochester. From the looks of it, these signs probably were installed 20 years ago because similar signage lists George Pataki as governor.
Near Niskayuna, I linked up with my friend Jeff Olson, whose former company Alta, was responsible for the design of the Empire State Trail. It was awesome to bike with someone who knew the intricate ins and outs of the trail design! He was clipped in on a featherweight carbon bike so I had a tough time keeping up with him.
Jeff and I took a slight detour off the Empire State Trail to see Cohoes Falls. Cohoes Falls is a MUST SEE for anyone biking this section of the trail. It is the 2nd largest waterfall in New York State after Niagara Falls and is one of the underrated treasures of the Capital Region.
Here is a close up of me in Cohoes Falls. I was feeling good because I knew I was turning the corner from the East West section (Buffalo to Albany) to the North South section (Albany to NYC).
Cataract Street in Cohoes resembles something out of 19th century England. Cohoes aka "The Spindle City" was a mill town and these houses were for the factory workers of the time. It's a shame that this is not kept up better, as it truly is an interesting part of upstate New York. The gentrification of the Hudson Valley has not made it to Cohoes yet.
After Cohoes Falls, Jeff and I zipped down Mohawk Street and then made another slight detour to Waterford, which is notable because it's the location where the Hudson and Mohawk rivers converge. The first locks in the Erie Canal are also in Waterford. The entire area has a New England fishing village vibe, sort of strange to see so far inland.
By this time, my phone had gotten soaked and was beginning to act strange. Jeff and I decided on lunch at McGreivey's a local irish pub. Their bruschetta was awesome and I had a delicious bacon cheeseburger with hand cut fries. The third photograph below is notable because it was the last photo I took before my screen went black.
After we left Waterford, my waterlogged phone went completely dark. What was annoying was it still was capable of ringing and the touch screen worked but I could not see anything on my screen. I had left my handlebar bag partially open while it was raining and I was severely punished for it.
South of Waterford, Jeff and I cut through Peebles Island Park and then onto Van Schaick Island in Cohoes. There are a number of new housing developments in this area of Cohoes right next to the trail. What is unfortunate is all these communities are gated and turn their back onto the trail. Also there is no trail oriented commercial development or stores nearby...another missed opportunity. Missed opportunities for trail oriented development seem to be a theme throughout upstate New York. After Van Schaick Island we headed over the Black Bridge to connect back to the Empire State Trail in Green Island. This area of is notable because it's where the north-south section and east-west section meet. Much less money was spent on the northern section, north of Waterford, which is mostly signage and on road up to the border at Rouses Point. Jeff and I saw a bald eagle in this area and I was now getting more agitated that my phone had gone dark!
South of here the trail hugs the Hudson River and parallels Interstate 787 towards Albany. Some areas are nice, and other areas are right against the the highway, which is not that pleasant. It also passes through Watervliet, a small city along the Hudson notable for its armaments factory. Jeff parked his car here and I used his phone to try to find a cell phone repair place before he went on his way. By this time it was 4 pm and I wanted to get to my hotel. After researching online, the best place I could find to have my screen replaced was an AT&T store in Hudson, another 40 miles away...ugh.
Jeff and I split up and I continued on my way. The trail goes into the waterfront area of Albany, called the Corning Preserve. Past this is the notorious Empire State Plaza area. Albany, out of all cities in upstate New York had the worst urban renewal in the 1960s-1970s. Thank you Nelson Rockefeller. The entire waterfront area and a large section of downtown were razed to build freeway interchanges and the Empire State Plaza. Over 98 acres of historic structures were torn down for this:
After researching the history of this area, it felt like had they not torn down the historic buildings, Albany could have been one of the coolest and most-walkable small cities in America. Instead it is one of the least walkable, and least cool cities I've ever visited. After living in the capital region for over a year, I can safely say Albany is where fun goes to die. People sell t shirts that say "Keep Albany Boring". I'm not joking! It's sort of alarming that Albany, with a population of 100,000 is the capital of the State of New York, hosting a city of nearly 9 million 140 miles south. I digress.
One good development is a grassroots movement to reclaim the Albany waterfront and undo some of the mistakes of the past. Albany Riverfront Collaborative is an organization dedicated to repairing some of the urban planning mistakes and trying to make this a more livable community. Furthermore NYSDOT recently funded a planning study reevaluate I-787 in the area, so there may be some hope for Albany.
In Albany the Empire State Trail crosses over the Hudson to Rensselaer. The trail goes over the Dunn Memorial Bridge which has a pedestrian/bicycle sidewalk on one side, but didn't seem very cyclist friendly. Once across the bridge I entered the City of Rensselaer (pop 10,000). Not much going on here except for the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. As I headed east and south towards my hotel in East Greenbush, the Empire State Trail climbs a huge and long hill. This probably is one of the largest elevation changes on the Empire State Trail. This area is also all on road through suburbs. After a long day of riding, this was a tough climb, but by the time I got to the top, it felt great!
After climbing the hill in East Greenbush, the Empire State Trail begins to follow the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail a 36 mile trail mostly in a utility right of way (and former trolley corridor). A large sum of money was spent on this area and riding around here was awesome. I was annoyed my phone wasn't working because this area had so many photos I wanted to take.
I had originally booked a room at Americas Best Value Inn in East Greenbush, but after my phone broke, the budget hotel situation didn't feel like a good idea. I hoped a better hotel would have a business center where I could use a computer. I knew there was a Comfort Inn farther into East Greenbush, another 5 miles away. I arrived at the Comfort Inn and booked a room and promptly found out they didn't have a business center. This was the most expensive hotel I stayed at ($200/night). The hotel had a pool which was a great way to relax after so many days on the road. While the hotel is right along the trail, there were limited food options in this area. For dinner, I walked about a mile in a ditch (no sidewalks) to Soho Asian Fusion. The sushi was passable and the service was good.
Stay tuned for Day 10 - East Greenbush to Kingston where I end up at a Wal-Mart outside of Kingston on a quest to have my phone screen repaired!
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