St Lawrence valley in New York State

[Ken Brown]

Thinking of meeting a friend in the Kingston, Ontario area in late May for a few days of cycling.
One possibility is along the St. Lawrence on both sides, between Kingston and Ogdensburg NY. How are
the roads on the US side for cycling? Looking at the map it appears we would have to ride on route
37 part of the way, and I worry that it might be busy. Does it have a paved shoulder? Any info about
it and other roads in the area would be appreciated. Ken Ken Brown, Toronto Canada Ontario Rail
Trails: http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown delete "nospam" if replying via e-mail

 

[Cary Weitzman]

In article <[email protected]>, Ken Brown <[email protected]> wrote:

> How are the roads on the US side for cycling?

I've found them to be very nice, good pavement and usually good shoulders. 37 is far enough away
from the river that you don't usually see it however and it's flat and not all that scenic, unlike 2
on the Canadian side which I found to be a far more interesting ride overall despite the
ocassionally much poorer road conditions and more hostile drivers. I'd avoid the 1000 Islands
Parkway bike path though unless they've repaved it recently.

>Looking at the map it appears we would have to ride on route 37 part of the way, and I worry that
>it might be busy. Does it have a paved shoulder?

I've ridden on 37 several times in the last half dozen years on tours, once from Malone to
Morristown and then down 12 to the 1000 Islands International Bridge just past Alexandria Bay. It
had shoulders almost all the way and not too much traffic at all (11 to the south is the busy
road I'm told) except around Massena where it became 4 lanes and there was a bit more traffic.
Traffic was also heavier around Ogdensberg but no so much as to be a problem for me on a loaded
touring bike.

>Any info about it and other roads in the area would be appreciated.

12 was a lovely road and practically deserted when I rode it mid-week, and the ferry crossings from
Cape Vincent to Wolfe Island to Kingston (on a different tour) a lot of fun. I don't know how the
current enhanced vigilance situation at the border has affected this however.

-Cary