Bikepacking in the Central Adirondacks, Where Gravel Can Truly Be a Grind

Bikepacking along a gravel road crossing the Miami River in the Central Adirondacks

No worries of alligators or Burmese pythons crossing this Miami River.

Just sweet gravel, heinous snowmobile trails and a pick of your poison of mosquitoes or deer flies. The Adirondacks in a nutshell. 

I guess there is a price of admission for the solitude I seek, I can't complain. No humans in 24 hours not seen on a paved road and even on those roads just a few cars passed me on a wide shoulder. I can live with that. 

The potential here is off the charts. I call it a gravel park (like a mountain bike park) and these towns are missing out on huge potential. Despite the abundance of gravel (probably over 60 miles in these two units)...all of it leads to either pavement or dead ends. To form a loop you need to suffer on some pretty single use snowmobile trails, which there are plenty of, already cut into the forest.

This is where the Adirondacks fail. We have all these miles of snowmobile trails cut in the forest for a vanishing 3 month season that could be hardened for 4 season use without cutting a single tree, 4 season use includes cycling, adaptive (disabled) uses, hiking, canoe portage and equestrian.

Instead these trails are by their nature, single use, seasonal. 

4 season snowmobile trails do exist in the Adirondacks. The SW part of the Forest Preserve has many good ones (my 70mi, 96% off pavement Moose Tracks route is primarily based off these high quality trails, and I would put that route up there against anything for quality riding). High, dry, good surface and grading. The majority of these single season trails aren't unrideable due to equipment or skill, but simply inherent design. They are designed for the ground to be frozen. In summer they can be endless bottomless mud pits with a trail bed obscured by brush. Even a skilled and prepared rider can struggle to make miles on these. 

This is a missed opportunity by the APA/DEC and local towns to promote a lucrative summer form of recreation. Cyclist spend money that hikers and paddlers do not. They visit towns for resupply and a cold drink. They travel further and they aren't confined to segregated forest preserve units. 

Exiting what was a couple of mile long stretch of some moderately challenging snowmobile trail (moderate because it was actually pretty rideable even if still extremely challenging). 

Marshall lifeguarding while I swim in a pristine Adirondack lake, which we had to ourselves for almost 12 hours of the time we camped

Stewart's Shops an Upstate New York (and now Vermont) Staple of Bikepacking Resupply

Final resupply at Stewart's in Arlington, Vermont

Stewart's Shops, an upstate NY staple of bikepacking resupply that has expanded into Vermont. Final resupply of the trip. 22 miles and 2500ft gain ahead of us in the rain.

I ate a terrible hamburger (I crave protein and sodium on these trips) and downed a coffee for the caffeine. Bought 2 bananas, a 20oz root beer for the sugar which I dumped into a 20oz water bottle, a snickers bar, a Reese Peanut butter protein bar and gallon of water.

I refilled my 20oz electrolyte/carb bottle with a Mango Chili LMNT and dumped my last 4oz of maple syrup into it. I also still had two gluten free honey stinger cookies.

Besides maple syrup and hamburgers I never eat any of this crap in real life (not even bananas which are filled with sugar, unless you eat them green, in which case they are filled with healthy resistant starch).

I ate all but one of the honey stingers and 6oz of root beer on the final 22 miles.

Bikepacking isn't the time to lose weight or count calories or eat super clean (though you can meet your nutrition without going entirely off the tails). Any single day ride you can limp home bonked out, but multi-day trips the damage is cumulative for nutrition and hydration. Eating and drinking constantly is best to avoid starting out with zero energy. A lesson I learned riding the Moose River Plains loop in 2022 where I totally bonked out midway into day two on no sleep and horrendous fueling.

Maple syrup isn't cheap, but unlike expensive gels (or homemade simple syrups) my GI tract seems to have unlimited capacity to consume the stuff. It's possible I'm part Elf. I drank 22oz of it over 4 days (2 water bottles had 3oz each to start and I brought 16oz in flexible flask). Adding it to my electrolytes should speed up water absorption and help top off my glycogen stores.

I was tired at times but never felt under fueled. Oh, and I lost about 3lbs of actual weight (my fleece cycling jacket was noticeably roommier to end the trip and that isn't water weight). No matter how much you eat, you'll end up in a deficit over multiple days so don't stress.

Stewart's Shops, Poultney, Vermont