Day 13: Hudson to Troy

May 17, 2025

Day 13: Hudson to Troy

Yesterday, I left Elaine and Armen’s apartment at 8:20 AM and returned to the bike trail. It was nice to ride on a paved trail so less dirt will build up on my bike.

At one section of the trail, there was a blockade. I was worried that the trail might be closed, but I went ahead anyway. Then I came to another trail closed sign and decided again to go ahead. Both times the trail was fine. Not sure why they have two blockades.

I’ve been playing dice with the weather forecast since it kept predicting rain, but no rain came that whole day while I rode on the trail for the majority of the way to Troy.

I stopped twice at rest areas to break apart the 30 mile ride to Rensselaer, a town just outside of Albany. At the second rest area of Nassau, I met another touring cyclist. His name is Paul and he is an avid cyclist who has extensive touring experiences. We chatted about his electric bike since it’s a brand I’ve never seen before and about the places that he’s bicycled. As it turns out, he has cycled in Canada in the past. On this trip, he will make a loop in the northeast United States then fly back to his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Meeting touring cyclists on the road makes me feel I’m not crazy and alone.

I rode on the trail until I reached Rensselaer around 12:30 PM. I decided to have lunch at Thai Orchid. The lunch price of my Pad See Ew was only $10 without the tip. That’s the cheapest Thai food I’ve had. It was also very good.

After lunch, I crossed the bridge to the Albany side. Albany is the capital city of New York and I really wanted to see the plaza in downtown Albany where the capitol building and the performance art center are located. However, to get there I had to leave the bike path and find a way underneath the highway to the plaza. After going up a hill, I was able to get there using Google Maps.

I was in Albany back in 2014 when I took a solo road trip through upstate New York. I don’t remember doing anything else other than visiting the plaza. This time, I only stopped here to take some photographs and admire the performance art center since its architecture reminds the viewer of an egg.

After this brief detour, I went back on the bike path that’s along the Hudson River then crossed the Troy-Menands Bridge to get to the south side of Troy. This section of the city seemed a bit poor and rundown.

Near my Couchsurfing host’s house, I had to walk my bike up a steep hill. That was the last hurdle of the day. I arrived at 3:20 PM, having ridden 50.8 miles.

Emma is my first Couchsurfing host for the trip. Her mom, Lynn, lives with her too. When I met Emma in her backyard she had just picked some mushrooms. We chatted on the patio about traveling. Emma has visited many places and works as an airline pilot.

Soon after I took a shower, Lynn drove me and Emma to the Brown’s Brewing Company in North Hoosick for dinner. On the way, we shared some interesting Couchsurfing and Warmshowers stories in the car.

The three of us had an excellent meal dining by the river outside of the brewery during sunset. I had a local farm burger, which is just the protein I needed after a long day’s ride.

We came back to the house around 9:30 PM. Lynn offered me a THC beverage since I’ve never had one before. My body is very sensitive to drugs so I only took a shot of it. I could feel its effect immediately. Good thing I didn’t drink too much.

This morning, I woke up around 6:45. Emma woke up shortly after and made cappuccino for me. I also had some strawberry yogurt. At 8 AM, Emma left to go hiking. I plan on going to downtown Troy since they have a farmers market on Saturdays at Monument Square. Then I will ride about 2 miles to my Warmshowers host’s place. Today will be more of a rest day.