Big ride today

Or at least, so it seemed. Did the "Ridges West Of Schenectady" Tour from "25 Bike Tours in the Hudson Valley". 29 miles, 1775 feet of elevation gain. But the real story was the freakin' wind. The first 12 miles or so of this tour head generally west, and generally uphill. Add to that a gusty west/northwest wind of 20+ mph, and the first half of this ride was a true struggle. I averaged under 10 mph for that portion, and even the scattered westbound downhills kept me pedaling on the middle chainring. I'm really glad I added the 24T front chainring, because I used every bit of it today. About 29.13 and a 2:30 total for the ride, averaging 12-something overall. It was a tough fight.

For reference purposes, the Fort Plain and Canajoharie routes to Glimmerglass are about 61-63 miles, with 3000 feet of total climb. But over half of that is along the river, in minor ups and downs. The BIG climb in each case is more like 1400-1600 from the river, over a span of 12-16 miles. So, two things come to mind, and I'll need to pursue these:

1. How does the US20 route compare overall in that regard? It gains and loses elevation repeatedly, but what's the total? Better to spread it out over 55 miles, instead of concentrating it in the tail end of a longer day?

2. Is there any other place to cut across from the river to US20, possibly involving a stream valley, that might be even better than any of these routes?