Touring - Boston-New York-Washington route?

Hi all,

If anyone has anyone thoughts on where I could find information on this it would be much appreciated. Basically I'd just like to find a way to ride from Boston through New York to Washington DC. I have no idea where I would start looking for that information, and seeing as using a google map would leave me fighting semis on the highway, I thought someone might have a suggestion?

Thanks very much.

http://www.greenway.org/ This organization is working to put together an "urban Applachian Trail" for local and long distance riders, connecting cities with a combination of bike lanes and off-road facilties

Someone on BF just rode the Philly to DC section last week.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=184866

Route 1 to Baltimore and the bikewashington route to DC seemed to work well.

Hi, I am the friend of "SyntaxPC" that rode with him to DC. I just wanted to emphasize that you should *NOT* take route 1 all the way to DC. It is beautiful from Philly to Baltimore, but it gets pretty bad after that. Also, Route 1 is a little hairy from Bel Air, MD to Baltimore (the last ~10 miles) if you are not comfortable riding on a road with lots of fast traffic. Also, on the Baltimore -> DC directions, mile 14.6 should be a right turn, not a left turn.

Some friends of ours rode from Philly to Boston, and have a blog about it here:

http://bangboston.blogspot.com/

They had a GPS unit, and TomTom navigation software that helped them quite a bit.

hi there,
last year I cycled from NY up to Cape-Cod.

The route i used through CT and RI was along RT 1 the old post road.
It was a great road to use, wide lanes, low traffic and beautiful beaches and towns.

It was time on a bike for 10 years and my first trip over 25 miles so I was looking for a safe fun route and this was it.

shalant.com

Hi, I am the friend of "SyntaxPC" that rode with him to DC. I just wanted to emphasize that you should *NOT* take route 1 all the way to DC. It is beautiful from Philly to Baltimore, but it gets pretty bad after that. Also, Route 1 is a little hairy from Bel Air, MD to Baltimore (the last ~10 miles) if you are not comfortable riding on a road with lots of fast traffic. Also, on the Baltimore -> DC directions, mile 14.6 should be a right turn, not a left turn.
So you're the one who had the meeting in Reston.
When SyntaxPC posted that you were thinking of coming down route 40, I starting laughing and shaking my head. I drive 40 only when I have to.
Glad route 1 from P to B worked out for you. I've heard that there is also a good way to get to York, then the North Central Rail Trail leads to just north of Baltimore.
Repeat to the OP - route 1 from Baltimore to DC is NASTY. Stay with http://www.bikewashington.org/routes/dc2balt/index.htm
or route 29 might work if you can figure out how to get to the Baltimore end. Typical busy highway, but the shoulder is wide.
Google maps dont' get you a bikeable route. You need local knowledge.

BP - did you get to any rides out of Reston? The last 10 miles of the W&OD are the best.

BP - did you get to any rides out of Reston? The last 10 miles of the W&OD are the best.

Unfortunately, we didn't get into Reston until ~7PM due to our inability to read a map, or follow directions. :) It was hailing, so we didn't ride anywhere that night. The next day we had a meeting all day. We just went back to Philly after the meeting, because we had work the following day.

Unfortunately, we didn't get into Reston until ~7PM due to our inability to read a map, or follow directions. :) It was hailing, so we didn't ride anywhere that night. The next day we had a meeting all day. We just went back to Philly after the meeting, because we had work the following day.
Maybe I should have given y'all my phone number. Could have talked you through the last part of the route ;)

I am riding Boston to Yorktown, VA via the Eastern Shore starting May 6th. I have through Delaware planned out turn by turn and typed up on the computer, if you'd like I can email those to you (though I don't know how good the route will be, since I haven't biked it yet). If you google each state's Department of Transportation, find the bike section, and fill out easy online forms, you can get free maps sent to you. The exeptions are Massachusetts (you can buy the Rubel Maps at any bike/outdoor shop in the city) and Virginia (which just gives you a scenic byways map, not a bike map).

Hi, I am the friend of "SyntaxPC" that rode with him to DC. I just wanted to emphasize that you should *NOT* take route 1 all the way to DC. It is beautiful from Philly to Baltimore, but it gets pretty bad after that. Also, Route 1 is a little hairy from Bel Air, MD to Baltimore (the last ~10 miles) if you are not comfortable riding on a road with lots of fast traffic. Also, on the Baltimore -> DC directions, mile 14.6 should be a right turn, not a left turn.

Some friends of ours rode from Philly to Boston, and have a blog about it here:

http://bangboston.blogspot.com/

They had a GPS unit, and TomTom navigation software that helped them quite a bit.



Isn't Route 1 somewhat of a major road? I have been on it once before (in a car and at night and I wasn't really paying too much attention to it) but it didn't really seem too bike friendly. Cars seemed to drive pretty fast, and there didn't appear to be any bike lanes. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I would definitley prefer the denial approach....

Thanks very much to everyone for all the help... Definitely made all the difference. Adventure Bicycling Assoc. also actually has map set that seemed like it would do the job as well (might be worth a look to anyone else thats interested, trail runs from Maine to Florida). Unfortunately my reason for going to Boston is looking like it might evaporate (a friend running the marathon, who might now have to drop out), so I may not get to put all of this into practice just yet. But it looks like it would an amazing trip, and so if I don't get to give it a go this time, it'll definitely have to happen sooner rather than later.

But again, thanks for all the help.

Isn't Route 1 somewhat of a major road? I have been on it once before (in a car and at night and I wasn't really paying too much attention to it) but it didn't really seem too bike friendly. Cars seemed to drive pretty fast, and there didn't appear to be any bike lanes. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I would definitley prefer the denial approach....

Route 1 is a major road, but it also has a major shoulder most of the way. It was so wide that SyntaxPC and I were able to ride side by side most of the way. The shoulder temporarily disappears in some of the towns you pass through, but the speed limit is lower in those towns, so it wasn't a big deal. I am used to riding in traffic in Philly though, this may be a big deal to someone who's not.

Once you get about 10 miles outside of Baltimore (around Bel Air, MD) the shoulder pretty much disappears, which sucks, but we survived. We also did this on a Sunday night, Monday morning rush hour might be a different story.