Touring - boston-albany route??

has anyone here done this or know of a route from boston to albany? im thinking of doing this in the spring and just want to start planning a bit, but have had no luck with finding a preplanned route. any thing is appreciated thanks

Here's a piece (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bedford-to-Northhampton) as far out as Northampton. You can pick this up in the western suburbs. From Northampton to Pittsfield Rt. 9 is pretty good.

Speedo

thanks. that definitely a good start. im actually maybe going to start in billerica so that would be a good beginning at least.

Last summer I biked part of that route, Route 9 to Pittsfield is a pretty nice road to cycle. From Pittsfield catch 20 west into New York. From there you're on state bike route 5, which goes straight into albany and all the way across new york.

good luck!

cheers

thanks. that definitely a good start. im actually maybe going to start in billerica so that would be a good beginning at least.

Howdy neighbor!

There's significant climbing up into Princeton.

The pavement from Hubbardston to Barre is pretty bad. But the road is very quiet, so you only have to dodge potholes, not cars.

The stretch from Barre to Ware is simply fantastic.

If I were to work on anything it would be finding an alternate to Rt 9 between Ware and Amherst. As noted, Rt 9 beyond Northampton is pretty nice.

I did the ride from Bedford to Northampton as a one day shot. It would be nice to spread it over two days and stop and smell the roses a bit. There's an old mill in Gilbertville that is collapsing now, but it once was (if you like old industrial buildings) very beautiful. Lots of other interesting small towns along the way.

Enjoy!

Speedo

Here's a piece (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bedford-to-Northhampton) as far out as Northampton. You can pick this up in the western suburbs. From Northampton to Pittsfield Rt. 9 is pretty good.

Speedo

Also nice, with more hills and traffic, is to take the side road 143 as ya leave Williamsburg and start to climb the hill on rt 9. It brings into the Berkshires also. Rt 20 from Pitts to the albany burbs is quite pleasant, too, especially for a Federal highway.

roughstuff

You could start by taking the commuter train to Worcester from Boston(off peak). Get the Rubels bike maps for the entire state. You could ride through Worcester to Sturbridge (rt 20) to Springfield and North on Rt 5 to Northhampton to Rt. 9 into the Berkshires. if you plan to come into Springfield let me know via e-mail and you could camp in my yard. I could ride with you up to NHampton. I rode from worcester to Spfld 2x, rolling to hilly & flat.

Ed

If I were to work on anything it would be finding an alternate to Rt 9 between Ware and Amherst. As noted, Rt 9 beyond Northampton is pretty nice.

You could take Bay Road from Rt. 9 in Belchertown, not much of a shoulder but definitely more pleasant than Rt. 9 and a whole heck of a lot less traffic that will bring you through Hadley to the bridge over the Connecticut River into Northampton.

awesome stuff guys. thank you so much. this is all a huge help. i better get a map to plan my route out and start training more!

Sounds like a great ride, why starting from Billerica though? Are you going to take the T there from Boston?

my friend im riding with lives in billerica so well either start there or boston, havent planned all that out yet.

You could take Bay Road from Rt. 9 in Belchertown, not much of a shoulder but definitely more pleasant than Rt. 9 and a whole heck of a lot less traffic that will bring you through Hadley to the bridge over the Connecticut River into Northampton.

That looks good. I don't know if it will help petebow, but I've made a note of it!

Speedo

That looks good. I don't know if it will help petebow, but I've made a note of it!

Speedo

I think there are probably better back road routes but that's the easy one to follow (and that section of Route 9 from Belchertown to Amherst really sucks due to traffic). I grew up in Amherst so I kinda know my way around there although it is starting to get fuzzy as I'm not out there very often anymore.

Don't forget to look into the Norwottuck rail trail from the Belchertown border to NHampton whic runs along RT9

Don't forget to look into the Norwottuck rail trail from the Belchertown border to NHampton whic runs along RT9

I'm a fan of the trail during the week or during off hours but on weekends it can get pretty crowded. Plus unless they've repaved it since the last time I've ridden it (which admittedly was a year or two ago), it's probably in pretty bad shape. That being said you can always get back on the roads if the rail trail is too much of a PITA.

http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?pid=97993

You could follow some of the B2B route till Brattleboro VT anyways.

Rt20 to Rt9 to Albany, I definitely would not want to ride some sections of that


This would be one of the much better ways I'd go.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/to-albany