Boston to Hartford, CT

[the_doctor]

Does anyone have a route from Boston to Hartford? It looks like it could be a lot of climbing and I know that some of those roads like #6 or #44 are loaded with traffic and dangerous twists.
please advise.

thanks
bill

[gz_]

Check out the Adventure Cycling maps: http://adventurecycling.org/routes/atlanticcoast.cfm?pg=detail&s=1

This route goes from Bar Harbor, ME to Windsor Locks, CT but Windsor Locks is near Hartford and there is a spur which connects this route to Boston (although it's a bit out of the way.)

[murbike]

Does anyone have a route from Boston to Hartford? It looks like it could be a lot of climbing and I know that some of those roads like #6 or #44 are loaded with traffic and dangerous twists.
please advise.

thanks
bill


I live outside of Hartford.
I've never ridden to or from Boston, but I've driven it on backroads.

I would stay away from 6 and 44. They're pretty direct, but very hilly (can't avoid that in E Connecticut), and narrow in many places.

Try going West on 20 through Wayland down to Sturbridge. I drove this recently, and while there was a lot of traffic in some places, there were lots of cyclists, and the road was pretty decent.

From Sturbridge, you can either go further West to Springfield and then head south to Hartford, or go SouthWest, through Holland, Ma to 190 in Stafford, and follow that to Rt 5, go South, and then cross the river to Hartford.

I recommend that you stay on the Eastern side of the Connecticut River until you get to East Hartford. The North End of Hartford can get pretty scary.

No matter which way you go, there will be major hilliness.

Good Luck

[the_doctor]

I live outside of Hartford.
I've never ridden to or from Boston, but I've driven it on backroads.

I would stay away from 6 and 44. They're pretty direct, but very hilly (can't avoid that in E Connecticut), and narrow in many places.

Try going West on 20 through Wayland down to Sturbridge. I drove this recently, and while there was a lot of traffic in some places, there were lots of cyclists, and the road was pretty decent.

From Sturbridge, you can either go further West to Springfield and then head south to Hartford, or go SouthWest, through Holland, Ma to 190 in Stafford, and follow that to Rt 5, go South, and then cross the river to Hartford.

I recommend that you stay on the Eastern side of the Connecticut River until you get to East Hartford. The North End of Hartford can get pretty scary.

No matter which way you go, there will be major hilliness.

Good Luck

To be honest my destination would be 15 miles north east of Hartford. I live south of Boston. It seems counterproductive to head to route 20.

Google maps can create a route of 90 miles from my location through Pawtucket, RI. It goes along Rt 44 and takes Route 171 and other roads after crossing the border into CT.

How is 171? What are the hills like in Pomfret?

thanks
bill

[murbike]

To be honest my destination would be 15 miles north east of Hartford. I live south of Boston. It seems counterproductive to head to route 20.

Google maps can create a route of 90 miles from my location through Pawtucket, RI. It goes along Rt 44 and takes Route 171 and other roads after crossing the border into CT.

How is 171? What are the hills like in Pomfret?

thanks
bill


WICKED HILLY.

Combine that with the fact that 44 is the most direct route from Hartford to Providence (trucks), and the fact that the State Police are the local cops (spread thin), and you couldn't pay me to ride that route.

Click this link, and then scroll to the bottom to see the elevation profile:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=212983

[spokenword]

Google maps can create a route of 90 miles from my location through Pawtucket, RI. It goes along Rt 44 and takes Route 171 and other roads after crossing the border into CT.

How is 171? What are the hills like in Pomfret?

DEADLY.

I just did a 240 mile ride from Provincetown to Westfield, MA that winded through Falmouth, New Bedford, Providence, Putnam, Pomfret, Stafford Springs and Windsor Locks, so it's sort of in the area that you're contemplating. The Providence -> Putnam -> Pomfret section was definitely the most challenging of the lot, but it wasn't impossible -- filled with what we call 5-and-50's (5 mph up, 50 mph down). We had already done about 160 miles by the time I got to Putnam and I was bonking due to a stomach bug that was keeping me from eating properly -- but, you know, just hang out in the granny gear and we all will get ot the top eventually.

Here's our route. (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/118438).

For Providence to Putnam, I would definitely recommend taking our route and avoiding Rt. 44 until you get to Chepachet. 44 between Chepachet and Providence is a high speed rural highway with an untidy shoulder, the northern detour through Greenville and up Austin Ave to Evans Rd. takes you through some really pretty rolling farmland.

44 between Chepachet and Putnam is a bunch of steady climbs -- you don't get anything really nasty until you cross the Quinnebaug River. Then that's where all the fun begins. When you get to Pomfret, at the intersection of 44/244 and 169, do stop in the Vanilla Bean. Great food, good coffee, and there's a penny farthing hanging from the ceiling. It's also not the climb into Pomfret that's the toughest, but the climb out along 244. So fortifying yourself at the Vanilla Bean is a good idea.

From there, you've got a rider'ss choice of approaches to Stafford Springs. You could either take 74 and follow our route to Ruby Road (330) and stop at a TA plaza truckstop for lunch, then climb this short knee buster after crossing I-84, but then enjoy a fun screamer of a descent into Stafford Springs, or you can take the more moderate route and skip Ruby Road altogether, and instead head further west on 74, then go north on River St. (Rt 32), which follows the Willamantic River and is a pretty flat section).

From Stafford Springs, Rt. 140 West to Ellington is a short climb into the Connecticut River Valley, followed by 10 miles of glorious descending. Flying down this track was a great reward for enduring the climbs through Pomfret.

[bktourer1]

Get the Rubels bike maps. I came back from Boston to Springfield via the commuter train to Worcester and back roads to Sturbridge. RT 20 to Springfield. You come this way you can camp in my yard and I can put you on the way to Hartford.

Ed

[mcccxxv]

I have done this ride a few times and it is wicked hilly, but load of fun on nice back country road.

I usually take the commuter rail to Westborough, MA, and then ride about 100 miles or so following the Adventure Cycling Atlantic route (http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/atlanticcoast.cfm). That route goes right through Westborough train station and drops you off at BDL.

If you have a GPS (I use Garmin Edge 705), you can download the route map from the web site and just follow your GPS.