Touring - Biking coast to coast`

Would people recommend taking back roads or taking highways and all that garbage? I've heard both arguments

Rather than either/or I would suggest both and throw in some bike paths and even dirt roads in for variety.I find after too much time on one kind of riding condition another can be a refreshing change.

Almost like asking which is better, oranges or apples! You and only you can answer the question to your own satisfaction. As for me, give me a backroad any day of the week. For me it's the traveling and not the finish I seek. I want to get the smell of the place.
Wells

Well, I guess I'm asking because I need to be in philly by th 12th, I plan on leaving tommorow and was wondering what would get me there fastest


This is leaving from the Syracuse CNY area

I agree with RWTD--go for variety. I like sticking mostly to backroads, but on a cross-country you'll sometimes have no alternative to taking highways. No problem--enjoy them all; deal with what comes. More importantly, try to take roads you've never, ever been on. That makes for a better disconnect from life as you know it, and I think that's what you should aim for. Don't dilute your "first time" (if that's what this is) with too many familiar things.

Lew

Oops--I didn't see your post showing location and timetable.

From Syracuse, I'd recommend going south on 11A and then 11. You can pick up 281 to bypass Cortland if you want, or just continue on 11 all the way to Binghamton. Since speed is a consideration, the alternate, sometimes-parallel backroads are rather hilly and also less direct.

I see that 11 goes all the way to Scranton PA., following water a lot of the way (and not too hilly, according to my DeLorme maps).

From there, I like the looks of going SE on 307, picking up 435 and continuing on to pick up 611, which will take you to the Delaware River where you'll look across to NJ. Continuing southward on 611 (I've ridden this part) through Easton PA. Take a break and cruise the nearby cluster of historic buildings if you have time.

Continue on 611 (I don't see any good alternatives for a while). When you intersect with 413, you then have a choice. 413 looks like a lesser road, and drops you on the Levittown side of Phila, while 611 hits town west of center. Your choice.

Or.....

If, when you hit Binghamton, you find you're ahead of schedule, you might try taking in more of the Delaware Water Gap by finding Old 17 and riding eastward (I've done all of this part) to Deposit. Then use 17 itself (it's legal--not yet having become I-86--and is not at all bad for biking) and go to Hancock. Pick up 97 there and follow it (hilly in places, but beautiful--they make car commercials on one stretch) to Port Jervis, where you'll pick up 209 south into PA. That used to be a horrendous road with coal trucks, etc. but now it's quite civilized and should be a nice ride into Stroudsburg where you can pick up 611 and join the above route going south.

In PA, if you try to cut across, you really pay in hills. If you prefer another route, try to see a PA DeLorme map and check out the elevations to make sure you won't be climbing any walls. I've done pieces of all the abovementioned roads and don't think there should be many problems with them.

Another alternative....

Here is one "cut-across" that looks reasonable. It would shorten the ride, though you'd not get the Delaware Water Gap part. In fact, now that I look at it, it looks quite good. Here it is:

In Hancock, ask for directions to the little bridge to PA. Take that and turn left onto 191. Follow the river to Equinunk and continue, leaving the river behind. (Some hills the first 3 or 4 miles.) Continue on 191 to Honesdale and turn east on US6. Just past Wilsonville, turn right onto 402. That cuts across a fairly level run all the way to Marshalls Creek where you pick up 209 and then continue on it to Stroudsburg where you pick up 611 as above. That route 402 looks like a nicely remote, 30-35 mile stretch.

Best of luck,

Lew

Thanks everyone, expect lots of posts from pointless fest and my journey

Hello. Have you biked North Bound from Easton, PA to the Delaware Water Gap on Route 611? It appears to be pretty hilly. If you've biked along this stretch, let me know how it was. Thanks!

Mikesobel,

The late Ken Kifer rode a route from Easton, PA to Delaware Water Gap on one of his cross country rides. I don't know if this will help or not.

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/naty2k3.htm



After Easton, 611 first stays along the river, and I soak my shirt to cope with the heat. Then it climbs away from the river and rolls up and down hills, and these climbs are not what I need. At one point, when turning and while walking, I discover a new, two CD album. I see some boys in front of a church, so I go down and offer them the CD, and one gets me some cold water to refill my bottles.

The sky gets black from an approaching storm, but there is no possible camping up here in farm country, and the narrow valley is also going to provide few opportunities. I come down off of the mountain having not seen anything that looks nice and roll into town. I ask at a gas station, and she tells me of a campground four miles in the wrong direction, but then suggests that I might be able to sleep behind the buildings. A check with the property owner and the policeman gets the nod, and so I put up my tent as the rain begins. It continues to rain fairly hard for most of the night. In the tent, I don't try to work with the laptop, as puddles of water are forming on either side and in the rear. However, I stay dry without problem

Day 26: In the morning, I first walk around to the store to get an orange juice and some donuts. Then I walk out over the river on the bridge. Then I go back and pack. The last time I went through the Delaware Water Gap, I was with a cyclist who wouldn't slow down, but this time I take my time. However, go as slow as I can, the gap does not last long, as it's only a few miles. Nonetheless, I stop and look at every point, including a "cave" that produces lots of cold air. I take some pictures, but it's really too foggy to expect them to turn out. When I go through the town, I stop and talk to several through-hikers, and I take a picture of the hotel where perhaps my grandparents stayed 100 years ago on their honeymoon. Notice how the building is right out into the road, common in Pennsylvania, and something I've never seen anywhere else. Some houses are so close to the road that a car would hit an open door.

On the other side of town, I get water and use the restroom at the info center, and I receive directions for the River Road. When I was riding through here with him on my 1993 trip, Mark had been so impatient to keep moving that he had missed our turn-off, and we had had to fight heavy traffic and even found ourselves going onto the interstate by accident. Now I take the road we should have taken, a ten mile journey through some very nice woods along with some fields. After I rejoin the main road, I stop at the visitor's center to find that camping is not allowed except for boaters and Appalachian Trail users. The woman who helps me also explains that I could have crossed the Delaware on the same bridge as the Appalachian Trail users to ride on the New Jersey side, which is more scenic and has less traffic. At the next store, I get a fairly expensive sub for lunch, but it's a good thing, as that is all I'll eat today beyond my donuts this morning and drinks.

Although the ride is pretty, the traffic is heavy, so I decide to cross over to New Jersey at Dingman's Bridge. I also intend to stop at some picnic table there, but not seeing an opportunity, I find a pleasant spot of woods. There I nap and type for nearly three hours.

At the bridge, there is a toll and a sign for bicyclists to stop, but the toll gatherer, who collects in both directions, waves me on. It's a wooden bridge across the Delaware, not very wide. The first part of the New Jersey side is wooded and very nice, with almost no traffic. Along the way, I find a few raspberries to eat, but not many. I also look for the youth hostel marked on the map, but when I get there, I find a wire to block traffic.

I see that 11 goes all the way to Scranton PA., following water a lot of the way (and not too hilly, according to my DeLorme maps).
Lew
Watch out in Scranton. I just came through there on US 11 and that becomes an expressway! Fortunately we came through on a Sat so traffic was light, but it is like an interstate. I would imagine it would be very nasty during the week. I'm not even sure it was leagal to be on it.