Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - NYC to Boston or Boston to NYC - in one day?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?603360-New-York-to-Boston-in-1-day

I'd like to try this soon; if any of you guys have experience, please chime in.
regards,
Ctech

If someone is interested in leaving from NYC, you can count me in. As long as it's on a weekend.

The wind will usually be more favorable going from NYC to Boston.

Hi Ctech, I've ridden NYC to Boston as part of the now defunct AIDSride series back in 2002. I've also done several brevet/endurance rides around New England (mostly MA, VT, NH and northern RI & CT) and have ridden around New York when I was out there for work. I generally agree with some of the feedback that you got in the other forum. It is possible to do your route as long and relatively flat or short and hilly, but not both. The northeastern corner of CT around Putnam and Stafford Springs is all rolling hills with varying levels of steepness; and quite comparable to the terrain that you may have seen in the East Bay if you've ridden around Northern California. All that terrain is present in the shortest path between New York and Boston. If you want something flatter, you'll have to continue heading east from New Haven and cut through RI from the Pachaug Forest, but that adds a bit more to your overall distance.

I think that, with proper conditioning, it's certainly do-able in a day, with loose definitions of what that day might be -- certainly doable in 24 hours. You should budget a fair amount of time for getting out of NYC. The NY-Boston AIDSride started at Bear Mountain largely because it would've been a nightmare to get that many cyclists out of Manhattan in good order; and also, from my experience of riding around New York, you aren't going to be able to really cruise until you get well out of the five boroughs. The traffic is just too dense and heavy.

I'd say that you should go for it but, if possible, aim for it in the spring or summer, when the hours are longer and you have more daylight to work with ... or at the very least, bring some good lights. If you have sufficient luggage carrying capactiy and don't mind the weight, bringing all of your food and water and eating on the go will save you a lot of time, but it's also possible, given the density of the Northeast Corridor, that you can just forage from stores all along the way. You're never going to be more than two or three miles from a convenience store, but keep in mind that stopping at stores and foraging eats into your overall time, so you'll likely have to hustle on your stops to stay on schedule.

If I lived in either one, I'd saddle up and pedal like hell for Texas.