Northeast - Question about Assateague Island

I'm planning a ride up the Atlantic Coast and want to ride on the Delmarva Peninsula. In checking things out, it doesn't looks like I can't ride a bike from Chincoteague up to Assateague Island due to no paved roads (I ride with 28cc tires). Instead, I will have to bypass them.

Is this correct?

Thanks,

Ray

check the site assateagueisland.com

I have camped at Chin. and we road on bike paths there to the beaches

There was a recent discussion about the bridge crossings (check Southeast and Touring forums) and I recall reading and maybe posting to one with a similar question as your's but can't find it now. Check the National Park Service website for Assateague. The problem is the road connecting the north end (paved, used by the Seagull Century) to the south (bridges to Chincoteague crossing the channel where they do the annual pony swim) is a sand track, not paved. There are policies allowing a limited number of 4WD vehicles into that area at some times of the year; the Park could tell you what the restrictions are for bicycles. I do not know if the road is passable on 28mm tires, let alone with a loaded bike. My own guess is I'd want tires a wee wider and would drop the inflation pressure to about as low as I could go without pinch flatting.

I've gone riding on other sections (mostly in MD) of the DelMarVa and enjoyed it - flat, usually well paved shoulders and few roads that are AVOID (Rt 50 is the biggee). Kent County (NW bay side of DelMarVa) has a good bike route section on the county web site. Check Baltimore and Annapolis bike clubs for route ideas, too. Expect lots of bugs and mosquitoes around Chincoteague and Assateague, and in summer, it will be hot and muggy. You cannot ride across the Bay Bridge from Kent Island to Annapolis, btw. Have fun.

You measure your tires in cubic centimeters (cc)? I presume you mean 28 mm. It's been quite a few years since my last visit to Assateague, but at that time the roads were easily passable with that tire width. But there can be quite a bit of drifting sand on the island and, as mentioned, check with the NPS on their current rules for the bridges.