Northeast - Suffolk County LI bike ride route--any tips?

Here's my proposed route for tomorrow:

http://tinyurl.com/ye5ye53

Is anyone familiar with the roads between points B and D? I only really bike on the north shore so I've got no clue as to whether they are good or not. I've taken the route between points B and C from a cue sheet on the Huntington Bike Club site. Between points C and D I kind of just looked for safe roads via google street view and satellite images. Once in Riverhead I know I'll be alright. I think that my main concern is Riverhead-Hampton Bays Rd.



whole link for posterity, in case tinyurl stops working:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Iowa+St,+Selden,+NY+11784&daddr=S+Bicycle+Path+to:Manorville+Rd%2FManor-Yaphank+Rd%2FNorth+St+to:Mill+Rd+to:Meeting+House+Rd%2FOld+Meeting+House+Rd+to:Bellows+Pond+Rd+to:Pe conic+Ave+to:briermere+farms+to:4+iowa+st&hl=en&geocode=%3BFe8ibwIdZ-Kl-w%3BFTovbwIdkzCo-w%3BFam2bgIdv5Sr-w%3BFTYBbwIdUuar-w%3BFeG0bwIdDgat-w%3BFVxUcAIduEGr-w%3BFQAccQIdkVSr-yGMQTO82gGu5ylfktVlt4voiTFZeXFmfTxe8A%3BFcjabwIdO5il-ynT2zYk0UboiTE2Z1YEuTxRow&mra=ls&via=2,4,5,6&dirflg=b&sll=40.889425,-72.78808&sspn=0.263695,0.625534&ie=UTF8&z=11&lci=bike

Just found this: https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/opdm/local-programs-bureau/biking

Looks like I have a pretty good route. Trying to be responsible today and staying off the bike (50+ yesterday and 70+ tomorrow but damn if it is not beautiful outside).

Hope you got some replies. I don't really know those roads.

Yeah, same here. I've ridden a few sections of this, but not enough to make a intelligent comment.

The route between D and E is completely wrong at that link, btw. I take Sound Ave, Wading River Rd, etc.

I'll let you guys know how the route is. I'm confident enough in it to give it a shot after some time on google maps and that DOT website.

Well, it was a beautiful day, except for the ocean breeze from the SE for the first 40 miles of my trip, and missing maybe 4 turns. I printed my cue sheet after midnight the night before, and stupidly didn't notice that I messed up the directions in Riverhead. I got pretty lost and ended up on Middle Country/58, which is a horrible road to bike on, for a few miles until I spotted a familiar road (Mill Road) and began to head north. I still felt good enough to complete the optional Milan-San Remo-like finish by climbing every major hill into Port Jefferson from the East, and then climbing South out of town to complete my journey. I think that I had 83 miles on the clock by the time I was done.


Other than that it was a great trip and all of the roads between Granny Rd and Riverhead were great for cycling. Riverhead-Hampton Bays Rd turned out to be especially nice. It actually has a giant marked bike lane shoulder, though there was a good amount of little debris on it from the recent storms. If anyone uses these directions, I hope you are better at following a cue sheet than I. I will post updated directions in a bit.

As an aside, somewhere between Port Jefferson and the end of the trip I got a huge carpet staple stuck in my rear wheel. I did not notice until I got back, even though my tire apparently had about 10 psi left in it. I thought that my wheel felt maybe 5-10 psi down. There was no unsure handling, I wasn't bottoming the rim out. In short, I think that I have become a tubeless tire fanboy. Or at least I will be once I figure out a good method of patching them on the road (I don't really want to run any slime type stuff). It turns out that I can't just use vulcanizing patches on the inside of the tire like I thought that I could.

edit:

updated: http://tinyurl.com/yl84pc4


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Iowa+St,+Selden,+NY+11784&daddr=S+Bicycle+Path+to:Manorville+Rd%2FManor-Yaphank+Rd%2FNorth+St+to:Mill+Rd+to:Main+St+to:Meeting+House+Rd%2FOld+Meeting+House+Rd+to:Bellows+Po nd+Rd+to:Riverhead-Hampton+Bays+Rd+to:Peconic+Ave+to:briermere+farms+to:Sound+Ave+to:Sound+Ave+to:N+Country+Rd+to:Lower +Rocky+Point+Rd+to:N+Country+Rd+to:Old+Post+Rd+to:E+Broadway+to:E+Broadway+to:N+Country+Rd+to:40.885 032,-73.034234&geocode=FXbbbwIdr5al-ymFWEA90UboiTGJ0yuEFncd7A%3BFe8ibwIdZ-Kl-w%3BFTovbwIdkzCo-w%3BFam2bgIdv5Sr-w%3BFXW9bgIdFqyr-w%3BFTYBbwIdUuar-w%3BFeG0bwIdDgat-w%3BFUPnbwIdYuKs-w%3BFVxUcAIduEGr-w%3BFQAccQIdkVSr-yGMQTO82gGu5ylfktVlt4voiTFZeXFmfTxe8A%3BFYcQcQId7YOq-w%3BFVbRcAId2Aap-w%3BFTXocAIdikyo-w%3BFQYEcQIdKqKm-w%3BFbXucAIdkOql-w%3BFWLVcAId-o2l-w%3BFabTcAId7EGl-w%3BFWTOcAIdLg6l-w%3BFX6lcAIdfnql-w%3B&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=3&mrsp=19&sz=15&via=2,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18&dirflg=b&sll=40.889055,-73.030028&sspn=0.025435,0.054374&ie=UTF8&ll=40.94036,-73.034964&spn=0.050831,0.108747&z=14&lci=bike

This is a little late, but...

North St and Mill Road, running just north of 495 in the vicinity of Manorville, are very nice. Very quiet, very rural, and quite hilly (for LI). It goes through oak and pine forest mostly. I usually approach this from Weeks Av at the west, which is nice; and have taken Edwards / Nugent at the other end; this is not nice, and I'll be looking for an alternative next time I go riding out there.

This is a little late, but...

North St and Mill Road, running just north of 495 in the vicinity of Manorville, are very nice. Very quiet, very rural, and quite hilly (for LI). It goes through oak and pine forest mostly. I usually approach this from Weeks Av at the west, which is nice; and have taken Edwards / Nugent at the other end; this is not nice, and I'll be looking for an alternative next time I go riding out there.

+1 on North Street / Mill Road
I occasionally ride from Great Neck and meet my wife at Tanger Mall and approach Riverhead this way from L.I.E. Service / Motor Parkway / L.I. Avenue. Just note on this route there are no fueling points after William Floyd Pkwy until Riverhead.

Meeting your wife at Tanger. That is a great plan!

As far as fueling, for the last two hours I was munching on these: http://www.truenorthsnacks.com/#/pecan-almond

I saw them laying around and looked at the nutritional facts. They are friggin' great! Lots of good stuff, not too salty, not too sweet, not too sticky, and the perfect size. I had a planned stop at Briermere where I was going to feast on something pie-like but never made it and felt great anyway.