Touring - New York - Boston October 2011 - a Brit Abroad

Good Morning to you all. I'm hoping for a little advice and help

In October 2011 my wife and three of her girlfriends, who now live in the US, are planning a "road trip" from New York to Boston. I think the other ladies will be travelling further and meeting up with my wife in New York.

I'm thinking of joining them but as a cycle tour rather than car trip so I'm looking for a little general advice to help the initial decision. From doing a little research it looks as though a section of the Atlantic Coast route would be a good basis for planning. The reviews look good, are they realistic?

Thinking more practically I'd like to get an idea of the potential weather conditions, I have this vision of wonderful autumn colour and bright, cool days. Secondly I'm wondering whether to bring my own bike or if it is possible to hire a quality touring bike in NY? My final concern at the moment is if I were to bring my own bike how simple / difficult will it be to get from say JFK, La Gardia or Newark out in to cycle friendly territory? Would chosing the a particular airport make this easier? I haven't been to NY for 30 years and I imagine it's busy!!

I'm 56, experienced club rider, happy to ride 80-90 miles at 14/15 mph with the club and usually tour at around 50-70 miles per day depending on the terrain, areas of interest etc. I tend to travel quite light with just two small panniers and use B&Bs or small hotels for accomodation.

I'd bring your own bike and pack light. I packed by bike and stuff into a soft sided bag when I flew from Boston to Hearthrow and it worked out fantastically. The section on packing is a bit down the page.

http://wheelsofchance.org/england-2009/

As far as getting out of NYC I can't offer any specific route advice, however, I'd consider using the Subway to get through most of the city. Also, what about heading west along Long Island and take a ferry from the end of it to new London CT and then just head up up to Boston

I haven't been to NY for 30 years and I imagine it's busy!!Things have gotten better bike-wise in the last 30 years.

JFK has a train that goes between the airport terminals and the outside world. http://www.panynj.gov/airports/pdf/jfk-airtrain-brochure-english.pdf You can take your bike on it. It will cost you $5, if you get out at either Howard Beach or Jamaica. The Lefferts Blvd stop will put you on the street for free.

I've done the NYC-Boston route in 2 days as a club ride (110 miles/day). We go out on Long Island and take the New London-Orient Point Ferry. https://www.longislandferry.com/default.aspx I've also gone by way of Connecticut and prefer the LI route.

The Long Island Rail Road http://www.mta.info/ allows you to carry your bike on its off-peak commuter trains. This means you can take the Air Train to Jamaica for $5 and take an LIRR train as far away from NYC as you wish. Trains run hourly to Ronkonkoma, which is 60 miles from Orient Point.

New York State publishes a pretty good bike suitability map for Long Island. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/opdm/local-programs-bureau/repository/bicycle/regional-bicycle-routes/region10/map.html (https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/opdm/local-programs-bureau/repository/bicycle/regional-bicycle-routes/region10/map.html)

Connecticut also publishes a bike map. http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=1380&q=259662

Ditto for Rhode Island http://www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri/.

You will need the Connecticut map to figure out how to cross the I95 bridge from New London to Groton.

After sleeping over in Groton, the route I used to take to Boston was as follows:

CT 184 to CT 216
CT 216 to RI 216
RI 216 to Ashaway & RI 3
RI 3 to RI 33
RI 33 to RI 116
RI 116 to RI 104
RI 104 to RI 126
RI 126 to MA 126
MA 126 to MA 109
MA 109 to Boston City Limits