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Old 07-02-16, 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Dahon.Steve
Wow! I had no idea Bolt bus was so cheap! How are they doing this when Greyhound charges 3-4 times that much? The fare box at 22 dollars basically covers gas, salary and insurance but not much else. It's cost about that much to take NJ Transit to the Jersey shore!

I like Greyhound but it is expensive but the buses are clean and air conditioned. There is a bathroom on the bus and some have wifi. I like the fact they will put your bike in a box. I did see a movie while coming up from Virginia beach. However, you do pay for all these services limiting your travel.

However, $22.00 dollars is a scream! I'm going to do this and soon.
FYI, Bolt Bus is owned by Greyhound.

They save money by stopping on the street, rather than at a bus depot, and they do all their ticketing online, rather than at a ticket window. They used to stop at 8th Ave. and 34th St., but after politicking over curb space, they were forced to much less convenient 11th Ave. They started in order to compete with the Chinatown buses, who pioneered cheap fares up and down the Northeast Corridor.

Fares from New York to Philly are as low as $9, but can range to over $20, depending on demand, but in general they're much cheaper than taking NJ Transit and SEPTA (but since I can use pre-tax dollars to pay for mass transit, for me the price difference isn't that big, and the train is more pleasant; however, the trip is longer on the train).
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Old 07-04-16, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Dahon.Steve
Wow! I had no idea Bolt bus was so cheap! How are they doing this when Greyhound charges 3-4 times that much? The fare box at 22 dollars basically covers gas, salary and insurance but not much else. It's cost about that much to take NJ Transit to the Jersey shore!

I like Greyhound but it is expensive but the buses are clean and air conditioned. There is a bathroom on the bus and some have wifi. I like the fact they will put your bike in a box. I did see a movie while coming up from Virginia beach. However, you do pay for all these services limiting your travel.

However, $22.00 dollars is a scream! I'm going to do this and soon.
As Wilfried noted, Bolt is owned by Greyhound; Megabus is a separate company. Both stop on streets (although the Amtrak stations in Philadelphia and Richmond don't have bus stops, so all the buses stop 1-2 blocks away).

Both Bolt and megabus use online reservations and normally have WiFi (works for maybe 1/2 the trip, doesn't allow streaming). Other passengers have told me they have more delays/late buses on one line or the other. My experience has been that it depends on traffic (all are late Fri afternoon, all fine late at night), and I haven't found Amtrak to be any better with their schedules than the buses.

For major stops (NY, Philadelphia) they're very good; Amtrak will have more service to medium cities like Baltimore or Wilmington.

I've had good experience with Bolt & Megabus.
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Old 07-05-16, 04:56 AM
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I was one of the last to get off. And when I got off, I found that he had taken the bike out of the cargo hold himself.
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Old 07-05-16, 07:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Ferdinand NYC

Regarding my epic bike trip: I have changed my mind; I have postponed it for a week. The forecasts of rain and cool temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic states convinced me. Next week is supposed to be much hotter.
Our local 4th of July ride was a hit, 122 riders showed up. Weather was superb. The weather did change in the afternoon. Rained, sometimes hard all afternoon and more in the night. Most fireworks were postponed. Probably a good choice to stay home.
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Old 07-05-16, 07:23 AM
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Originally Posted by balto charlie
Our local 4th of July ride was a hit, 122 riders showed up. Weather was superb. The weather did change in the afternoon. Rained, sometimes hard all afternoon and more in the night. Most fireworks were postponed. Probably a good choice to stay home.
I am glad you had a good time before the rains came.

I am gambling that I will have better weather next week down there. Meanwhile, the weather up here will be glorious; so it will be a good time to be here. And I have another week to study the maps.
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Old 07-11-16, 11:08 AM
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I made it to Philadelphia on Sunday, a trip of 114 miles. I wish the weather had been hotter, though.

I have altered the plan a bit. Instead of having a rest day in Washington on Wednesday, I decided to do the rest day here in Philly. My arrival past 8pm would have made getting to bed in time for taking the all-day ride the next day a bit difficult, especially considering the need to go out and get some food.

Also, the other legs of the trip are only 2/3 the length of the New York / Philadelphia leg. So I thought that the rest day was best applied here.

I am going to eat early, study the map, and go to bed early, so as to get a nice early start tomorrow. I have to admit that I am a bit nervous about travelling through unknown territory, and being far from big cities. I am a decidedly urban person; being in the suburbs makes me uncomfortable, and being in a rural area makes me really uncomfortable. So this will be a challenge on several levels.

One problem that I had (once again) was the excessive weight on my neck. I had to make several stops just to take the bags off, even though this time I was carrying several bags, and had draped them over both shoulders. Finally, I hit on the solution of putting these luggage bags in plastic bags, and just suspending them from the handlebars, as I do when coming back from shopping. It's a bit inelegant; but it saved my shoulders and neck.

I know that many people use panniers on their back wheels; maybe I should have considered that.

Anyway, let's see how the rest of the trip goes.

Last edited by Ferdinand NYC; 07-11-16 at 09:02 PM.
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Old 07-12-16, 10:51 PM
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After a luxurious off-day in Philadelphia on Monday, I made it to Perryville, Maryland on Tuesday.

It was a trip of 85 miles, the first 20 of which were in Philadelphia itself. (Similarly, in the leg of the trip from New York to Philly, the first 17 miles were all within New York.) The last 25 miles or so of Tuesday's trip was on U.S. 40, which has a bike lane. For long stretches, that road was flat. To be able to just open it up and steadily pedal in 24th gear while cruising at 20 miles per hour was a rare pleasure.

It makes one realise that all highways should have bike lanes. Bike lanes alongside major highways would take up virtually no room, and would open up all kinds of possibilities for long-distance riding -- even if the scenery on such a trip wouldn't be very interesting.

As I implied, while the ride on U.S. 40 was fun in the flat sections, there was little to see on the way, just giant stores and too many billboards.

And then the flatness went away. Egad! Instead of going at a constant 20 miles per hour, I would fluctuate between coasting at speeds approaching 30 miles per hour and climbing at 5 miles per hour.

While crawling along I realised that this road has no lights! Holy crap! It must be murder at night, a featureless hellscape lit only by the headlamps of the passers-through. Honestly, who thought that this was a good idea? For this alone, Earth would be kept out of the Federation.

Anyway, it is now past my bedtime. The goal is to get to Washington on Wednesday.

And if I can do that, I will declare victory, and go home on the Bolt Bus. The original plan had been to ride home as well. But I now think that going one way would count as enough of an achievement.

Last edited by Ferdinand NYC; 07-13-16 at 04:42 AM.
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Old 07-13-16, 03:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Ferdinand NYC
After a luxurious off-day in Philadelphia on Monday, I made it to Perryville, Maryland on Tuesday.

It was a trip of 85 miles, the first 20 of which were in Philadelphia itself. (Similarly, in leg of the trip from New York to Philly, the first 17 miles were all within New York.) The last 25 miles or so of Tuesday's trip was on U.S. 40, which has a bike lane. ...

As I implied, while the ride on U.S. 40 was fun in the flat sections, there was little to see on the way, just giant stores and too many billboards.

...

Anyway, it is now past my bedtime. The goal is to get to Washington on Wednesday.
Will you be bicycling across the Route 40 [Hatem] bridge Wednesday? I believe going South(West) you won't have to deal with the toll but bicycle access is still new.

Let us know how the bridge is.
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Old 07-13-16, 04:51 AM
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Originally Posted by AngeloDolce
Will you be bicycling across the Route 40 [Hatem] bridge Wednesday? I believe going South(West) you won't have to deal with the toll but bicycle access is still new.

Let us know how the bridge is.
Yes, I am concerned about that. I was pleased to see a sign on U.S. 40 that announced the new system; it said that there would be a light flashing when a bicycle was on the bridge.

The person who checked me in at the hotel said that she, too, was curious about how that was going to work, but that they at the hotel had heard nothing about it. I suppose that I will give the hotel a call and let them know how it went, for the benefit of any other cyclists who eventually stop at this hotel.

Anyway, bike access on the bridge is only from 9am to 3pm on weekdays (and dawn to dusk on weekends); so I have to wait a bit before I set out.
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Old 07-13-16, 05:44 PM
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Because of a flat tire and a few rain delays, in addition to the need to start late in order to cross the bridge between Perryville and Havre de Grace, I could make it only as far as Baltimore today.

The crossing was easy enough. The right lane is separated off by cones. A cyclist hits a button that resembles the button that pedestrians push for the "walk" signal. Immediately yellow lights start flashing. There are several signs telling drivers that bicyclists will be found on the bridge. And I saw two cops on the bridge. Supposedly they are there to make sure this goes smoothly. But their car was parked in the lane being used as a bike lane! So the most dangerous bit of the crossing was the moment when I had to go around that police car. Fortunately, the drivers in the car lane slowed down in order to make this chokepoint a little easier.

To make matters more interesting, it was while I was on the bridge that I noticed that my front tire had gone flat. And it was when I got off the bridge that I discovered that there are no bike shops in Havre de Grace, nor in Perryville, nor in Aberdeen. The nearest ones were ten miles away. So, in hopes of avoiding that detour, I decided to see if the leak was slow enough that I could just top it up periodically until I made it to Baltimore. Luckily for me, that worked.

The two rain delays were short; the skies threatened to open up, but sent down only light rain. Still, all of this was enough to make me alter the plan of continuing to Washington, and to settle in here in Baltimore for the night.

From what little I have seen, Baltimore seems to want to be a bike-friendly city; but several of its major streets (Lombard, Pratt) are suburban-level awful. On the other hand, roads such as St. Paul Street and Guilford Avenue have some beautiful bike lanes.

Also, the Inner Harbor Days Inn has a most bike-unfriendly policy of not allowing the bike to be brought to the room. I hadn't experienced that in any other hotel, and I didn't expect it here, which is why I didn't ask about it before I made the reservation. If I had known about this, I would have gone to a different hotel.

I don't know how much more of the city I will see tomorrow morning before I set out for Washington. But I hope to see a little. I will definitely got up to the site of Memorial Stadium, now a public park, where they have laid out a diamond in the same location as the one in the ballpark.

Last edited by Ferdinand NYC; 07-13-16 at 05:53 PM.
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Old 07-14-16, 09:41 PM
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Success! I've done it! I can now proudly state that I rode my bicycle from New York to Washington. I am quite pleased with myself right now; I feel like I have won a championship.

I imagine that the denizens of Rhode Island Avenue were wondering why a strangely mustachioed sun-bronzed little man in sweat-stained clothing was exulting while standing in front of the "Welcome to Washington D.C." sign; but I don't care. I was having my moment.

And perhaps this would be a good time to more-or-less retire from the long-distance game. I will admit that I really can't handle the hills very well; and the planet Earth outside New York City seems to be full of them. Having done this epic ride, I think I can now concentrate more on my own city once again.

But right now is a period of celebration, of revelling in an accomplishment that I will cherish. This is my "the guy who..." thing. Just as Roger Maris is "the guy who broke Babe Ruth's record" and Chubby Checker is "the guy who sings 'Let's Do the Twist'", I can now be "the guy who rode from New York to Washington". This makes me very happy.

But, even as I am walking around feeling that I conquered the world, I also know that the world conquered me. The original intent was to ride to Washington and back. But I eventually decided (self-servingly) that just getting here is a worthy enough feat.

Even though I did only half of what I had set out to do, I am nevertheless very gratified to have been able to do as much as I did. This counts as a very special day for me.
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Old 07-15-16, 07:59 AM
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Congrats on your adventure! Did you take photos along the way?
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Old 07-15-16, 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by birru
Congrats on your adventure! Did you take photos along the way?
Having taken plenty of pictures in previous visits to Philadelphia and Washington, I didn't do that there this time. But I did take a few in Baltimore.

(It seems that I cannot attach images while using the mobile interface; I'll put them up when I get to a computer.)

I thought later that I should have taken a shot or two of U.S. 40. But on the secton from Perryville to Baltimore, I was more concerned with my leaky tire. On the earlier section between Bear, Delaware and Perryville, the ride was divided between moving rapidly along flat terrain (when I wasn't thinking of stopping for photos because I was having too much fun) and struggling with undulating hilly terrain (when I wasn't thinking of stopping for photos because I was chagrined).

Of course, I did wind up stopping whenever I needed to get a drink or use a rest room. I even stopped once a day to eat, which is a rare thing for me during my normal bike rides. (Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonder food, by the way. I carried them, as well as whole-wheat wraps.) But I didn't do any picture-taking at the public parks in Woodbridge, NJ, Wilmington, DE, and Maryland City (I think), MD that I used as my lunchrooms.

Also, I remember thinking how nice downtown Wilmington looked, and how comforting it was to find another real city on the route. But I didn't add any extra stops for pictures then, either.

So, anyway, when I can I will put up the few shots I took in Baltimore.
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Old 07-24-16, 06:34 PM
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I'm on my second visit to Baltimore, this time having come down by Bolt Bus. The weather is spectacular, and I had a great time riding around today. I had no idea that Druid Hill Park was so nice (or, if I am going to be honest, that it even existed). I have another day here; I am going home by bus tomorrow (Monday) night.

I see that I mentioned last time that I was going to put up some pictures of Baltimore, but that I forgot to do that. I will be at a computer next on Wednesday; I will do it then.

One other note: this time the Days Inn didn't make me leave my bike in the valet room on the ground floor. The person who checked me in said nothing about the bike, so I just took it to the elevator and up to my (enormous) room.
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Old 07-27-16, 09:26 AM
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Here are some shots of cool things in Baltimore.

Brooks Robinson statue-bikeforums.jpg
Brooks Robinson statue


Johnny Unitas statue-bikeforums.jpg
Johnny Unitas statue


Babe Ruth statue-bikeforums.jpg
statue of Babe Ruth as a boy


Camden Yards numbers-bikeforums.jpg
the Orioles' retired numbers in the plaza outside Camden Yards


Camden Yards-bikeforums.jpg
a great view into Camden Yards from Eutaw Street


Memorial Stadium-bikeforums.jpg
At the site of the old Memorial Stadium up on 33rd Street, there is a public park that has a baseball diamond and football goalposts laid out in the same places where these were in the original ballpark.



There are several great parks in the city. Here is the trail leading to Gwynns Falls Park.

Gwynns Falls Trail 2-bikeforums.jpg

Soon after I took that shot, I was confronted with two large deer in the path! I turned my bike around and retreated, and I blew my horn a few times. The deer soon went back into the brush.

In Druid Hill Park, I passed the Rawlings Conservatory, and learnt that, at the adjacent tennis centre, there occurred in 1948 what probably was the first intgrated tennis match.

Rawlings Conserrvatory Druid Hill Park-bikeforums.jpg

So, that's a taste of what I saw.


The bike lanes were OK, where they existed. I mentioned Guilford Avenue and St. Paul Street earlier. There weren't very many other ones, unfortunately. In a few cases, the markings were worn away. Though the on-street connectors to the Jones Falls Path and then Gwynns Falls Path are very helpfully marked with green ovals saying either "JF" or "GF".

I was also pleased to see a little district resembling the old Times Square, with a Hustler Club and several other erotic-themed places. This was on Baltimore Street and Gay Street. Unfortunately, it was right near a police station; so I don't know how much fun one can really have down there.

Being in that town was very interesting; I really enjoyed riding all around it. I must say that the amount of run-down sections and the level of abject poverty were greater than I have seen in any other city. Whereas my hometown of New York and also Philadelphia and Washington seem to be vibrant and welcoming, Baltimore had to me a level of tension and despair that I didn't feel in any other town.

Please know that I am in no way knocking Baltimore or its residents! I am not one of those ugly idiots who seek to blame poverty on those suffering under it. While there were some moments of finding myself in sketchy surroundings, I did generally have a good time. I hope to go back some time. I was strongly tempted to swim in the big pool at Druid Hill Park; though I didn't want to give up riding time to do it. Also, I loved the huge spacious room in the hotel. Furthermore, I later found out that the opulent Lord Baltimore Hotel was available at the same rate, and that they accept bicycles with no problem. So maybe I will get back there and stay in Baltimore's version of the Waldorf-Astoria (but at about one quarter the price).

Last edited by Ferdinand NYC; 07-27-16 at 09:32 AM.
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Old 08-03-16, 06:22 AM
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Hey Ferdinand: Glad to see you made your epic ride. I wish I was around to ride w/ you when you were in Baltimore. Our cities biking infrastructure is growing. Bikemore (local advocacy group) is leading the charge and finally things are getting done. I was out of town, Colombia S.A. for a few weeks when you were down here. Next time drop me a line and I'll ride around w/ ya. lot of the green paths and parks were Olmsted designed/inspired. Congrats again.
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Old 08-06-16, 04:19 PM
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Thanks for the photos! I agree about your Baltimore comments. It's definitely a city of contrasts.
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