simonnyc

hi everyone,

i'm planning a bike tour from nyc to providence, RI, and am currently researching routes. though i'm a relatively fit, long-time road cyclist, this will be my first bike tour and i'm not terribly familiar with the east coast outside the immediate nyc metropolitan area. so i'm wondering if any of you seasoned tourers in the region had route advice for this journey. i'd like something low-traffic, relatively uncomplicated to navigate, and reasonably direct, but i realize those things may be mutually exclusive.

right now, US route 1 seems like the most direct and simple way to go, but i'm not familiar at all with the highway conditions - is this a reasonable way to go? traffic volume just too high? are there any smaller highways that more or less parallel this route? any help would be much appreciated - thanks!

axolotl

I would think that route 1 would be awful. Why not take a ferry from Long Island. You could take a ferry from Montauk to Block Island, and then another one from there to mainland RI.

https://www.vikingfleet.com/vikingnew...d=57&zoneid=15

I think there are plenty of other ferries you could take from Long Island to Connecticut.

mthayer

One thing is to check with the NY Transportation Department. They should have information on bike routes, as well as traffic statistics on roads. They should have a list of roads that under construction or are scheduled to go in to construction. Once you have a route planned out, I would check with them and make sure that everything is good on your route.

wheelgrabber

Axolotl has it right. As long as you don't have an accident and fall over the railing while touring around the ferry decks you should be much safer than riding Rt 1.

What are the preferred tires for riding on wet ferry decks? I suppose there are diamond plate specific.

We are from Mystic, Ct. I have ridden all over the state. Rt 1 is a nice ride especially up our way. They problem spots are the cities of Bridgeport & New Haven. Crossing the Bridge in New London is a breeze. You could follow the shoreline all the way to Providence. Rhode Island is easy as pie. Mystic, Watch Hill, Naragansett, and Wickford(south of Warwick on the shoreline) are all great stopping points.

I would consider riding up Long Island and taking the short ferry to New London. They ferry ride will give your legs a nice break and its a beautiful ferry ride.

So Many Roads

try this inland route


/me loves the new Google bike maps

johnnyk

Read through this thread, has some good info.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ly-and-legally

simonnyc

thanks for the tips, everyone! i haven't had great experience with the new google bike maps yet, but So Many Roads' route looks at least marginally better than the one i came up with. how's the elevation profile if i were to just take route 1?

rogerstg

Except that points 224 to 228 take you through some of the worse slum areas of Providence. Better to work your way east while still in Cranston and get over to the Narragansett Parkway. Much safer that way.