lgtando

Hi! I'm getting ready to ride with a small group of friends from New York to Boston. I have experience touring, but not much here on the East Coast. Can anyone here who has done this ride recommend a good, scenic, minimal-traffic route?

All the best for a great autumn!,
Lgtando

PS: We'll be leaving from upper Westchester, not New York City.

metzenberg

When I tried to ride the Air Line State Trail in Connecticut in 2008 I discovered that it was more of a theoretical trail than a real trail. Even though it shows on maps, large sections are unimproved right-of-way, sometimes composed of a rocky railroad underbed called "ballast." Other sections are simply overgrown, and bridges are missing. The complete sections are near the western end of the trail. Parts of the trail in Connecticut and Massachusetts have been acquired, but no work has ever been done to turn them into a bike trail. Perhaps that has changed since 2008. I would be happy to hear of it.

For a relatively flat route, you might take a ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson, follow the north shore, cross Shelter Island to the south fork, and continue out to Montauk. At Montauk, you can catch other ferries to Block Island, Rhode Island, and so forth. Then from southern Massachusetts or Rhode Island, you can ferry hop via Martha's Vineyard if you so choose, to Cape Cod and end your trip into Boston by taking the ferry from Provincetown, Cape Cod, to Boston.

The Impossipede

How long is the tour going to be? A tour you gotta do in two days might call for a different route than one you had a week to noodle around on.

Is there a minimum daily mileage you have to hit? Are there any chuckleheads in the group who might not be able to make those goals if the route is too hilly? Or who might get freaked out riding through a bigger city?