Originally Posted by
cc_rider
A lot of the purple roads on the NJ map that I'm familiar with I have no problem with biking on . . . What the NJ map needs is what many other bike maps have, another designation for roads that are not safe for bikes.
Yes I know some normal-thick-
purple-line roads on njbikemap.com that I happily ride on (also selected sections of thick-
red-line roads).
Actually a bigger factor for me than driveways and intersections is parked cars. I don't like the idea of weaving in and out of the main traffic lane (or having drivers think that I ought to weave in and out of the traffic lane), and I don't like the possibility of dying by getting "doored" (or having lots of ignorant car-drivers think I ought to ride close enough to the parked cars so that I could die by getting doored). So on my own private detailed map of my home area (which really includes all the little roads) I identify some road-segments with parked-car problems.
The Massachusetts bike maps published by Rubel make some attempt to identify roads less suitable for bicycling. But still it's a very tricky thing. And they do want you to
pay to use their maps.
Originally Posted by
cc_rider
Are you the Ken Roberts of the bikehudson site.
Yes. All the time Sharon and I were exploring and writing those routes in upstate New York, we were living in New Jersey. Though I was raised in the Mid-Hudson area, I didn't do hardly any riding up there until I was an adult living in NJ. Far as I know, everyone who published serious bike routes for the Mid-Hudson region lived somewhere else while they did it. When you're a local your perspective is different.
Originally Posted by
cc_rider
Been wanting to try the NYH route. Is the route info up to date?
Funny I was thinking of riding
around New York Harbor tomorrow -- but Sharon is more thinking of going up to Nyack.
No, it's not "up to date" -- or at least I don't
know that it's currently accurate. A way to tell is to click on the "Reports" link, and check some of the recent reports . . . Looks like the last time I was on the "New York Harbor Circle" was more than two years ago.
"up to date" is a good question, because Sharon and I have been riding up in New York less often than we used to, and our style of riding has shifted somewhat toward silly things
like this. So I've started putting dates on more stuff on the Bike Hudson Valley website, so that people have a clue how much to worry if roads or bridges might have changed - (and they do change).
I suspect that "things keep changing" will also be a problem for njbikemap.com
Ken