Old 05-28-20, 05:16 AM
  #2  
Jim from Boston
Senior Member
 
Jim from Boston's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times in 171 Posts
Bike Trip Status Update......Everything's cancelled!!!
Originally Posted by jppe
I've enjoyed riding different places and doing bike trips. My wife is a terrific sag person and likes to travel so that opens up all kinds of possibilities
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
We then had a celebratory dinner at a fine Boston seafood restaurant (Legal Seafood Harborside). We re-hashed our respective cross-country trips, including the current one with Jeri’s point of view.

While jp was away from the table, I asked her how she liked the trip…”I had a blast.”
All our normal larger organized rides in the Southeast have been cancelled.

I'm glad they are postponing the events. Heck, I'm not even ready to go back to eating in restaurants any time soon!! Just a sign of the times!!

So, starting to play with the idea of some 2 day/1 night self supported rides from the house just to do something different. The idea would be to ride to somewhere about 100 miles away, spend the night and ride back home the next day.

Or maybe do either 2 consecutive 100 mile days or a one day 200 miler to the NC coast where my sister has a condo. It sounds like the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trail have opened back up so that could also be a possibility but I've already checked that one of the list a couple of times already.

I was looking at riding from Bar Harbor to Key West but it sounds like routing might be an issue through some heavily traveled areas.

Maybe we'll just to the GAP/C&O in September to replace Bike Maine????

If you have some ideas of bike rides I might look at doing please share!
Hi @jppe,

I have often responded to travel queries in the US, based on my personal experiences. For example I have quoted this post about weekend trips with a non-cycling SO:
Originally Posted by jeff400650
"I'm taking off on another 2 day trip tomorrow"

I've been doing these fun rides lately... Pick a cool town about 50 or 60 scenic miles away. Book a nice room near town. Ride there (in my case, with my dog along). And then have my wife drive there to meet for a nice, romantic night on the town. It takes her an hour or two, to drive to where it takes me and my 20LB dog to get in a leisurely 6 hours or so. Some fine dining. A hike. Shopping. Maybe live music.

Next morning, charming breakfast, etc... Then I ride home, usually a different route.

It has been great. I get two days of serious riding, and she gets fun little get-a-ways close to home. We are exploring towns near us that we would otherwise never spend a night in, except that for a cyclist, it is a day's journey.

Healdsburg, CA. a few weeks ago
Halfmoon Bay, CA. a couple weeks ago
Tomorrow, Guerneville, CA. Staying at a place built in 1905. Cabins on the Russian River.

I guess you could call it short range, luxury touring with a spousal inclusion component.

Anyone else into this kind of thing? Or lucky enough to have a girl that will do the rides with you?
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
...I recently posted: A couple years ago I thought about making up such list for weekend getaways, as you described, and posting to the local Metro Boston thread.

We live in downtown Boston, and can go out in all directions (except eastward into the Atlantic Ocean). So for here on the Right Coast, counterclockwise around Boston, such destinations would be:


  • Newburyport, MA (did a mutual cycle trip there once)
  • Portsmouth, NH
  • Nashua, NH
  • Lowell, MA
  • Worcester, MA
  • Providence, RI (did a car weekend trip there)
  • Plymouth, MA (one mutual cycle trip there).
One other destination,within the ring of towns listed, is Cape Ann, about 40 miles north of Boston.
For a more extended cycling vacation, I think a Hub and Spoke tour of a major Metropolitan Area would be fun, and more convenient than out-and-back or a loop, such as I have posted about Metro Boston:
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Personally. I'm very happy cycling in Metro Boston, and have posted an informal Cycling Guide to Metro Boston (link) that would make a nice hub and spoke tour...It may seem parochial, but I think the cycling around here is great.

One can be in scenic countryside within about one hour from downtown, while passing through an interesting, compact urban and suburban scene. Furthermore you can extend your range with a convenient Commuter Rail that allows fully-assembled bikes during off-peak hours. In Spring through Fall it’s a temperate climate.


Besides the cycling, Boston is such a popular tourist destination that there will always be something interesting to do off the bike…culture, nightlife, sports and so forth.

[If] you would like to avoid the urban experience, and further out into New England could satisfy that condition. Camping near Boston too would be problematic, but not impossible. If you’ve never been here before, the experience may be even more…epic
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
In my above link to Metro Boston Cycling I further link to MUPS and trails in Metro Boston and Cape Cod
My wife and I have done our own self-guided tours in Michigan, also commented favorably by others:
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
"Suggestions for next epic ride"...

FWIW, after decades I still have fond memories of my earliest cycle touring in my home state of Michigan. Tourism is, I believe Michigan’s second largest industry, and it’s largely a rural / forested state with a lengthy shoreline, an extensive road system, and numerous towns and facilities, including campgrounds, spaced at convenient cycling distances.

IMO, an excellent, though perhaps mundane getaway. Just sayin’…FWIW (even as a cross-country cyclist).
Originally Posted by Doug64
Michigan is a great place to cycle. The state has 2500 miles of bike trails, and some nice quiet roads in the rural areas. It is pretty easy to "roll your own" tour.

My wife and I did two tours there, and both where very good. The first was a little over 900 mile loop around the Lower Peninsula. The second was a finish to a longer tour where we hit Michigan at the ferry terminal in Ludington, and rode across the state to Detroit.

The people were friendly, the drivers courteous, and the rides were good experiences for us. Regardless of how you decide to do it, I don't think you can go wrong.
˅˅˅˅

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 05-28-20 at 06:46 AM. Reason: added quote by Doug64
Jim from Boston is offline  
Likes For Jim from Boston: