Northampton, MA is lucky to have first class rail trails extending from town in three directions which seem really treasured by the community.
But what sort of riding options exist beyond those, in particular, what roads are nice?
Rode southwest down to the end of the Manhan RT in Easthampton/Southampton today, did a little bit of rt 10 that was narrower than I'd like past Big Y then enjoyed some wide shoulder to where I could take Glendale north on near perfect pavement hardly ever being passed by a car. Followed that just under ten miles across a few name changes with the intent of picking up the Mass Central RT in Leeds, though I missed a turn and actually ended up in Williamsburg. With my wrong turns it added up to a nice 30 mile loop by the time I found the trail and followed it through Florence back into Northampton, with just enough climbing on the road section to give it some enjoyable variety compared to the trails... ironic, as someone who used to stick exclusively to trails I find I now enjoy roads like that more.
What else is around that's nice to ride? Definitely hoping to make it down to connect to the Canal Trail in Westfield, but curious about things in other directions, too.