Non-touring specific question...
04-14-17, 06:21 PM
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Non-touring specific question...
We are looking for a vacation location where we can rent a cabin for a week - from where we can:
* Do cycling day trips on quiet country roads
* Do some lake canoeing (without large, fast & loud motorboats)
* Do some day hiking
* Be within 4 hours of an interesting historical site/sites
We are looking for something within a 10 hour drive of Southwestern Ohio.
This is not a touring-specific question but we figure that other touring cyclists may be aware of locations like this. If anyone can recommend a forum better-suited for this question please let us know and we will repost there.
Thanks!
Steve & Linda
* Do cycling day trips on quiet country roads
* Do some lake canoeing (without large, fast & loud motorboats)
* Do some day hiking
* Be within 4 hours of an interesting historical site/sites
We are looking for something within a 10 hour drive of Southwestern Ohio.
This is not a touring-specific question but we figure that other touring cyclists may be aware of locations like this. If anyone can recommend a forum better-suited for this question please let us know and we will repost there.
Thanks!
Steve & Linda
Last edited by SteveA; 04-14-17 at 06:22 PM. Reason: Update/correction
04-14-17, 07:10 PM
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Lift the location requirement and Texas Hill Country is perfect.
Maybe the Ozarks? I'm not as familiar, but it's a lot closer.
Or I'm sure there are some users from the Northeast that can help you out.
Maybe the Ozarks? I'm not as familiar, but it's a lot closer.
Or I'm sure there are some users from the Northeast that can help you out.
04-15-17, 08:29 AM
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We are looking for a vacation location where we can rent a cabin for a week - from where we can:…
* Do cycling day trips on quiet country roads
* Do some lake canoeing (without large, fast & loud motorboats)
* Do some day hiking
* Be within 4 hours of an interesting historical site/sites
We are looking for something within a 10 hour drive of Southwestern Ohio.
This is not a touring-specific question but we figure that other touring cyclists may be aware of locations like this. If anyone can recommend a forum better-suited for this question please let us know and we will repost there.
Thanks!
Steve & Linda
* Do cycling day trips on quiet country roads
* Do some lake canoeing (without large, fast & loud motorboats)
* Do some day hiking
* Be within 4 hours of an interesting historical site/sites
We are looking for something within a 10 hour drive of Southwestern Ohio.
This is not a touring-specific question but we figure that other touring cyclists may be aware of locations like this. If anyone can recommend a forum better-suited for this question please let us know and we will repost there.
Thanks!
Steve & Linda
First of all, while lodging in downtown Boston is expensive, if you are just looking for a base of operations, better deals can be found farther out in the city or suburbs, served by public transit. Besides that, in the Metro are are many resort areas particularly on the coastline, that rent cottages. For example our family has visited Rockport for several summers. Just recently we received an advertisement from one such resort (see link).
...[Rockport is a]resort town on Metro Boston’s scenic North Shore, a nice cycling route 40 miles long north of our condo in downtown Boston. The region is also good for road cycling,and train service with the fully assembled bikes is readily available.I described it in my Cycling Guide to Metro Boston as:So one could travel by train from Boston to Rockport [or cycle, in either direction], and then it’s a short walk …to Rockport Center which itself is an interesting walkable resort town, including beaches.
* Do cycling day trips on quiet country roads.
Personally. I'm very happy cycling in Metro Boston, and have posted an informal Cycling Guide to Metro Boston that would make a nice hub and spoke tour of nine days[including travel time]. 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.
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.
"Suggestions for the next epic ride"...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.
I know 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.
I know 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.
Spent a great weekend with Jim (Jim from boston).Arrived Friday afternoon and we took off for a ride around the city. Rode to Harvard University following a local MUP, and then took a non-street ride to see the USS Constitution. Great ride with plenty to see.…Excellent [long Saturday] ride had a real great time.
Sunday I took off on my own to ride the Minute Man Trail. Weather was great going to Lexington and Bedford, but it rained fairly heavy on my way back. MinutemanTrail is really nice and wide with plenty to see along the way.
Jim took me on walking tours of Boston each evening and it was great having someone telling me all about Boston. Last time I was in Boston was in 1960.Seen many sites I had totally forgotten about. Jim is quite the tour leader.Very knowledgeable about Boston and passed on lots of it’s history.We also ate extremely well. Everything from fresh fish to Italian, and ending Sunday evening at a Thai restaurant. All-in-all it was a great weekend...
Sunday I took off on my own to ride the Minute Man Trail. Weather was great going to Lexington and Bedford, but it rained fairly heavy on my way back. MinutemanTrail is really nice and wide with plenty to see along the way.
Jim took me on walking tours of Boston each evening and it was great having someone telling me all about Boston. Last time I was in Boston was in 1960.Seen many sites I had totally forgotten about. Jim is quite the tour leader.Very knowledgeable about Boston and passed on lots of it’s history.We also ate extremely well. Everything from fresh fish to Italian, and ending Sunday evening at a Thai restaurant. All-in-all it was a great weekend...
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 04-15-17 at 09:08 AM.
04-15-17, 08:43 AM
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Hard to beat the Northeast (upstate NY, VT, NH) but that is likely north of 10 hours for you. Beautiful country to ride and walk in and lots of history.
04-15-17, 10:00 AM
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Not so sure on the hiking, but plenty of places in Northern Michigan would suit the rural biking and canoeing. Get across the bridge into the Eastern UP, and there is plenty of national forest and state land with cabins.
Can't remember the name of the place, but we rented a cabin just outside of the Seney National Wildlife refuge last year. It'd make a nice base for cycling, and plenty of canoeing options in the refuge itself.
Can't remember the name of the place, but we rented a cabin just outside of the Seney National Wildlife refuge last year. It'd make a nice base for cycling, and plenty of canoeing options in the refuge itself.
04-15-17, 10:25 AM
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"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)....
04-15-17, 11:21 AM
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Oh yeah...Canada. 
As a native Detroiter, we actually lived just North of Canada and I was very familiar with, and enjoyed the ambiance. I've been on at least three extended tourist stays in Toronto, and our family spent two summer vacations in the so-called "Cottage Country" north of TO.
BTW, @alan s is the OP of the thread I have quoted, “Suggestions for the next epic ride,” so check that one out. He posted:
As a native Detroiter, we actually lived just North of Canada and I was very familiar with, and enjoyed the ambiance. I've been on at least three extended tourist stays in Toronto, and our family spent two summer vacations in the so-called "Cottage Country" north of TO. …Back in the 60’s in the Motor City, I had an “English Racer,’ and longed to tour at about age 14, but then joined the car culture. In Ann Arbor MI in the 70’s I really realized the utility of bicycles for commuting, and began touring on a five-speed Schwinn Suburban, but soon bought a Mercier as did my girlfriend,later my wife. We toured in Michigan and Ontario.
In 1977 we moved to Boston on our bikes, as a bicycling honeymoon from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and then took the train up to Boston. We have toured in New England and the Maritime Provinces, and one trip to the DelMarVa peninsula….
In 1977 we moved to Boston on our bikes, as a bicycling honeymoon from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and then took the train up to Boston. We have toured in New England and the Maritime Provinces, and one trip to the DelMarVa peninsula….
... @Jim from Boston two summers ago I rode from Boston through Cape Cod, and my sister lives in the suburbs, so I've spen tplenty of time riding in your area. It is very nice there, but not quite what I have in mind.
Going to have to look into Canada further. Sounds like many nice rides there. Never heard of Icefields Parkway. Looks stunning. My mother (rest her soul) was Canadian, and I have many relatives in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia that may be due a visit.
Going to have to look into Canada further. Sounds like many nice rides there. Never heard of Icefields Parkway. Looks stunning. My mother (rest her soul) was Canadian, and I have many relatives in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia that may be due a visit.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 04-15-17 at 01:18 PM.
04-15-17, 02:18 PM
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Could try Wawa. Never been there myself, but my brother spent a few weeks a summer up there over many years, lots of fishing rentals. Definitely checks the rural roads and plenty of canoeing boxes, most of the lakes they fished had a strict 10HP limit. Not a heck of a lot in SW Ontario beyond farmland, though, one would have to get north or east of Toronto entering from Detroit.
Google says Wawa is 10h 9m from Dayton, so nevermind, it is outside of the OPs parameters by 9 minutes
Google says Wawa is 10h 9m from Dayton, so nevermind, it is outside of the OPs parameters by 9 minutes
04-15-17, 03:26 PM
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Check out cabins at Pickett State Park in TN Pickett State Park ? Tennessee State Parks . It's on the Cumberland Plateau, has some elevation. It's adjacent to Big South Fork https://www.nps.gov/biso/index.htm. There are nice paved roads and there are some well maintained gravel roads in Big South Fork. Plenty of hiking trails in both parks. I'm not sure about canoeing, but there is rafting and kayaking on the Big South Fork. Historic sites nearby are Rugbyhttps://www.historicrugby.org/history-of-villiage/ Cumberland Homesteads Homesteads History and Oak Ridge https://www.nps.gov/mapr/oakridge.htm
