lindaandjon

Hi,

We're planning on shipping our Tandem and ourselves over to the USA this year to cycle the East Coast Greenway and wondered what peoples thoughts are on the best direction to do it, the best tome of year to set off and also the time we should allow for a leisurely journey cycling 5 or 6 days a week. We usually cycle around 50-60km a day (about 40 miles) but can go up to 100km on occasion.

Is there a best direction for wind assistance (we'd hate to spend the entire trip cycling into the wind!).

Many thanks
Jon and Linda
England

Papa Tom

Jon and Linda:

First, I am kind of jealous.

Second, are you aware that much of the Greenway is still unbuilt?

Third, should you decide to ride the route anyway, I will still be kind of jealous.

Fourth, I can't answer your specific question. Sorry.

sing

Prevailing wind direction is from west to east. In the winter, we do get winds from the northeast, associated with ocean storm's - nor'easters'- that come up the coast line. In the summers, the winds can take on a my southwester direction, associated with "Bermuda highs" that usher in warmer, muggier air.

The "Greenway" remain a fragmented rather than continuous route.

sing

Ferdinand NYC

If you are interested in a long-range bike trail that is already fully constructed, then you might want to try the route from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh via the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath (following the Potomac River from Washington to Cumberland, MD) and the Great Allegheny Passage (from Cumberland to Pittsburgh).

Here is the route as shown on Google Maps; and here is a map of the Washington, DC area with the bicycle layer activated. Here is the website of the Great Allegheny Passage. And here is a story that the New York Times did last year on travelling the route in the other direction.

I must mention that I have never ridden that route (to be honest, trail riding is not my cup of tea); so I cannot give any first-hand report about it. But I do know that it is complete, unlike the still mostly-theoretical East Coast Greenway.

indyfabz

Yeah. In the state of Pennsylvania, the ECG is not very green at all. More importantly, it's not very bike friendly in a lot of places. The section through Chester and continuing south is particularly unappealing from a traffic and neighborhood perspective. Also understand that it's not all literally down the coast (i.e., along the ocean), although some of it may be in coastal areas.

If you want to ride along the east coast of the U.S. you might consider some or all of Adventure Cycling Association's Atlantic Coast route that runs between Bar Harbor, Maine and Key West, Florida, with spurs into Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., which are major travel hubs:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rou...tlantic-coast/


Either way, you probably don't want to start in the south at the height of summer due to the potential for high heat and humidity. A few years ago I ran into a couple who was riding north on ACA's Atlantic Coast Route on their tandem. I was heading south on a portion of the route during a three-day tour when we crossed paths in northern New Jersey. That was on an April 23rd according to my photo records. They had probably started in FL in March and were following the warmth north.

Are you planning on camping or staying in motels, etc.?

chiefsilverback

Here's East Coast Green (Brown) way a couple of miles from my house in Rhode Island!

2manybikes

As other have said their are a lot of dirt/sand/water on the unfinished Greenway. If you have a mountain bike you could do more miles, but in places the trail just disappear into a city, or it just ends.

2manybikes

I rode through that a couple of times. Made it without having to put a foot down. !!!!

chiefsilverback

I haven't ridden off road for a while and I was short on time, so the prospect of lots of wet/dirt mixed with all the sticks and branches sticking out the water made me turn around!

1989Pre 

Excellent advice.