BillR2

I'm looking for a driveable location from Boston where I can go and do a week of 50ish mile road rides while staying in one hotel. Dayton seems an odd but noteworthy candidate - see www.miamivalleytrails.org/. Others?

Doug64

Take a look at the Finger Lake region NY.

SloButWide 

I'll vouch for Dayton. I used to volunteer with Friends of the Little Miami State Park. The park is a rails-to-trails conversion, 66 feet wide and 78 miles long! Also look at Xenia, OH, where 4-5 trails converge on a former rail freightyard. Not all the trails are as pretty as Little Miami - just fields and small towns.

Check out Ohio Bikeways for more ideas. The entire state is more bike-friendly than many know.

Edit: Looks like Boston is a 12-13 hour drive to Dayton. I'm not sure I'd drive 1-2 days each way unless I could get in 5 days of biking :-) You might want to post in the Regional section, soliciting PA and DELMARVA options.

canamdad

I sure wouldn't drive to Ohio from Boston with VT & NH a short ways away. Each to his/her own obviously, but much better cycling IMHO in New England. In VT, for instance, base out of Middlebury, VT and you have flatter Champlain Valley rides, gap rides in the Green Mtns and possibilities to get over to NY and back on ferries on Lake Champlain

spinnaker

Yeah I don't get it. Driving all that way to ride just 50 miles? That really isn't even a tour. It is a day ride. I am sure there are lots of places right around Boston. Delaware River area for one. It is beautiful there. A whole lot prettier than Dayton.

Though Dayton does have the air museum which is well worth seeing.

alan s 

Albany, NY.

fietsbob

Belgium.

Jim from Boston

Do you live in Boston, and have you done much riding around here? I have previously posted to a few open-ended requests for destinations:

Quote:

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 of nine days …

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…

Other than Metro Boston, my wife and I have toured in the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), Vermont and New Hampshire, Cape Cod and Cape Ann, and the DelMarVa Peninsula. Other nearby getaways I would consider, closer than Dayton Ohio, would be Rhode Island and the Connecticut shoreline, exurban Long Island and/or New Jersey, and DC/Virginia.

About as far as Dayton,

alan s 

Assuming you mean Belgium, Wisconsin, which is drivable, but pretty far from Boston. What's there of interest?

fietsbob

Nope, The country.. Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, Kortrijk, Liege, the Ardennes .

indyfabz

Um...He wants to do a week's worth of 50 mile-ish rides.




OP: Second the Finger Lakes and somewhere like Middlebury or Burlington, VT.

Jim from Boston

I just recalled that a while back I replied to this thread about a couple of Ohio tours. My family is in Michigan, so a combined organized bike tour and family visit intrigues me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougG

I'm not shilling for this outfit and am posting this for my own benefit to avoid cancellation, but I have done two tours with this small outfit and have found then to be outstanding in all regards.

Anyway, this tour goes from Cleveland to Columbus,mostly on paved trails except for the Cuyahoga canal towpath portion and some road sections. It looks like a lot of fun and not hilly like a few of their other tours (I recommend thei rAmish Country tour if you like hills!). Anyway, here's the link: Midwest Cycling Vacations:Bicycle Tours in Ohio - Buckeye Country Roads Bicycle...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

…I have heard good things about GOBA (Greater Ohio Bike Adventure), and I was seriously considering doing it. It offers camping / gym floor accommodations, but in previous years had a nicely coordinated Motel package. This year that service was discontinued.

For a 600+ mile drive from Boston, I would want a deluxe experience. And that Buckeye Tour sounds just right. Not this year but I wil llook for it in the future.

Leebo

New England is awesome for pedaling. As said, up by say Burlington VT. Drive to OH? Can't imagine. Drive 3-4 hrs and be done with it. I've toured southern NH, around Winnipesaukee, around the Quabbin, Cape Cod. Done Maine? Beer and food for the win!

BillR2

Thanks for all the feedback.

To clarify, my goal is a place near Boston where we can rent a hotel room for a week, not carry our stuff or use our car, and do different 50ish mile rides on paved trails / quiet roads each day.

I've looked at Finger Lakes, Burlington, RI, and Middlebury but they seem to be short trails and / or unpaved. Am I missing it?

And yes, I've done many of the rides in and around Boston. They're great but we want to get away.

indyfabz

There is plenty of good road riding on quiet roads in the Burlington area and in the Finger Lakes.

Also, look up the Bon Ton Roulet, which is an organized ride in the Finger Lakes in July. It may have indoor stay options at colleges each night this year, with only a few moving days. The even has been moving in that direction over the years.

rumrunn6

if you stay in Burlignton VT you can bike to Montreal. but it's 150 miles so you can hit a cpl B&Bs along the way & carry bare essentials. met a bunch of guys, at our hotel in Burly, from there that had just ridden it in one day. they were a tough bunch but totally happy (aka wet & dirty)

axolotl

First you wrote:

Emphasis mine on "road rides".

But then you later wrote:
Again, emphasis mine on "but they seem to be short trails and/or unpaved". It now sounds like you want to ride mainly on paved trails as opposed to roads. If that's the case, you should have made it clear in your initial post. If that's not the case, I would also recommend the Finger Lakes, as well as the Hudson valley around New Paltz. Both areas have quiet roads.

rhm

It seems to me you could chose just about any point northwest of the Northeast Megalopolis. So, anywhere along the left edge of this map, or anywhere off its left edge:



With that in mind, I would look for a place that lies between two or three different environmental areas. For example, I think you could find a place along the Erie Canal from which you could ride the canal, one day, up into the Adirondacks another day, down into the leatherstocking region another day, and then decide which you liked best for the remaining days. Or chose a spot somewhere a bit south of there and swap the Adirondacks for the Catskills. And so on. I think you have to know what kind of riding you want to do. I'd go for variety.

Leebo

Some clarity from you would be helpful. You are looking for road rides? Now you're thinking paved bike paths? Rail trails? Check out rails to trails .org.

indyfabz

The trail north from Burlington is paved. Road some of it back in 2010 on ACA's Cycle Vermont trip. I think the Island Line Trail is as well.

rm -rf

I live in SW Ohio / Northern KY.
I've ridden in the northern Finger Lakes area, in Vermont, and west central Virginia. All were very nice, with mostly quiet roads and interesting small towns. There's no need to just stay on the trails!

The Lake Champlain cross-lake trail is great, on an old railroad berm, rideable on a road bike. And Burlington had trails, too. It's hilly around there!

I looked at the western Erie Canal area, but haven't been there yet. It appears to have lots of interesting old canal towns, along with the usual midwest farms. The canal trail itself is part paved, part gravel.

I'd like to visit the southern Finger Lakes area, with more dramatic hills and valleys, and probably more forested than the farming region at the northern end of the lakes. I did like the historic towns located on the lakes.

~~~

After traveling, I really appreciate the local SW Ohio road riding. It's easy to do rides that see very few cars outside of commuting hours. And there's a lot of scenic roads, following creek valleys and woodlots, and passing interesting farm and small town architecture, along with the usual cornfields.

Ohio is a long trip from Boston, though. I'd say SW Ohio is "worth the drive", but I'm thinking more like 6 hours, not the 14 hours from Boston.

Ohio
Yes, Dayton - Xenia has a lot of trails. I haven't ridden on many of them, but some seem to be just paralleling a highway, with maybe a narrow line of trees. Not too interesting.

The Little Miami Trail from Cincinnati to Xenia is very scenic, mostly following a wooded river valley on an old railroad bed.

If you are traveling to this area, I'd suggest Cincinnati. There's lots to do here after your rides. Downtown's historic Over the Rhine neighborhood has block after block of 19th century storefronts and townhouses, with restaurants and brewpubs everywhere. the downtown itself is walkable, and the new riverfront parks are scenic and interesting. The new streetcar makes a loop through all this, and an all-day pass is just $2. Check out the hilltop views from the nearby Mt Adams neighborhood and Eden Park.

Ride the Little Miami Trail, and also get out on the country roads nearby. Cross the river to Kentucky if you like short, steep hills! Cincinnati also has a network of bike-only lanes on the city streets.

Riding from the city center, without driving 20 to 30 minutes, would either extend your mileage or limit some of the routes. It's possible to get to quiet country roads within 12 miles, but many of the best routes start 15 to 20 miles out of town.

rm -rf

Destinations
Keep the suggestions coming, I'm starting to plan for bike riding travel destinations this fall and in 2018.

rumrunn6

the Cape is lovely in the fall. the CCRT is very peasant especially after the summer tourism season dies down a little. still lots to do in the fall

unionmanbirch

What about Portland, ME? The ME DOT has a bunch of bike routes listed on this site (and I picked up a print version a few years ago at one of the service plazas): Explore Maine by Bike

cyccommute 

Don't dismiss the Burlington area so quickly. I haven't been there in 16 years but it had a lot of places to ride within short distances. The Causeway isn't paved but it's relatively smooth and could be easily done on a road bike. It also happens to be one of the coolest rides you can possibly do. Were else can you ride in the middle of a very large lake? Yes, it's only 10 miles from downtown Burlington out to South Hero Island but you could make a 50 miler out of the ride quite easily by riding around on Grand Isle, North Hero, etc.

I would also suggest taking the ferry from Burlington to Port Kent and riding along the western shore of Lake Champlain. The Ausable Chasm is sort of cool in a cute eastern US way...we have real chasms out here...and the rest of the area is very nice.

You could also ride from Shelburne (just south of Burlington) to Fort Ticonderoga which is a 50 mile round trip.

Another pretty ride is from Lebanon to Concord NH. It's a longer round trip...about 100 miles...but it is a nice railtrail.

Still another is from St. Albans to the Canada border which is another railtrail.

You might want to put wider tires on your road bike but none of these routes are super rough and would be relatively easy to do on road bikes.