Help me plan a trip to New England

[Matthew Strongin]

Ok folks, I could use your help. I'm trying to plan a trip to the Northeast. I've read some threads, but quickly realized I don't know the area well enough to pick one place over another. In general, our goal is to fly in and out of Boston and after a couple days in town, rent a car and check out out some places roughly between Boston and New York, with a good amount of time spent in the woods. We'd probably fly up on a Friday night and stick around through to the next weekend, so there will be plenty of time for a variety of locations. The Rock Lobster is coming along, so most days I'll plan medium to long road rides in the morning, followed by day trips to cool towns or must see sights. I'm lucky that my awesome wife likes to sleep late and then run, leaving me to my own devices before lunch.

Depending on where we end up, my hope is to check out some shops, meet some builders and buy some of you fine folks a round.

So, if you were heading to Boston, renting a car, wanting quiet time in the woods, planing tons of road riding, and looking for a little urban excitement thrown in to keep things interesting...where would you go? By the way, I've been to Boston and New York plenty of times, so I don't need as much help planning things there as I do for the woods/riding/cabin/lodge type stops in the middle, though any tips are welcomed and appreciated.

And one other thing...when is the snow going to stop so a couple of South Floridians can make this trip without hiding out by the fire all week?

Thanks!

[SlowPokePete]

And one other thing...when is the snow going to stop so a couple of South Floridians can make this trip without hiding out by the fire all week?

Good question, as we watch another 4-6" accumulate on this, the first day of spring!

SPP

[maunahaole]

Bring your best south beach banana hammock and hit middle patent. Stop in Greenwich and drink all the beer.

[SteveP]

When are you talking about?
I would seriously push it out a month at least. I thk woods trails will be a disaster for a long time this year.
Normally March is ok.
It's 20 here with light snow on 18 inches of frozen snow.
Tons of good riding we the time comes.
Roses ride is really fun outside of Boston
Cross bike good .. you need to find the date
Ask j Scott here. G
He's doing it this year

[EDS]

I am not sure "between New York and Boston" is exactly where I would target if I wanted to experience some New England style outdoor activities. Time of year will dictate (i.e., early spring/late spring/summer), but if I were you, I would consider one of the following:

1. North to the White Mountains (North Conway, NH). You could drive north along the coast, potentially all the way to Portland, ME, then head inland past Lake Seebago to the Whit Mountains.
2. West to the Green Mountains/Berkshires (Manchester, VT corridor down to Williamstown, MA area). Depending on your route, you could hit the Deerfield, MA/Northampton, MA area on the way to/from.

3.

[Matthew Strongin]

When are you talking about?
I would seriously push it out a month at least. I thk woods trails will be a disaster for a long time this year.
Normally March is ok.
It's 20 here with light snow on 18 inches of frozen snow.
Tons of good riding we the time comes.
Roses ride is really fun outside of Boston
Cross bike good .. you need to find the date
Ask j Scott here. G
He's doing it this year

Probably won't go until May, so there's still some time for the snow to stop. Hopefully...

I am not sure "between New York and Boston" is exactly where I would target if I wanted to experience some New England style outdoor activities. Time of year will dictate (i.e., early spring/late spring/summer), but if I were you, I would consider one of the following:

1. North to the White Mountains (North Conway, NH). You could drive north along the coast, potentially all the way to Portland, ME, then head inland past Lake Seebago to the Whit Mountains.
2. West to the Green Mountains/Berkshires (Manchester, VT corridor down to Williamstown, MA area). Depending on your route, you could hit the Deerfield, MA/Northampton, MA area on the way to/from.

3.

Fair enough. When I said roughly, I meant with a pretty wide swath. I need to drive around 12 hours to see a mountain, so the 3.5 hours up to Portland, ME and then over to North Conway (thanks google maps) is both well within reason and exactly the type of stuff I'm looking for. Thanks!

[NYCfixie]

Officially, New York = Mid-Atlantic
CT and up are New England.

And I too would advise to wait at least a month unless you have set/immovable dates. I write this as snow is falling in NY/NJ....Happy Spring!

[Saab2000]

The Independent Fabrication factory/shop is about 90 minutes north of BOS. I've done the Raid Rockingham twice and will vouch for nice rides though that is the extent of my experience and about 60% of the surface of that ride is unpaved.

But shoot Gary a PM and ask. He's local to the area and could tell you more. But I found the riding pleasant, to say the least. Also, Portland, ME is a nice city.

All this is north of Boston.

Give Mike Z a shout too. I think he's about an hour or so west.

[Matthew Strongin]

The Independent Fabrication factory/shop is about 90 minutes north of BOS. I've done the Raid Rockingham twice and will vouch for nice rides though that is the extent of my experience and about 60% of the surface of that ride is unpaved.

But shoot Gary a PM and ask. He's local to the area and could tell you more. But I found the riding pleasant, to say the least. Also, Portland, ME is a nice city.

All this is north of Boston.

Give Mike Z a shout too. I think he's about an hour or so west.

Good tip. If the wife doesn't kill me because of it, I hope to binge on bike geekery.

[Bewheels]

If you head north of Boston let me know ... I don't know why anyone would go south of Boston :)

Saab is not allowed on the paved sections of the Seacoast and just inland (IF Factory territory), but they do exist as well.

As others have mentioned, still lots of snow/ice/cold around at the moment.

[SteveP]

Should be nice in may... cautiously noted.

Check in.
I could
Show you some nice rides north of boston.. if it works out.

[davids]

Ditto on the riding. Which I haven't done a bit of yet this year...

The roads west of Boston are particularly nice - the Concord area is very popular, although because of my location I tend to head more southwest - great roads in the Medfield area, or head towards Rockland. The great thing about Boston is that, geographically, the urban/suburban inner core is small, so getting to the exburbs on a bike is a breeze. I've got a nice flat 50 mile ride from my doorstep to the tip of Hull that's a fun tour.

Woods? Again, so many choices. The Great Blue Hills is a major oasis just south of the city with trails (mountain biking and hiking) that lead to vistas looking downtown, out to the harbor... I know it well, since it's my backyard. But good-sized parks are everywhere.

Pucci's neighborhood is lovely for riding. So is Zank's. And then there's Western MA, with actual ascents.

Firefly is right here in Dorchester for your urban excitement.

[Jonathan]

Yeah. MV, Nantucket and the cape. I'm thinking the week after Labor Day though.

[davids]

Yeah. MV, Nantucket and the cape. I'm thinking the week after Labor Day though.

Yeah, the Cape & islands are a treat off-season. And fall is the better choice.

[monadnocky]

I'll second the Cape - especially the Outer Cape - off season. Beautiful, serene, idyllic. Nothing more beautiful than P-Town in the winter/early Spring. Bring your camera. Your good one. Not your phone.

Nothing is more grotesque than the Outer Cape in the summer. Every July there's a big psychology conference in Eastham that I usually go to - lots of CE's - but at this point it's getting to be something I dread more than look forward to.

[j44ke]

The eastern ends of either island are the most interesting. Siasconset on Nantucket has a fair number of tiny cottages for rent. Some are built with materials scavenged from shipwrecks etc. If the severity & frequency of nor-easters keeps up like it has been, most of it will be in the ocean, but some of the houses have nice views.

[vertical_doug]

I tend to think if you live in Florida with sunshine and warm beaches, going to a cold New England seashore will be a bit depressing.
When your only hills are bridges over canals, visiting the Whites, Green or Berks is probably more fun.

[DCT]

The Berkshires is quiet and I have a zillion good routes for you.
I've never been to the White Mountains but I'm sure it's gorgeous.

[Badonkadonk]

from what you are saying, and given that the wife is around, I'd echo Doug and spend some driving time cutting west across MA on the gorgeous Rte 2 - ride when and where you can on that route, get to the Berkshires. you can stay at Canyon Ranch, Cranwell, Blantyre, or even Wheatleigh if you want to sip spring cocktails whilst wearing white tie (kidding - kind of). then you just drop down a little to the CT border with Litchfield County and while your wife is spa-ing it up you arrange to spend a day cycling the berkshires with DCT (and MAN would i love to come) on the famous mt. riga road climb, etc. make your way down to the shore, stop in exotic Greenwich CT to see SignatureJustin in his natural habitat, and then do lobster roll pit stops back up the coast to Boston to fly out if ya got the time. You will skip VT/NH/ME this time, but you'll get the Boston and all the NE spring and gorgeous road riding and hiking you could want.

[lumpy]

The Berkshires has cultural stuff that you both may enjoy while you gorge on some truly great riding. A little later in the summer, there's the Williamstown Theater Festival, Shakespeare and Company, and music at Tanglewood (Boston Symphony Orchestra) and at MassMoCA (worth a stop for the repurposed mill architecture and of course the modern art). Seriously, the road riding out here is outrageously good - great variety, long climbs, light traffic, drivers pretty mellow. I'll take you on some rides and you will like them.