First trip in the USA

[Dutchbiker]

Hello, I'm thinking about the USA for a holiday on my bike this summer. I'm from Holland and do cycle a lot. I've been all over Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and West Africa, but still not in the USA. I would love to come over, looking for nice scenery's and catch up with the locals. The thing is that the USA is huge and I have only three weeks at maximum. I want to start with a minimum of flyingtime (flying makes me very bored) and for a low price. So I'm aiming for a big, touristic airport in the east. I want to camp (in peace) and do some medium hills, with not to much traffic on the roads.
Does anyone have suggestions for a nice route for this small-country biker?
Jos Morren, Holland

[John Nelson]

Three weeks. So if we throw away a couple of days at the beginning and end for logistics, that leaves 17 days of riding. If we assume 60 miles a day, that means a trip of about 1000 miles. So let's say you fly into New York City. I doubt you can get much more of a "big, touristic airport in the east." So let's say you hop on the ACA Atlantic Coast route, using the NYC spur, and ride that up to Brunswick, Maine. Then hop on the Northern Tier across New England to Ticonderoga. Then follow the Adirondack Park Loop down to Albany, NY. Then take the Amtrak train back to NYC. That's probably in the ballpark, a little high perhaps, so you might have to ride 65 miles a day, or there are some shortcuts you could take if you fall behind schedule. You could also use the Philadelphia airport if you prefer.

Another option would be to fly into NYC, take the train up to Albany, do both the Adirondack Park Loop and the Green Mountains Loop, and then take the train from Albany back to NYC.

If you prefer canal riding, there are several nice options, but I'm not qualified to detail them. There are no hills on canal routes but plenty in the Adirondacks and Green Mountains (without being excessively cruel about it).

[geegee]

Despite the longer plane ride, the Pacific Coast from Seattle (or Vancouver) down to San Francisco is probably one of the nicest summer rides in the USA, and a great experience for Europeans. Camping is plentiful and cheap, and the camaraderie among cyclists along the route is fantastic.

Closer to you, I agree the Adirondacks and the northeast offer a bit of a wilderness experience that is hard to come by in the eastern seaboard. If you can arrange flying into one airport and out another, starting in NYC woud be fine, cycling up the Hudson Valley to do the Adirondack loop, then catching the Erie canal route towards Niagara Falls and ending in with a short foray into Canada, to Toronto, which has lots of flights back to the Netherlands. Some resources for you for this, besides the ACA routes: NY State Bike Routes, Erie Canalway Trail and Ontario's Waterfront Trail