Boston MA connecting to Northern Tier Route

[vinsong]

Hi,


I live in the UK and planning on the Northern Tier Ride in mid June. I was just

wondering is there a route which connects from Boston to the Northern Tier Routes.

As well as that, I know cities in USA are huge compared to the UK. How are the traffic

 in Boston. I am just concerned it would be just absolutely confusing to cycle out of

 the city and the suburbs.



Vince

[indyfabz]

ACA's Atlantic Coast route has a Boston Spur that you could take to the main part of the route and then follow that north to hook up with the Nothern Tier in Brunskwick, Maine. That would add some time, though.

One option is Amtrak's Downeaster train service. You can roll your bike on (i.e., you don't have to box it) and go from to Brunswick. This subject came up on antoher forum recently. According to Amtrakm you cannot detrain at the Freeport, Maine station but you can at Portland and Brunswick.

Here is the link to the train information:

http://www.amtrak.com/downeaster-train

It's only a 3.5 hr. ride to Brunskwick, and there is a convenient 9 a.m. departure. There are internal links on the page for the schedule and bike information.

Starting from somewhere like Brunskwick would allow you to ride through New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondaks in New York. Very pretty part of the route. Vermont especially so.

[John Nelson]

When looking at questions such as this, it's always useful to look at the ACA route map.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/RouteNetwork.pdf

[vinsong]

Cheer's for the info.

[Ben the Slow]

Hi - I am traveling from Rhode Island to the NT near Buffalo in June 2014.  Be happy to share my route with you.

[canalligators]

A direct way to get from Boston to the Northern Tier is to cross Massachusetts (central route)
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=12583&v=B6
Use the Charles River and Minuteman trails to get out of Boston.

Then connect with NY Bike Route 5 to Albany
https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/pls/portal/MEXIS_APP.DYN_BIKE_TRAIL_DETAIL_MAIN.show?p_arg_names=p_trail_id&p_arg_values=144

You could continue on Bike 5, but it's busy and the trail, though farther, is lovely: Take the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway to Rotterdam Jct. (west of Schenectady),
http://www.mhbht.org/

Then take NY Bike 5 or the Erie Canal to Palmyra
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=9422&v=FM
This connects you to the Northern Tier.

One option is to take Bike 9 north from Albany and connect to the Northern Tier at Ticonderoga.  This would add a few days to the trip but would take you through the Adirondack Mountains, which are beautiful.