NYC to Ohio and beyond

[jwrushman]

Last year, I was following the blog of a fellow who was riding from NYC westward.  I think he made it as far as North Dakota before he ran out of time.  He was riding with his wife and daughter.

I'm in the planning stages of a ride that initially will follow much of the route of this other bicyclist.  Unfortunately, I lost the link to his blog.  Can someone provide me with a link? 

I'm starting in NJ and hope to connect to the Northern Tier in PA/OH, head west and connect to the Route 66 map.  But first, I need to get across northern NJ and PA.  I don't really care to head north to Albany first.

[jamawani]

Not sure who you are referencing - but here is the Penna Bike route across the north-central part of the state.
It is clickable and each section has a strip map.

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/bikes/state_mapV.pdf

[jwrushman]

Thanks for the link.  I think it will be helpful.  Do you know if there's a similar bicycle network in Ohio?  It would be nice if Ohio had just picked up the end of Pennsylvania's Route V and continued west.  I'll need a way of getting from the end of Pennsylvania's Route V to the Underground Railroad route near Akron.  I prefer to not have to go north to Erie PA just to head south toward Sandusky.

[Dreux]

I did the TransAmerica Trail (TA) west to east last year and decided to pedal to CT when I was in KY rather than finish at VA.
You can read the details at http://dreuxsadventure.blogspot.com
Having used the Adventure Cycling maps, which I valued from Astoria, OR to KY, it was a big change to revert to road maps from AAA. After thousands of miles, I now had the confidence to make my own route. I did enjoy blazing my own trail from, KY through OH, WV, PA, NJ etc. I did follow the PA - route S for the entire length which very nice but difficult to follow at times. My final route from NJ to NYC was an interesting route.

Happy trails.

[indyfabz]

Thanks for the link.  I think it will be helpful.  Do you know if there's a similar bicycle network in Ohio?  It would be nice if Ohio had just picked up the end of Pennsylvania's Route V and continued west.  I'll need a way of getting from the end of Pennsylvania's Route V to the Underground Railroad route near Akron.  I prefer to not have to go north to Erie PA just to head south toward Sandusky.

Let me know if you decide on Route V. In 2014 I rode it W-E between Emlenton and Catawissa/Bloomsburg, camping and cooking. Route V is well signed. I am a low-tech guy so I also made up cue sheets, especially since I had to go off route a short distance in a few places to find camping. I started at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, took my own route to Franklin, PA and then picked up the Allegheny River Trail, which is quite nice (and paved), to Emlenton to join Route V. The section of the route between the start and Franklin was nice with little traffic until Franklin. Right outside of Franklin there is free riverside camping (first-come, first served) along the trail that has tent pads and two, small Adirondack Shelters. No water, but there are porta-potties, and it's a quick ride into the center of town for groceries. Saw a pair of young bald eagles in the morning.

The airport is not that far from Akron. Google Maps bike directions returns a route of 53 miles to downtown Akron with very little climbing. It goes past a state park (West Branch) that has camping.

Where in N. Jersey are you planning on starting? One option is to take the train to Port Jervis, ride through the Delaware Water Gap N.R.A. and hook up with Route V in Milford, PA.

Update: Just checked my RWGPS files. I have maps for each day from Warren to Bloomsburg that include the off route sections to campgrounds. They are, of course, made for the opposite direction, but they still show where the camping is and the elevation profiles. (In my memory I have a few other campgrounds I passed.)

[jwrushman]

Indyfabz,

Thanks for the details.

I live in north central NJ (Florham Park).  To make it an "official" ocean-to-ocean ride, I'm pondering where to put my rear wheel in the Atlantic Ocean.  I'm thinking Sandy Hook.   Although the Raritan Bay and NY harbor may by considered part of the ocean, one could consider the Hudson River too.  I'll probably ride from Sandy Hook back to Florham Park, attend a send-off part that night, and start west in earnest the next morning.   I know enough back roads in Morris County to get me west of the congested areas, and then will pick up Rte 46 to Columbia and start Pennsylvania Route V there.

[indyfabz]

I know enough back roads in Morris County to get me west of the congested areas, and then will pick up Rte 46 to Columbia and start Pennsylvania Route V there.

That's good because that's one area I am have no clue about. I have ridden U.S. 46 from east of Belvidere to Columbia. That was maybe four years ago. The shoulder was a bit banged up in places with some gravel, but I wouldn't call it horrible. If you want something more scenic but also somewhat hillier, cross the river at Belvidere and ride up the PA side to Portland.

BTW...I found a decent, cheap campground during my Pt. Jervis to Philly ride back in October:

http://www.hickorylakecampground.com/

The tent sites are only $10/person and are off in a wooded part of the campground. The area is not close to the bath house, but there are porta-potties close by that were clean. The place is about 4 miles west of the center of Portland with about 450' of climbing. From there, it easy to get back onto PA 611 without backtracking into town. You simply make a left out of the campground onto Laurel Hill Rd./T-734 and take that past the intersection with Turkey Ridge Rd. then bear right onto National Park Dr., which will take you down to PA 611, where you make a left. A relatively short portion of Laurel Hill and/or National Park Dr. is unpaved, but it's not bad.

Also, the market in Portland is open again. I didn't realize that carried groceries all the way from Port Jervis. It looked pretty nice. There is also a deli/bagel place that is relatively new.

Let me know if you want to see the route maps for the portion of Route V that I did.

[jwrushman]

Not sure who you are referencing - but here is the Penna Bike route across the north-central part of the state.
It is clickable and each section has a strip map.

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/bikes/state_mapV.pdf

Do you know is there's a text version, that is, a turn-by-turn description of the route?

JR

[indyfabz]

Not sure who you are referencing - but here is the Penna Bike route across the north-central part of the state.
It is clickable and each section has a strip map.

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/bikes/state_mapV.pdf

Do you know is there's a text version, that is, a turn-by-turn description of the route?

JR

There is not. I printed out each map section for the portion I rode, mapped each planned day using RideWithGPS and then made my own cue sheets. Even with going off route to reach campgrounds, some of them were very short.  For example, the one for my 71 mile day from Shippenville to north of Woodland has 15 turns, and 5 of those were due to the fact that I started and ended at campgrounds a bit off route. I used the cue sheets to have a general idea of where the next turn was, but I was relying mostly on the signage, which I found to be very good.