Boston to Amherst to NYC route?

[RideForClimate]

Hi -

A friend and I are planning a US tour to do global warming education.
We'll be starting April 21, 2007 in Boston -- once he returns from a
15,000 mile ride to the tip of S. America (www.RideforClimate.com). We
plan to ride out to Amherst, MA and then down to NYC. Does anyone
have specific route suggestions for this trip? I did a search here and I
only saw one similar thread. In that thread people suggested a coastal
route and that won't work for us since we plan to go to Amherst. We
can pick up the ACA route for a part of the trip but only a small
portion.

We'll also need to put together a route from NYC through PA and then
up to Chicago where will again connect with the ACA (Northern Tier)
route.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Specific road and route
suggestions would be most helpful.

If you like to hear more about our US global warming tour, drop me an
email and I will send you a message and link to our website when it is
ready.

Thanks!

[Peaks]

First, for biking in Massachusetts, it's hard to beat the Rubel Bike Maps.  Those show the best roads for biking in Mass.

One way to go from Boston to NYC is on ACA's Atlantic Coast route.  Or, from Amherst, drop down (go south) and pick up the ACA's Atlantic Coast Route north and east of Hartford CT.  

New York State Department of Transportation has some long distance bike route maps that you might check out.  Mostly they go from NYC to Albany and continue north, or go east west parallel to the Erie Canal.  Certainly if you were to skip NYC then you could go from Amherst to Albany, and follow the Erie Canal tow path to ACA's Northern Tier.

Sorry I can't help you with PA.

[bktourer1]

I have ridden from Springfield to NYC 2x and had a set of cue sheets that cover back roads and rail trails.  contact me at edmund_j_m@hotmail.com and I can send.  Get ahold of the Conn free bicycle rout map from the Conn. DOT