Route advice wanted - crossing northern Pennsylvania

One option I'm considering for my long bike trip next month is trying
to cross northern Pennsylvania. The obvious downside is that it will
be hillier than either the Mohawk valley in NY, or hugging the Great
Lakes and then St. Lawrence River, the latter route being my current
working assumption. But I'm curious if any reader knows the northern
PA area, preferably but not necessarily as a bike rider, or can point
me to someone who does. The possibilities I'm currently looking at
are US 6 all the way across, or bike route Y, which in fact uses 6
part of the way. I'm suspecting 6 may have a little less climbing,
but am puzzled that, according to what I've looked at, 6 is 394 miles
across while Y is only 315.

Any information would be appreciated

Doesn't strike me that staying only in the northern-most part of the state
would be very interesting. I don't know anything about the western part of
PA, but any time I've ventured into the northern section of the eastern half
it was mostly just lots of trees (and hills), and further east toward New
Jersey some vacation/weekend homes.

For some more variety, I'd suggest getting further south -- I've found some
nice farmland riding around Lewisburg, and from Hamburg to Trexlertown with
stone buildings -- don't worry, there's still plenty of hills. Getting from
Lewisburg to the Hamburg - Trexlertown area could be tough -- have to get
some good advice on which NW-SE roads to use.

Roads in the Hamburg - Trexlertown - Bethlehem area have improved a lot in
the last 10 years or so. I used to hate Pennsylvania roads -- now I'm
finding lots more that I enjoy in that area. And I see more people out
riding in that area. (looks like PA bike route V gets closer to that area,
but I don't know anything about what the roads on that route are like)

And there's some nice roads for riding into the city of Philadelphia from
the north -- so how about a "diagonal" across Pennsylvania, from the
northwest to the southeast?
For you.
Too many hills and ridges for me.

Ken

On Jul 28, 6:08*pm, "Ken Roberts"
wrote:
Doesn't strike me that staying only in the northern-most part of the state
would be very interesting. I don't know anything about the western part of
PA, but any time I've ventured into the northern section of the eastern half
it was mostly just lots of trees (and hills), and further east toward New
Jersey some vacation/weekend homes.

For some more variety, I'd suggest getting further south -- I've found some
nice farmland riding around Lewisburg, and from Hamburg to Trexlertown with
stone buildings -- don't worry, there's still plenty of hills. Getting from
Lewisburg to the Hamburg - Trexlertown area could be tough -- have to get
some good advice on which NW-SE roads to use.

Roads in the Hamburg - Trexlertown - Bethlehem area have improved a lot in
the last 10 years or so. I used to hate Pennsylvania roads -- now I'm
finding lots more that I enjoy in that area. And I see more people out
riding in that area. (looks like PA bike route V gets closer to that area,
but I don't know anything about what the roads on that route are like)

And there's some nice roads for riding into the city of Philadelphia from
the north -- so how about a "diagonal" across Pennsylvania, from the
northwest to the southeast?
For you.
Too many hills and ridges for me.

Ken

Thanks for the comments. I didn't put enough detail in my request
about my objective. My overall trip is planned from Milwaukee to St.
John Newfoundland. For family reasons, one option I'm considering is
going through NYC. (to visist a daughter there who's expecting a baby
Aug. 15.) The only way to do that without adding so many miles (and
reducing daily mileage because of hills and cities) that I won't have
time to reach NF in time, is to cross northern PA - in other words,
staying reasonably close to a straight line from Chicago to New York
city. Even with that, my ability to get there in the time available
is "iffy"; I'd probably have to take the ferry to Argentia, NF, and
cut out more than 80% of my NF mileage. So I mentioned 2 other route
options in my last post. A third is to take a ferry across Lake
Michigan to Muskegan, then ride to Port Huron, cross into Canada, slug
my way through Toronto, and then take the lake shore/St. Lawrence all
the way to Riviere du Loup.

My past PA riding has included a north/south ride from Phila. to
Milford, a ride through Erie on a trip along the south shore of Lake
Erie, and misc. hilly riding around Breezewood. I tolerate hills, but
try to avoid them when practicable.

Ron Wallenfang wrote:
... For family reasons, one option I'm considering is
going through NYC. (to visist a daughter there who's expecting a
baby
Aug. 15.)

If I recall correctly, you've worked the birth of a grandchild into
a bike trip before.

Is this a sort of tradition?

On Jul 23, 10:13*pm, Ron Wallenfang wrote:

*The possibilities I'm currently looking at
are US 6 all the way across, or bike route Y, which in fact uses 6
part of the way. *I'm suspecting 6 may have a little less climbing,
but am puzzled that, according to what I've looked at, 6 is 394 miles
across while Y is only 315.

Any information would be appreciated

http://www.bikepa.com/routes/index.htm
lists route "Y" at 409 miles. Not that I've
been, mind you.
Northern Pennsylvania is beautiful, though,
provided you like trees and hills.

On Jul 29, 9:00*pm, "ZBicyclist" wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
... *For family reasons, one option I'm considering is
going through NYC. *(to visist a daughter there who's expecting a
baby
Aug. 15.)

If I recall correctly, you've worked the birth of a grandchild into
a bike trip before.

Is this a sort of tradition?

Not particularly.

Two of our 4 grandkids were born in the winter. I bike ride through
the winter but don't take long trips then, so there was no question of
connecting the blessed event to a bike trip.

In a third case - my Philadelphia/Savannah/Milwaukee trip in 2005,
Atlanta was on the route, and it was just a coincidence that our
daughter-in-law had her second child then.

In the most recent - Minneapolis to Milwaukee - the trip was planned
after the baby was born.

In the present case, it's a coincidence that our daughter is
expecting about the time of the bike trip, but NYC is not on route,
and getting there, and then back on route to Newfoundland may present
too big an obstacle to finish the main trip to make it practicable.
But I'm considering it. An added factor is that my wife and I will
probably fly out there together before too long.

If it fits your schedule, you might take a look at the small town of
Lackawaxen, on the Northeastern top corner of Pa. It's the site of the
first suspension bridge in the US and it's still in use. It was built by
Roebling in around 1855.

The route down from there to NJ goes along the Delaware Riven to Port
Chester, NY. Milford NJ is very pretty. Then you can go down 206/15 or
cross over to 23 and from there to NYC.

Barry Harmon