Biking the East Coast Greenway/Washington Secondary Trail; I have some route and riding surface questions

Submitted by degggendorf t3_110p5a8 in RhodeIsland

Hi all, I have been mountain biking quite a bit recently, but am interested in some rides that cover some more distance too.

Riding across the state would be fun, and looks pretty easily doable. But I am having a hard time finding good info on what surfaces there are to decide which bike to take, and I could also use some help deciphering the route options.

1. It seems like the labeled East Coast Greenway relies heavily on roads, even when there are trail options. Is that just because it's made to be a road bike trail? Given the choice, I'd rather take my gravel bike and avoid roads as much as possible.

1a. Specifically, west of Coventry, the ECG takes Flat River Road and Plainfield Pike, while the Trestle Trail and Moosup Valley State Park Trail take a more direct, non-road path in the same direction.

2. Past Coventry (heading east), it's the Washington Secondary Trail clear to Cranston - is it all on a separate, dedicated nonmotorized path? Is it all paved, or are there cinder/gravel/dirt/whatever sections in there too?

3. Through Providence and down the length of the East Bay Bike Path, what's it like after Bristol toward Newport? At least from what I'm seeing, there aren't any dedicated path options, so it would just be riding on the road. Is that right?

Or, forgetting all that, are there any other good long gravel bike segments through the state, with no/minimal road riding?

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blahberrry t1_j8altsl wrote

  1. I think the East Coast Greenway is meant to be more of a road bike trail - yes. Although some states do have some unpaved sections. Just checked it out on this map.

1a. Trestle Trail from CT to Log Bridge Road in RI is not paved. I rode the unpaved Trestle Trail section recently and it's really fun. A little muddy and icy right now in a few areas - and some frozen dirtbike/atv ruts - but nothing a light gravel tire can't handle.

  1. Yes - Once on the WST, it is all a separate, dedicated nonmotorized path. There are some nice gravel horse trails that parallel the paved path in Coventry - I like to ride them as long as I don't see any horses. Bikes are supposed to yield to horses and I try not to piss anyone off.

  2. I haven't biked from Bristol to Newport, but I believe it's just road riding. If you are aiming to get to Newport - the Mt Hope bridge is super sketchy to bike over. It's a mile-long 2-lane bridge with no shoulder. (If you want to just touch the other state border to say you crossed the state by bike, you could hop off the East Bay bike path in Warren and head towards MA from there.)

Hope this helps!

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monkiesandtool t1_j8awdve wrote

To compliment blahberry's comments
1a, there is a section between Lois Farm and Hopkins Hollow that is nearly impassable (the row is nearly reclaimed by nature, with a decent amount of standing water). West of Lois Farm is a (recently) improved dirt ROW out to the state line, with points east of Log Bridge fully paved to (Nearly) Cranston St in Cranston.

On the CT side, there is old asphalt that runs for some distance from 14A (though It does discontine by the time it crosses RT14 in Sterling, Nonetheless the original ROW has been built over in Mossup (where it crosses over Main St and it just a dirt path along Plainfield Rd under I-395 at MilePost 31.4. West of it (up to the current Providence and Worcester Yard). It's Impassable

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blahberrry t1_j8b2w46 wrote

u/monkiesandtool Thank you! Want to mention that there is a detour that you can use to pass the area with the standing water. It runs right next to the trail, just above it. If you're riding west to east, the detour will be on the right side.

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degggendorf OP t1_j8bbkum wrote

Awesome, thank you for the detail; that's just what I need!

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degggendorf OP t1_j8bbewf wrote

>Hope this helps!

Of course, thank you!

>A little muddy and icy right now in a few areas - and some frozen dirtbike/atv ruts - but nothing a light gravel tire can't handle.

Oh nice, sounds like a blast

> I like to ride them as long as I don't see any horses. Bikes are supposed to yield to horses and I try not to piss anyone off.

Good to know, thank you! I'll make sure to brush up on my etiquette rules before going.

>. (If you want to just touch the other state border to say you crossed the state by bike, you could hop off the East Bay bike path in Warren and head towards MA from there.)

Good call, that sounds like a good plan.

Thank you for all the help!

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degggendorf OP t1_jaex1cb wrote

Hey just wanted to check back in, in case you care to hear about how it went.

Two weekends ago now, I made the CT->MA ride, and went as smooth as butter. I did just what you suggested and shot east from Warren to touch Swansea.

Of course, everything you said was accurate. I came across a few big frozen puddles on the Moosup trail, but the bypass trails were easy to find and easy enough to ride. Then the whole WST was fast. The worst part was the stiff headwind on the EBBP, but hat's NBD. I was concerned about my stamina, but that wasn't an issue at all...steady pace not working too hard, ended up at 13mph average.

That first section from Plainfield CT was indeed in pretty rough shape, but still fun! I think I'll take a run with my trail bike in the other direction, from where the WST horse trails start then head west on all dirt into Moosup. Then some scouting runs on the North-South trail too, to see which bike I'd want to take.

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bbpr120 t1_j8ah1eo wrote

The Trestle Trail is a pretty well maintained gravel trail with a couple of road crossings, 36mm wide cross tires work great.

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The Moosup Valley State Park trail has a few on road sections, a wee bit of pavement (right at the Moosup end) and the rest is in pretty rough shape- towards the western end in Moosup it's got some pretty big pot holes that fill with water. It's easy to follow but nowhere near as nice as the Trestle Trail in NE CT or the Trestle Trail.

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This route (Burlingame Picnic Area on Prosser Tr to RT 138) is 16 mile on way and has a bunch of alternate lines without a significant amount pavement (outside of the transition between Burlingame and the Carolina Management Areas, about 2.5 miles). It's all doable with a gravel bike, even the bridge section in Burlingame.

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degggendorf OP t1_j8b9h60 wrote

>the rest is in pretty rough shape

Hah, perfect. That actually makes it sound better to me.

My "gravel bike" is a hardtail xc mtb with gravel combo tires, so should be imminently doable.

Thanks for the route link, I'll invest some more time to look though it. Thanks!

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wyldweasil t1_j8anpfk wrote

You may want to also try the Blackstone River Bikeway, there isn't a lot of common roads crossed compared to East Bay and Washington secondary, so better cruising. I bike this on the regular, it's all paved(unless you opt for the few small detours along the way).

If you're into unpaved dirt, I find the Airline Trail in CT to be a great challenge. It's not too far over the border depending where you catch it. I do this one on occasion, but sometimes there's horses, but far less people than the other paths

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psyguy45 t1_j8aywxr wrote

Airline is awesome but I haven’t figured out how to loop it in from providence yet. I always get lost in Woonsocket 🤷🏻‍♂️

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wyldweasil t1_j8azmjf wrote

I only found out recently about it, but last fall I actually made it up that way via Canal Street just by following signs but had now idea that connected at the time. From the end, it's a left out onto Hamlet >Court Street> High Street right onto Canal Street cross the Mass border and it should spit you out here: https://goo.gl/maps/QU1ipNoADtbRM1s68

although it does split off around 146 so you have to get creative crossing there, but once you do it connects over to the airline. I will warn that northern section is rough

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degggendorf OP t1_j8bayv6 wrote

>If you're into unpaved dirt, I find the Airline Trail in CT to be a great challenge.

Oh yeah! That starts just around the corner from where another bikey friend of mine lives.

>You may want to also try the Blackstone River Bikeway

For sure! The cross-state-to-Bristol route is currently most exciting to me, but Blackstone is a close second for sure.

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Username333666999 t1_j8a7b3l wrote

Washington secondary is all dedicated bike path off the road and paved

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degggendorf OP t1_j8a97bn wrote

Sweet, thanks! Do you know if it's paved clear through the Trestle and Moosup sections too?

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longislandtoolshed t1_j8akfpx wrote

After the EB bike path from Bristol to Newport, there is no dedicated bike path. They've been working on creating a small section in Middletown which picks up on JT Conell highway. Taking the Mt Hope bridge from Bristol to Portsmouth is possible on a bike, but it's dangerous as there's no shoulder and you're lane sharing with cars.

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psyguy45 t1_j8ayqx3 wrote

Did this once and would not recommend

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longislandtoolshed t1_j8b8kru wrote

I wish there were dedicated pedestrian lanes like on the sakonnet river bridge, I would totally run across the Mt Hope bridge if so.

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psyguy45 t1_j8bezeu wrote

Same, though I’d want higher railings too before riding across again. I rode across on a windy day and was terrified I was going to be blown off

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degggendorf OP t1_j8ba17e wrote

Gotcha, thank you! Think I'll sit out that section for now (at least as a cross-state fun ride) and support Bike Newport with their efforts to improve things. If they/we can get a strip down the whole of Aquidneck like there is between the Coddington and Newport Storm breweries, that would be sweet.

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