The Intercity Classic

When I got into Stuyvesant, I suggested riding my bicycle to school, an idea my mother absolutely hated. Similarly, when I got into MIT, I suggested riding my bicycle to school, from New York to Boston.

"The Intercity Classic," as I call it, has become one of my trademark rides. The first time I rode the route, my buddy Ilya and I set out to ride all 270 miles of it in one go. Unfortunately, it was November of 2005. It was bitterly cold, and we were both out of shape. We got as far as New Haven, some 186 miles, before calling it quits and catching what must have been the last Metro North train to NYC. (It was even colder when we rode the route in November of 2006 to New Haven. Think highs of 33F, in the sun, at noon.)

Since then, I've ridden the route in two variants: the one-day Boston to New Haven, and the two-day Boston to New York, with a stopover in Middletown, CT (aptly named!). My new, optimized route is about the best I can do: 220 miles from Kenmore Square, Boston to City Hall, New York. The route is as follows:

Beacon St, MA 16, MA 12, CT 197, 198, US 6, CT 66, CT 17 , (Ferry-Grand-East St through New Haven), US 1, CT 130, US 1. Once in New York City, get to Manhattan and take Riverside Drive and the bike path to City Hall.

With some 12,000 feet of climbing, the route turns quads into putty pretty quickly. However, if I'm ever going to do PBP, I think that the Intercity is a good start.

I'd like to actually do the one-day Intercity sometime this spring. Warm weather is a must. Game?