Best places to ride in the United States

[Chris50]

I recently rode the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga paved trails, starting in Smyrna, GA (just outside of Atlanta and all the way to Anniston, AL.) Total round trip on my Veteran Patton of around 200 miles. Which took me 4 days to do and I stayed in motels in various towns along the way. It was an absolute BLAST and I met real cool people and had some awesome food along the way.

Do any of you folks know of some other great places like this to ride in the United States?

 

[SeanB]

I'm biased towards NYC since I live here, but I swear it has to be one of the best places to ride. Every road is available to you since the speed limit is 45mph and under in all 5 boroughs, plus there's a trail called the Empire State trail which is 750 miles of bike trail that takes you to each corner of the state and major cities like Buffalo Syracuse, and Albany.

[Chris50]

HOLY COW!!!!! 750 MILES, THAT’S FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!
 

Thank you so much for that information, man. I’m definitely going to be riding that trail soon. I’m in Knoxville, TN but that’s definitely worth coming up there for as soon as I order my new Begode Master Pro V3. 

I take it there are plenty of towns all along the way of that trail where I can find a motel or hotel, along with restaurants and grocery stores, right?

[WheelGoodTime]

California is EUC Nirvana. I rode the SoCal EUC tour, and in LA alone I rode over 450 miles of the most picturesque mountainous rides in my life. I am moving to northern CA where there is a similar amount of mountains and epic, scenic trails. California is in my opinion the best place in the world to ride an EUC due to the massive variety of EUC riding available there, and the general permissiveness of the government allowing EUCs there.

[Chris50]

OH WOW!!!!!!! NOW THAT IS DEFINITELY AWESOME, ALSO!!!!!
 

Can you please name the specific trails you are riding on though? From what you’re telling me, that would absolutely be worth the road trip as well.

I am trying to find paved trails that go for very long distances (hundreds of miles) where I don’t have to ride in traffic. I just simply do not trust being around folks in cars, based on the way some buffoons drive these days. They give practically every person a driver’s license in this country.

[WheelGoodTime]

26 minutes ago, Chris50 said:

OH WOW!!!!!!! NOW THAT IS DEFINITELY AWESOME, ALSO!!!!!
 

Can you please name the specific trails you are riding on though? From what you’re telling me, that would absolutely be worth the road trip as well.

I am trying to find paved trails that go for very long distances (hundreds of miles) where I don’t have to ride in traffic. I just simply do not trust being around folks in cars, based on the way some buffoons drive these days. They give practically every person a driver’s license in this country.

In LA, they have lots of fire roads, which if you aren't familiar with those, they are roads in a state of semi-disrepair because they are unused for general traffic purposes and only used for wildfire firefighting purposes. here's the link to the tour, which has the maps and lots of info about these particular rides: https://www.electricunicycleworld.com/p/2023-southern-california-euc-tour.html?m=1

In northern CA, there is Highway 1, which goes the entire distance of the state north to south along the ocean. It's extremely scenic, with loads of twisties and epic views. That does have plenty of cars on it, but for the most part, the speed limit is low enough to be rideable on an EUC. There's also tons of mountain roads all arounf Mount Tamalpais, which is just north of San Francisco. There's epic trails all around there as well. To the west of that is Point Reyes, which has dozens of miles (maybe hundreds?) of scenic riding and multi-use trails.

Where I will be moving is Sonoma County, and that has a few mountains near Sanra Rosa, with 10ish mile trails that weave all around and throughout the mountains. It's also wine country, so there is a ~50 mile road loop that road bikers use and you can wind all around the vineyards with great views and relatively EUC-rideable speeds on the road. Of course there's also the Armstrong Redwood Natural State Reserve near Guerneville, which is a forest filled with giant redwood trees and miles upon miles of trails and winding roads throughout.

Take all of what I'm saying about the NorCal part with a grain of salt as I have not yet moved there (it'll be late July when I arrive) but that is what I have gathered from my personal research and from what the local EUC crowd has told me.

[Chris50]

I feel like I’m talking to people on a different planet than me right now.

 I’m in Knoxville, Tennessee. Do you all know how many miles of paved greenway there is where I live?

Less than 20 miles.

I’ve also been all over this region (including completing the seriously cool trails of Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga) and have been riding for over a year now. Passing thousands upon thousands of people along the way, which also includes down in the Florida Keys. Throughout that whole time I’ve been riding, how many other people would you guess I’ve seen riding an electric unicycle?

Only two people.

You guys are making me freakin jealous as all hell LOL! 
 

Anyway, aside from my electric unicycles being the best investments I’ve ever made, the next best investment was buying a camper for my pickup truck. Which I’m definitely going to be getting a lot of use out of when I travel to and from these places that you cool people are telling me about.
 

Thanks again for filling me in on these places to me that seem completely surreal, but that I’m definitely going to be visiting soon. If anyone else knows of any great places to ride, please let me know as you will be much appreciated as well.

 

 

 

 

 

[litewave]

20 hours ago, Chris50 said:

I recently rode the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga paved trails, starting in Smyrna, GA (just outside of Atlanta and all the way to Anniston, AL.) Total round trip on my Veteran Patton of around 200 miles. Which took me 4 days to do and I stayed in motels in various towns along the way. It was an absolute BLAST and I met real cool people and had some awesome food along the way.

Do any of you folks know of some other great places like this to ride in the United States?

 

Did you do the entire 60-mile trail (total 120)? I had planned to do that last year after my S22P was finally delivered, but my riding buddy couldn't make it.

Are there stops at 30 and 60 where you can rest and recharge?

It would be fantastic to see pics or videos if you took any. 

[litewave]

For those in Ohio and PA, I nominate Cleveland (late Spring, Summer) - it won the  2021 National Recreation and Park Association for the best metro park in the U.S. You can also cruise the Erie Canal TowPath, which is a nice ride when it's dry.

Check out:

CLEVELAND METROPARKS NAMED “BEST IN NATION” FOR PARKS AND RECREATION MANAGEMENT

THE TOWPATH TRAIL

[Chris50]

I did the entire length (both ways) of the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trails. That’s a total length of close to 200 miles. I parked at the Trailhead parking lot in Smyrna and rode the first day to the Econolodge in ROCKMART. The next day, I thought I had enough power to make it to the Hampton Inn in Jacksonville, AL, but ran out of power about 6 miles away. Luckily, I ran into an exceptionally cool guy walking the other way and he went and got his car and took me the rest of the way. Which, by the way, I found most folks outside of Atlanta to be that way. The next day I got up and rode the rest of the way to the end of Chief Ladiga in Anniston and then turned around and rode back to Cedartown, GA where I stayed at the Quality Inn. Then the last day, I rode back to my car in Smyrna. A few side notes to make were…..

1) The cops in Rockmart and Cedartown told me not to worry about the signs along the trail that say “Maximum Penalty of 30 days in jail and $1,000 fine for riding a motorized vehicle on this trail.” They told me that is for people who try to ride on it on a motorcycle or car.

2) I HIGHLY recommend that you stop at Exotic Que Bar BQ restaurant in Rockmart. The large beef brisket sandwich is so incredibly good, I felt like I was in a dream while eating it!

3) Sorry that I don’t have any photos to show. I’ve never been much of a picture taking person.

 

 

[Chris50]

Litewave…..

Thank you and definitely I’m going to ride the TowPath. I heard about that trail and I greatly appreciate you mentioning something about that because I am planning to do that next. Just a few questions if you would please…..

1) Doesn’t that trail go all the way from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, PA?

2) Are there towns all along the way to eat, find lodging, and recharge your battery?

3) Do you know if I can leave my car at the trailhead overnight for several days in Washington DC? Otherwise, where do I park?

 

[Chris50]

For anyone who’s interested, I just now came across an article on Google called “How To Ride The Great American Rail Trail.” Apparently there’s an ongoing project (beginning in Washington DC at the trailhead of the TowPath) and will go THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES!!! The article says it will be an entirely paved trail that will be completely free of cars!!! Also, from what the article says (that I’m sure you can find if you Google it), they’re moving very quickly towards its completion as they’re spending several million dollars on it each year!! The article also says there will be towns along the way to find lodging and restaurants in. 
 

Plus, the article also mentions that there’s a bicycling company that has already mapped out a route that uses the parts of this already existing greenway and has connected it with the backroads (or safest routes) to get from one trail segment to the next.

[Scubadragonsan]

Chris50 you are welcome to explore "The San Francisco Bay Trail welcomes hikers, joggers, bicyclists, skaters and wheelchair users to more than 350 miles of trails that circle the bay." The section I most frequent with my KS18XL starts from Golden Gate Park (forest view), down to Great Highway beach along Pacific Ocean (ocean view), cross over to Golden Gate Bridge (scenic landmark view), head to Fisherman Wharf (popular tourist area). ride through Embarcadero (plenty of restaurants and eateries of all kinds), then toward ATT park and Chase Center (time to watch a baseball or basketball game) and head to downtown to do shopping. One way is about 25 miles, 50 miles round trip. Having a wheel can access trails that cars can't. Wheel is the way to go! San Francisco is really wheel-friendly, but do watch out for crazy drivers!

[litewave]

1 hour ago, Chris50 said:

Litewave…..

Thank you and definitely I’m going to ride the TowPath. I heard about that trail and I greatly appreciate you mentioning something about that because I am planning to do that next. Just a few questions if you would please…..

1) Doesn’t that trail go all the way from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, PA?

2) Are there towns all along the way to eat, find lodging, and recharge your battery?

3) Do you know if I can leave my car at the trailhead overnight for several days in Washington DC? Otherwise, where do I park?

 

Sorry, I can't speak to the DC-PA stretch - I have only ridden the NE Ohio Erie Canal TP. I did over 50 miles on it (round trip) on a NB1E+ with a couple spare battery packs many years ago. You can park and start almost anywhere in downtown Cleveland near the trail head in Tremont (near the fire station) or at Tower City Parking nearby, and ride to Akron (37 miles) or farther south, all the way to Goshen.

[Chris50]

I only visited San Francisco one time when I was 7 years old. It seemed like an eternal car ride at that age, all the way from Knoxville, TN (LOL.) When my family reached the coast and parked the car by the ocean, I was so excited that I sprinted down towards the water, jumped in the ocean. And then I promptly sliced open my right foot on a broken bottle beneath the surface of the water.

 I remember my mother yanking me out of the water while scolding me and dragging me up to a cement park bench where I was just bawling my eyes out (LOL.) 

Then I remember how extremely cool the folks in San Francisco were as a whole crowd of people swarmed around and were doing everything they could to help. One guy who, I guess was an alcoholic, walked up and offered to pour his entire bottle of liquor on my foot to sterilize the wound. 
 

I know there’s a whole lot of problems going on in your awesome city. How can people possibly afford to pay $4,000 a month for rent? But if the same spirit that I saw back then in San Francisco still exists there today, I DEFINITELY want to come ride those trails there and thanks so much for filling me in with that info, scubadragonsan.

[Chris50]

Thanks for the map, Litewave, that’s definitely going to be on my list of places to come ride. I was actually in Cleveland a couple years ago en route to Niagara Falls and I was very impressed. I especially enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.