Trans-Mass Trail to Puppy Dog Route - New England

INTERNETRACECAR

INTERNETRACECAR

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Jul 8, 2013
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Connecticut
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Puttering around on the Internet at lunch reminded me that there are an awful lot of dualsport riders around here, and after doing a little research, I remembered the Puppy Dog Route. From Greenfield, MA to the Canadian border, you can travel almost entirely on public, open dirt roads with a few challenging sections thrown in. On top of that, someone kindly mapped out the Trans-Mass Trail, which is another heavily dirt route from Connecticut to the start of the Puppy Dog Route.

As my suspension should be done in a matter of weeks, I'll be looking for a good excuse to test it out and get my car absolutely filthy. 418 miles of dirt sounds like a good way to do it.

If there's anyone else interested, get at me, as I'm trying to work out the logistics right now and round up a few interested parties.

As of right now, the end of September looks most promising, but that remains subject to change for the moment!
 
INTERNETRACECAR said:
As my suspension should be done in a matter of weeks, I'll be looking for a good excuse to test it out and get my car absolutely filthy. 418 miles of dirt sounds like a good way to do it.
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It sure does :raz:

Have a great time INTERNETRACECAR.

Looking forward to hearing & seeing all about your adventure :ebiggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Sorry 'bout the hi-jack

You've hit the nail on the head there IRC. That'll be a great ride! I've been planning on using a similar route from N. Ga to WV during the 1st week of Oct. Maybe I should just head North and ride with ya.:ebiggrin:
These dual sport routes are perfect for touring backroads, camping and doing exactly what I do want to do with my Subaru, including the blue and the blacks alts. :cool:
I've been batting around the idea of doing the coast to coast TAT with the Forester in the future.:monkeydance:
Here's a blue alt from one of the N/S rides in Fla.:ebiggrin:
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There's quite a few of these ds routes now, the main one on the East coast was done by one of my best buds. He and the other developers are dedicated to helping other riders to have great rides. These modern day Lewis/Clark types garner well deserved respect and gratitude for their work and their willingness to share with other like minded riders. There's a user agreement as part of receiving these free gps tracks for some of the routes.


Safety.:cool: (This coming from someone that repeatedly parks in the middle of the road for pics:raspberry:)
I've been reluctant to convey how awesome these routes are because of the safety issue. As a rider for 40+ yrs, I'm very aware of how bad it sucks to meet a car on those single lane gravel/dirt/sand roads. Most of the time it's not an issue but throw in a little bit too much speed by either person and it can get dangerous quickly. From what I've seen on this site we're mostly out there for the slower speed fun but some of the other sites may not be as responsible. I just want to remind everyone to be careful.:iconwink:
The more open main route.
Arkansas
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Those are stunning pictures, and I'm fired up to get going on this trip. I actually just threw a whole bunch of new parts under the car tonight, so hopefully it'll be 100% before we hit the road. Agreed on the safety aspect, too, though I don't think it'll be much of an issue with the small crew that will likely be coming along. Scenery is half the fun, and it's no fun at all if it's a blur.

You're more than welcome to join us, of course, although I'd imagine it's a bit of a hike and as pretty as it will be, it's got nothing on the gorgeous roads you have at hand in your neck of the woods!
 
Thanks for the invite and compliment IRC. :bananatoast:

What gps unit do you use? How many days do you think it'll take to do the 418 miles? Are y'all campin'?:poke:
 
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Right now I've got an elderly in-dash Pioneer head unit with GPS, I'm actually looking to see if I can load route files into it right now. We're planning on four days, two up and two down with camping in between. Luckily, I-91 runs right up through the center of Vermont so if worse comes to worse, we can all be home in a matter of hours if need be. It's one of those trips where you end up far afield, but not so far afield you can't be out of reach.
 
I'd be glad to loan ya the Garmin 60csx, the same unit that E.J. used as a backup/test run for a handheld gps on his ride this year.
 
No worries, we can always do it the old-fashioned way with paper and wild abandon! I will definitely be logging it, however, as I'm sure I'll be doing this many more times to come. I definitely appreciate the offer, though!
 
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Gotcha, lmk if you decide you'd like to have it along.
It sounds like you've got a great game plan, it'd be nice to ride along with y'all but time/$ are too tight. Maybe next time!
Post some pics for us if ya can. :ebiggrin:
 
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