Best way to find local bike paths?

Question

What is the best way to find bike paths in your area -- your town and neigboring towns.

I found a bike path map/flyer for Westchester County NY

I wish I had one for my county (Fairfield County, CT), but keep searching and searching & don't find anything.

I want real bike routes (paved), not dirt trails.

Thanks!

Believe it or not our local bike shops are of no help!

Answer 1

Well, stop flying solo. Your local road bike club or touring club will have all of the routes, all of the touring hotspots, all of the alternate routes, and lots of fun.

The previous chamber of commerce and bike store suggestions were good, but nothing beats the road touring club for finding every possible paved and fun course for a bike.

Problem with taking your Hybrid or XC mountain bike out with the road club? Don't worry, as long as the wheels are skinny, you can run whatever sport specific tire is needed. Panaracer Pasela Folding Tourguard, an authentic road touring tire, is available in 26x1.25 size for the road-ish XC.

Avoid dangerous "slicks" tires unless used on an authentic road bike. Mountain varieties crash on the corners and don't stop in the wet, and those that don't are super-slow.

The answer to that is easier, faster, and less expensive.

The Kenda Kross Plus Yellow Label tire with the yellow label on the side is capable of easy road speed for pavement and for gravel just by adjusting the air pressure, fits almost anything (not a time trial bike), and is super cushy. Insist on the yellow label because the other is slower despite identical price.

In fact, if your bike is 26" wheeled, go enjoy a cushy, speedy ride on the dirt trail--on the Kenda Kross Plus, directly after you soak the derailleurs and chain with EPIC lube, which keeps the dirt out of their insides. The 700C varity is faster on the road (than you would believe) for your road-ish hybrid, cross, or commuter, but not as bulletproof on gravel or dirt trails.

Why did I go off on all of this? Well, your question left me believing that you did not join a road club because you happen to own a mountain bike, cross, or hybrid.

If you happen to be riding solo because you own a slow 700c hybrid from 2004 or earlier (before Specilized Cirrus and Schwinn Super Sport pioneered competitive speeds in hybrids), then you can easily change it over to the modern speedy standard with a modest road bike performance wheelset and, for areo with no lack of comfort, $12 worth of "North Road" handlebars that would be installed upside down, slightly angled down, and wrapped like drop bars, with the controls across the front like a moustache. This puts a quick stop to the outdated "ape hanger" (sorry, but that IS the technical term) hybrid areo slowdown problem, while reversing this issue up to one of the highest areo standards, with no lack of comfort.
Although, homely (the reason it isn't often seen), it is certainly more attractive than the sky high "ape hanger" look. It also works on overtall hybridized mountain bikes, and for the mountain bike, just install XC narrow wheels as those have similar performance to 650 road race wheels.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that a super-high performance 19" version of the handlebars, made by Nitto was available at speedgoat.com.
Narrow is areo, although any will work. Please don't install these like a 3-speed bike. ;) In antiquity, the design was meant to be a drop bar, but nobody liked the appearance of the "wilted arrow" until recently, when it was re-discovered that the wind-tunnel performance surpassed anatomic drop bars (given optimal adjustment for either) and that the antique design provided more power for hills, while was also more facilitating to stamina. Sorry about the looks, but it works well and quickly fits mountain/hybrid components. End of EDIT.
The remaining functional difference between that result and a $2000, mostly decorative, racing bike is a crankset with efficient aluminum chainrings and a new chain. ;) Okay, 2 grand does buy you faster uphill speeds because of lighter weight (that's all), but that isn't necessary for riding with a touring club.

So, go ride with the road club. If someone can do it on a recumbent, then anything with gears and two wheels should work fine.

No road club? Well, there's no lack of bikes. All you need is a geocities site and a group mailer, such as Yahoo Groups, and a few flyers in bike stores, sporting areas, coffee shops, and gyms.

Recently, very recently, adventure touring is coming back, and with the new bikes--because of the new crop of non-painful road bikes and their newly-speedy hybrid cousins, it is comfortable, fun adventure touring that appeals to more people than ever before.

So, in starting a club, it may be best to stress adventures, luxury, and fun, in order to illustrate that this is totally different than the previous painful experience that caused many people in the U.S. to give up the sport. With 3-speed like comfort returned to us, now at race bike speeds (Kudos to Specialized for bringing back the bike!!), there is only one barrier that did not exist during the last time that cycle touring was a mainstream sport. It may be necessary to drop a hint to resist turning the home air-conditioning below 77 degrees, so that today's comfort-centric people ("normal" people) can also be comfortable outside.

With a new club started, you can then assign a "board" the task of exploring for really neat places to go and things to do. This is all actually very easy, and, of course, the local bike stores will go for helping you do it! ;)

Answer 2

The chamber of commerce for the city your trying to find might be able to help. Or contact a local bike shop they may have a source too.

Answer 3

I found some by yahooing bike paths by state. I'm in IL and it popped up a lot of paths and towns I've never heard of but I eventually found the one near us. It's a little time consuming because they don't classify them by city, each trail has it's own name

Answer 4

Your local bike shop should have some sort of map for sale. At least wherever I've lived they do.

Answer 5

local bike shops, friends, maybe a internet search. the one in my area has a site

Answer 6

The best way is to find someone who has been biking in your area for a while. Ask around, you can probably find someone who would be willing to show you some good trails.

Answer 7

Try your local bike shop...

They may have maps too. I know they do in my city :o)

Best wishes!

Answer 8

go to your local bike shops and talk to the people who work there.

Answer 9

"Real" bike routes = singletrack. Unless you ride a Huffy.

Check with the parks department.

Answer 10

go to your local bike shop or online with your state parks and recreation sites.