Is this reasonable? Pedal bike plan

[cyntil8ing]

We would like to rent pedal bikes and leave the Dockyard very early in the morning (5:30-ish) to head to the railway trail. From there, we'd bike the trail and then take the 7:55 green route ferry from Rockaway, transfer to the 8:30 blue route in Hamilton to return us to the Dockyard at 9:00.

 

Is this reasonable? What is likely the latest we could leave Dockyard and not be rushed? Sunrise is about 6:00am? We are photographers and love to catch the early morning sun. Am I correct that the distance would be about 8 - 10 miles? We are purchasing transit passes. Will there be an additional charge on the ferries for the pedal bikes? Are there better options I haven't considered?

 

Thanks for your patience with my ton of questions.

[SailBadtheSinner]

I'm assuming this is day 2 of your visit and bike rental and transportation pass purchases will be made on day 1. The distance from the wharf to the Rockaway ferry dock by road then Railtrail is about 5 miles. Sunrise is a little after 6:00A. The portion of the Railtrail on Somerset Island is rated as easy and described as broad and flat, and almost all of it is paved.

 

Will you be stopping for photo ops en route? Did you notice on the Green Route ferry schedule that there is only one scheduled morning run after the one at 7:55A that you plan to catch.

 

As for an extra charge for the pedal bikes on ferries, I could not find anything. The schedule have motorbikes on ferries charged an extra $4.00. I would ask when you buy your transportation pass.

 

I think your plan is doable; just be aware of your time. If you miss the last morning ferry at Rockaway, you'll just have to pedal back :(.

 

 

SBtS

[cyntil8ing]

Actually, it's day 3 and passes and bikes would be picked up on day 2, but yes, you're correct. Our backup plan is the 8:20 ferry and our final alternative is biking all the way back. But if it's only 5 miles rather than 10, that should not be an issue.

 

Thanks for the confirmation! Now, if we can just drag ourselves out of bed that early! :eek:

[Ella2]

Cindy, I answered you on the Gem roll call thread but wanted to post here too...I definitely have people interested in doing this. Is the fantasea thing not going to happen? Where are you renting the bikes, is it at the Dockyard?

 

Any info you can give is appreciated! :)

[jollyjones]

You do not pay extra to take pedal bikes on the ferries. Ask the crew when you board - there are specific places to put your bikes.

 

It usually takes me less than an hour to cycle from Dockyard to Rockaway (green ferry stop) - I just pootle along the railway trail, I'm no racer. It takes me about two and a half hours to cycle from Dockyard to Hamilton although it can be tough going in Southampton and Warwick going down and up the gullies crossing the railway trail where trestle bridges used to be but are no more. Keep off the roads as much as poss, the traffic is getting worse and worse and, whilst most people will give you room, some are very inconsiderate.

[cyntil8ing]

Hi Ella. The last I heard from Fantasea was that they had nothing scheduled and I should email them Friday to see if anything had changed. Being the planner I am, this encouraged me to look for other alternatives. If you're interested in that tour, I would email them and see if enough interest convinces them to schedule one.

 

I found out after I posted on your roll call that there is an identical sounding shore excursion offered by Celebrity, which I assume is run by Fantasea. However the departure is mid-day (1:30) which doesn't work for us.

 

So, we've decided to just rent bikes and do it ourselves. I contacted Oleanders Cycles at the Dockyard to check availability and they responded that yes, they had availability and the cost was $10.00 per 24 hours plus an insurance/maintenance fee.

 

Their email address is oleander@logic.bm.

[Ella2]

Awesome, thanks Cindy, I will pass the info along! :)

[cyntil8ing]

Thanks jollyjones. I was hoping you'd weigh in based on your experience. It sounds like time-wise, we may be able to go some distance past Rockaway and then circle back still with time to make the ferry. I don't think we want to ride all the way to Hamilton, but perhaps to a pink route ferry stop, which would give us many options.

 

We're leaving our kids on the ship with my parents, so we don't want to make a day of it.

[BratDet]

from the Dockyard to where the Railway Trail begins(and beyond). There are areas that are quite hairy- the road are simply so narrow...to stay safe....the good thing is you are leaving so early,,,you should be able to avoid a lot of that problem.....

THe Rialway Trail on that part...was quite flat and asphalt paved....

We were going to rent road bikes, to ensure a better bike...but we decided against riding.....

 

If you decide to stop at Gibbs lighthouse....do not get onto the Railway trail before that...take the road to get to the lighthouse...cause the path rom the Railway Trail is hard enough to climb without schlepping a bike..I joked I felt like I was going thru the amazon jungle...

.the road side access is completely paved....th view is so worth stopping for!!!

bernadette

[cyntil8ing]

Thanks Bernadette. We're so excited. We leave tomorrow!

[cyntil8ing]

Just wanted to make a quick follow-up to this. We nearly didn't get to do this, but in the end it worked out great.

 

Thursday morning while we were waiting for the St. George ferry, we stopped in Oleander's to verify our rental bikes would be available late that afternoon. They told us the last pedal bikes had already gone out that morning and we were out of luck. We grumbled but remained polite and reminded them we had made reservations via email. She then told us she "might" be able to find some more bikes and we should check back after 5:00.

 

Our plans were to visit St. George, then BAMZ, then send my parents back to Hamilton on the bus while we took the kids to Shelly Beach. We explained that we didn't want to alter our plans for a "maybe" so she promised she'd have them. We arrived back to the Dockyard on the 5:00 ferry only to find the doors locked though the woman was plainly visible inside but ignoring us. After 5 minutes of waiting, someone else came from the side to explain they were closed. We told our tale and he went back inside. Finally, he waved us back around and we got our bikes.

 

So, the point of all this is to not trust email reservations with Oleanders! Had we not popped in while waiting for the ferry that morning, we would not have gotten bikes at all!

 

Now, the good part! We left the ship just before 6:00am and pedaled off down the road. There was next to no traffic heading east. I counted just three cars that passed us. We arrived at Rockaway Ferry by 8:00. The road and railway trail was flat, paved and easy with the exception of steps on the other side of Somerset Bridge.