Originally Posted by smudgy (Post 21379174)

My 4th and final tour of 2019 captured on video. I only had time to ride from Pueblo, CO to Carbondale, IL. I heard a biker call it the dreaded middle third. He said it's called that because that's where most people quit. Kanas is too long, too hot, too windy, too boring. Maybe so, but I love the open spaces and the small western towns on the high plains.

On the other hand, The Missouri Ozarks have hilly, twisty roads. Hilly is an understatement, 3 or 4 days of 8-12% hill after hill, most less than 2 miles. If not the hills, the scenery will take your breath away. Check it out.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 13976609)

The trip was back in May to June of 1977 on our honeymoon as we were moving from Michigan to Boston and managed a two-month hiatus from work... We navigated with an AAA USA Road map showing us the general direction, and then we used state Highway maps for day-to-day routes..

[We] crossed the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek pass; then through La Veta pass on into Kansas, through Garden City (where we met a Bikecentennial rider for 1976).

Through Kansas we paralleled US 50, and crossed the Missisippi in St Louis (on a Sunday). We crossed the Ohio River three times at Madison, Ind, (?) Mt Carmel, Ill, and Maysville Ky, all charming towns. Then through Southern Ohio crossing into West Virginia at Point Pleasant, and through to Blacksburg, VA, and Winchester, VA....We entered [Washington] during rush hour on a Monday, crossing the Potomac on Constitution Avenue (the same Route 50 we encountered in Kansas.)

Otherwise the weather was outstanding with only that one bad rain day in Virginia. Even the desert was unseasonably cool in May. We did carry about two gallons of extra water in the desert. The hottest days were in Kansas in early June...

The mountain roads out West were long but not too steep since they were federal highways and had to accommodate trucks. Backroads became more plentiful in Kansas, and the steepest hills were on backroads in the Missouri Ozarks, and in West Virginia Appalachians...

Every year beginning on our anniversary on April 30 for the next eight weeks I frequently try to recall where we were at that particular time on that date back in 1977:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 17347770)

"Emotional letdown after tour ends?"

On our cross-country honeymoon tour in 1977, as I recall, there was a sense of letdown, but not much time to dwell on it as we now arrived in Boston to start new jobs and life in a new city...

There also was a minor let-down as we left the West after the Rocky Mountains since the California and Arizona deserts, and Colorado mountains were such exotic environments for two lifelong Midwesterners who were now descending into more familiar terrain.

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 13998018)

My wife and I crossed the country in 1977 from LA to Washington DC. Some of the now-old-fashioned elements as I recall:

Hairnet helmets, woolen bike shorts, jogging suits for colder weather, toe clips, paper maps, phone booths for calls; sent post cards; for cash we used travelers checks and had money orders wired to us at various post offices. We were not into photography, so instead of an SLR film camera, we had a Kodak Instamatic.

To track mileage we had a mechanical odometer with a metallic striker affixed to a spoke. For lights we used those strap on D-cell battery powered lights with a front yellow and rear red lenses.

We rode Merciers, model not recalled, with sew-up tires and fullly loaded rear panniers (not recommended)…

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 13276327)

… In Garden City, KS we were approached in the city park by guy in his 20's who had ridden BC the previous year, and GC was his home. He showed us the sights and his family put us up for the night in an apartment above their jewelry store.

Such is the fellowship of the Cross-Country Ride.

From the best I can tell, it looks like our routes crossed around Larned, KS. BTW, Bikecentennial has a Wikipedia entry.