3949dxer

I’m seriously considering a coast to coast ride from the L.A. area to Jacksonville.

I began by studying temperatures, winds, and rainfall at 12 points along the way to choose a time of year to start, and the direction of travel. The conclusion was: ride west to east, and start in mid to late February. Other plans conflict with doing this next February, but I have it penciled in for early 2021, about the time that I’ll be retiring. I wish I didn’t have to wait that long, but at least I have a lot of time to prepare!

Much of that preparation, of course, is choosing the exact route. I’ve seen the Southern Tier route that Adventure Cycling has mapped out, and plan to buy their big map set, though I’m sure I wouldn’t follow it exactly. I might just use 40-50% of it, though I think I’d always be within 100 miles of it.

I’m a planning fiend and as I piece together the route, will probably “drive” much of it in Google street view to preview road conditions and traffic. I want to take quiet back roads wherever possible, and I hope to include a lot of quirky and historical places along the way. This will be “credit card touring”, not camping, with my wife (who’s very supportive of the project, bless her!) and/or a friend in a car, supporting me.

My main questions at this stage concern the roads in the Deep South. Route-wise, there are many options. I’ll start by Google driving the ones that Adventure Cycling has chosen, and then see if there are nearby options that I prefer, due to traffic, shoulders, or points of interest.

To anyone who has done this route or has cycled in rural areas of the South:

Did you follow Adventure Cycling’s Southern Tier road choices, and how were they, in terms of shoulders and the amount of traffic? Do you think the person(s) who chose those roads looked at different options in the South and chose the safest and most comfortable ones for cycling (which is what I would do), or do you think they just sort of plotted a line across the South without giving a lot of thought to choosing the most bike-friendly roads?

In general, do the smaller rural roads through LA, AL, GA, and FL tend to have decent shoulders, or not really?

And, if you have any links for east-west routes through the Deep South that you like, please post them.

I’ve done several long road trips through Texas and the Deep South (and enjoyed them immensely!) but wasn’t thinking about the bike-friendliness of the roads at the time. So, while I feel that I know those places fairly well (and like them a lot), I’m not sure what it’s like to cycle through them.

I’ve done lots of longish rural rides, but mostly in California. I’m safety-conscious, use my rear view mirror a lot, and seem to do pretty well around cars and traffic, but I want to get a better idea of what I’m in for when I get into the Gulf states.

Thanks in advance!