Originally Posted by
3949dxer
...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.
1) "The Deep South" is a very large category and includes everything from ideal cycling roads to hellish nightmares. Roads vary from state to state, county to county, and community to community.
2) While I'm not specifically familiar with the Adventure cycling map, it is presumably based on cycling experience, so that's a great start. You should supplement that with the Strava Heat Maps to find roads that see cyclist traffic on a regular basis.
3) Don't get hung up on shoulders. Many rural areas in the South (and the Midwest, for that matter) are full of two lane roads with no shoulders that are still fine roads to ride. Local drivers are frequently used to farm traffic, and reasonable precautions (situational awareness, lane position, bright colors, flashing lights, etc) will avoid most potential problems.
4) Although the quality isn't universal, most southerners are polite and friendly if you are. Introduce yourself, ask directions, show some interest in the local culture, and you're very likely to end up a minor local celebrity for a day and should get lots of invitations to farm tours, lunch, places to camp, and other local amenities.
5) In late February, you'll be traveling during the start of planting season in many areas. This will give you a lot of opportunities to learn about Southern agriculture. Take advantage of the opportunity. Also worth noting is that most tractors travel at 20-30 mph, making them ideal to draft. Just watch out for potholes.
Enjoy the trip!