[QUOTE=mev;20403713]Any experiences with US Route 83? Route 83 goes from the Mexican border (Brownsville, TX) to the Canadian border (Westhope, ND) and is one of the longer north/south routes in the US. It is also a route that for the most part, hasn't been replaced by Interstates. From the maps at least, it looks like long stretches of wide open great plains cycling. Nice if you like that type of thing and boring if you don't. I'm one who has enjoyed cycling the Great Plains in the US and Canada as well as wide open spaces elsewhere.

I've done the southernmost bits of the Rio Grande Valley to Laredo, but not further north than that on US 83. I was looking at the maps, CGOAB (not much) and otherwise exploring what it would take to do this route. It looks like on average winds come from the south more often than from the north so I'd favor cycling from Texas to North Dakota and taking Amtrak back. I'd probably break this into two pieces [TX] and [OK,KS,NE,SD,ND] partially because it would otherwise take me six weeks and partially because prime season to do this in one shot looks better in April than July. So roughly speaking: Amarillo to Minot in July or August and go back to do Brownsville to Amarillo in either fall or spring.

Any experiences or other thoughts on cycling US route 83? Except for some short bits also flagged as Interstate, I'd favor staying on US 83 rather than going to nearby places like the Badlands or Black Hills.[/QUOTE


After the Mickleson Trail ride last summer I caught US 83 in South Dakota I drove all the way to South Texas and it was well maintained highway. No distractions and made good time. On a bicycle it mostly has a good shoulder to ride on and the towns are frequent enough to resupply. I rode parts of 83 in the Texas Hillcountry with no problems.