FaygoTravels

Hey everyone I'm new here soo sup

Anyway lol I'm looking for a rout from Pittsburgh to Colorado that I'm likely to get picked up on, and also isn't illegal to ride if possible!

Yes I said hitchbiking.

I'm extremely new to this (using a non motorized bicycle) and I've barely made it as far as I've gotten I took a few days rest but last night the day before I was going to leave I got stuck riding until my legs hurt so I don't think I'll make it far today lmao. I know there's a transam rout but nobody is going to give me a ride from there so I was hoping there was a better option. Please keep in mind I'm not cut out for this and my bike is extremely terrible so distance between towns is a huge ordeal unless there's a big chance I'll get a ride!

spinnaker

No one in their right mind would pick up a hitch hiker. You would have have to be even crazier that that to pick up someone with a bicycle unless of course it is an emergency or the cyclist appears to be in trouble.

Hitch hiking is not touring. Thread should be locked.


Get you and your bike in shape and plan on riding to Colorado then check back with us.

And it is Pittsburg, KS not Pittsburgh. Before you head out you better make sure where you are leaving from.

pdlamb

My knee-jerk reaction is to say, "In before @indyfabz and the lock." I suspect @spinnaker has this pegged, but just in case we're wrong, I'll try a straight answer.

In general, the best traffic'ed roads will be U.S. highways, which the TransAm avoids. Not much use thumbing a ride when there's 3 cars and trucks passing you in 20 miles. Of course, with all that traffic, it's going to be uncomfortable kicking your bike down the road. Not to mention the pickups in Kansas (which can carry you and your bike) may have previously carried, shall we say, agricultural products.

And Kansas is pretty flat, except for the Black Flint Hills, which you'll be heading for if you try to ride and hitch your way to Colorado.

How'd you get into Pittsburg? If you started from Joplin, or for that matter if you didn't, your best bet is going to be to ride to Joplin and take a bus to Colorado. East on 126 to Nashville and then south on 171 into Joplin looks like a pretty good route, at least until you get close to town.

Now that you know it's not easy, (but old people like me have proved that it's possible,) maybe you'll do some training and preparation and then try bike touring seriously.

indyfabz

****/d

stardognine

Most peculiar. 🤔 The crazy thing is, it might work. I've had several vehicles stop, sometimes right in front of me, and the drivers offer me rides, or water, or what do I need. It's really frustrating, and I get tired of explaining what bicycle touring is. 🙄
Now I have to wonder, are those of us who actually WANT to ride the whole way, some kind of nuts or something. It's been suggested to me before, just not in this context. 😁😉

boomhauer

My experience has been the opposite.
The more remote....the more people stop and ask if everything is okay.
They usually have pick-up trucks and are awesome people that live in the middle of nowhere.

BobG

Faygo, I agree with stardognine and boomhauer. Stay on the TransAm and you will have no problem getting a lift should you get into a bind.

One year as leader of an ACA group I was waiting for a slow rider to catch up on the last leg into Chanute KS. He soon arrived in a pickup truck with a problem with his rear wheel. Another time a group member had a wheel failure in Eads CO. Within one hour he found a ride to Pueblo and was waiting for us at our layover motel two days later.

My frame snapped at the dropout outside of Booneville KY. I immediately got a ride in a pickup into town where I had it repaired. On yet another trip a member's frame cracked at the bottom bracket in Rawlins WY. He had another bike shipped from home and he caught up with us at our layover at Yellowstone with the help of trail angels and their pickups. On some tours folks were just not physically fit for the trip and sometimes had to get a ride to camp. I could go on and on with more stories...

DropBarFan

Good to hear some folks have luck hitching rides. On a tour to DelMarVa Eastern Shore I tried hitching a ride to avoid the $25 taxi to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. No takers despite numerous pickup trucks. Too populated area & too close to DC. In West Virginia I had 2 times when folks with pickup trucks helped me when car got stuck in the snow.

indyfabz

Before you joined us, one of the Bobs got ill early on and got rides over all the WA passes, eventually ending up in Sandpoint to wait for us. I believe Stu and Joy also got rides over some of the WA passes.

A few years ago I was taking a break on a lonely, rough dirt road outside of Twin Bridges, MT. A couple with a pickup stopped to ask me if I needed a ride to town. One of only 2 vehicles that I saw on that road.

spinnaker

It is one thing to accept a ride due to illness, breakdown, bad weather , dangerous roads or even simply that you may have bit off a bit more than you can chew that day. Nothing wrong with asking for a ride for any of those. But to make accepting rides as a part of your overall touring plan isn't touring. It is getting a free ride across country. Rent a car, take a train or a bus instead.

robert schlatte

My question is why do you have the bike at all? Why not just hitchhike to your destination? In my younger days, I did a lot of hitchhiking- it was fun and adventuresome. The key to getting rides is to make yourself as less threatening as possible. Thus, I always had most success if I had a sign that indicated to the motorist that I had a specific destination and wasn't just "thumbing" a ride. A backpack also indicated that I was a young kid on an adventure and not some random dude looking for a free ride. Also, you need to hitchhike the interstates where people are going greater distances. Secondary roads will just get you town to town, etc. So, you need to hitchhike on ramps so you are legal but down the ramp far enough so that travelers on the highway can still see you as well. Since you have a bike, you need to specifically target pickups. A bike might actually be an advantage (like a my backpack) because it makes you less threatening- you are a young guy on an adventure who has had some misfortune with his bike that people may want to help. One other tip, is approaching a pickup owner at a gas station or restaurant, etc. at interchange. Explain politely your situation and that you will ride in the bed of the truck with your bike. Once again, non-threatening.

staehpj1

I really dislike your concept. Ride the bike or don't take it. Don't create a stigma around bike touring. I have hitch hiked across the country once and have ridden across the country a couple times and done other long tours. Combining the two is a bad idea in my opinion.

That said, when I needed a ride or someone I was with did due to illness, injury, or mechanical issues we never had trouble getting one. Where there was less traffic more of the traffic was likely to stop and help. If there were 3 cars per day most of them would stop.

I have also hitched rides to make connections on backpacking trips, again no problems getting rides on remote roads, but that was always in backpacking country. Around places like Yosemite I usually was picked up by the first or second car. I consider this a legit strategy. Just me, but hitch biking I don't unless it is something you do only when you NEED to. Is that what you plan to do?

The TA would be as good of a place to catch rides while touring as anywhere in my experience.

alan s 

When you see a pickup truck approaching, quickly let the air out of your tire so it looks like you need help.

fietsbob

It's not the 70's any more .. ( hitchhiked across the US and Canada back then,

right after being a returned Veteran of 'that' War.. )


carrying a guitar made me not fit in a 2 seater.. though she did offer the lift..

PedalingWalrus

When I was 16,17 hitchhiking with my 12 string in a hard case was actually a plus. It definitely helped me to get rides. :-)

DropBarFan

Why does it have to be either/or? A bike can get thru areas where rides aren't available & hitching can cover miles that are less interesting. In the 80's I saw an Indian guy that traveled 'round the world with his old bike, he often hitched rides. In the Blue Ridge I gave a ride to a French hitchhiker: his occupation was a dragster-truck mechanic of all things. A week later I saw him riding around downtown DC on a cheap bike.

Overall, I wouldn't be enthusiastic about hitching though. Back in the 70's I hitched rides even just to get around town & while most folks were nice there were weirdos/pervs too. Funniest time was pre-dawn when I was walking to work & not actually hitching...a woman stopped in her beater car & offered a ride...turned out she was legally blind & wanted me to drive the car so to help avoid a ticket/accident. Same year I got a ride from a nice guy who later was busted for armed robbery. Well it was a different time, it's been years since I've seen anyone hitching.

I once picked up a guy who was schizophrenic.

ironwood

Many years ago while riding across South Dakota an my cross country ride some one did offer me a ride. He couldn't understand why anyone would cycle across the country.

mstateglfr 

Worst thread of the week.

But it's early and I'm sure tomorrow will bring something dumber.