yves845

Hi
My daughter is currently living in DC a few meters from the C&O trail start by the way.
1) they are 2 options : either I bring my current bike by plane from France, a Santos Travelmaster 2.8, or I buy a 500 to 1000 usd bike in the DC area and just bring my panniers and camping stuff.
2) from DC, is there a preferable route to go to the San Francisco to Eureka part of the coast ?
I will have a standard tourist visa valid for 90 days (I have to make it clear wether it's exendable or not).
I much prefer country side and loneliness, can camp almost anywhere, provided there's a bit of water around.

Approximate date of departure March 2020... so there's a lot of time to think about it !
Thanks for your input
Yves

jamawani 

Yves -

Vous avez dit le mois "mars". Aviez-vous l'intention de dire "mai"?
Si on depart le 15 mars, on se trouve beaucoup de pluie, un peu de neige,
et les parcs touristiques fermes, pour la plupart.
Aussi, dans l'ouest des pieds de la neige peut rester en mai dans les montagnes Rocheuses.

Par example - normales climatiques
Pittsburgh (mars) - H 10C, B -1C, P 75mm, N 20 cm
Yellowstone (mai) - H 13C, B -2C, P 62mm, N 75 cm

Pourrais-vous considerer un depart plus tard?

indyfabz

https://www.adventurecycling.org

saddlesores

crossing the country in 90 days is doable....but why? there's a lot of boring same-same and drudgery out there. skip to the good parts!


you want countryside and loneliness? hop aboard amtrak to someplace out west...like albuquerque....and spend your 90 days in the more interesting part of the country.

jamawani 

Chacun voit des choses differents.

Tourist in MSN

For that long of a distance for that much time, I would bring my own bike because I am familiar with it, know how to fix it, it fits me well, and that is the type of trip I bought it for.

If you use a Rohloff, they are extremely rare in USA compared to Europe, almost no bike shops will be familiar with a Rohloff bike. So, if you might need an oil change, bring your own oil change kit. If you use a belt, it would be a good idea to bring a spare too.

fietsbob

I'm on the west coast , I occasionally see others with Rohloff bikes , I own 2..

Rohloff USA is in Richmond Cal , near SF bay . They will sell parts retail , direct..
or Shops can apply for a dealership account.
@ Cycle monkey

yves845

Merci,
un départ en mai est aussi possible mais j'adore être un peu seul sur la route, dans les endroits touristiques et je supporte mieux le froid que le chaud ...
Mon précédent voyage a commencé en Belgique en Janvier ... (-6 degrés C, de la neige ... une petite tempête de neige en haut des Pyrénées en février également)

*

yves845

Of course they are on my list.
I even dream to go to Missoula on purpose someday

yves845

That's an option, is it easy to board on a train with a loaded bike without reservation ?
I suppose I can find a map of all the trains available nationwide somewhere.

That said, I'm surprised theres nothing worth a sight east of New Mexico...
From my point of view when travelling by bike boredom and not that outstanding countryside is a part of the pleasure. See things unseen, not necessarely postcards sight.
One day I even camped near Eindhoven, near the Philips headquarter ... in an extremely flat field surrounded by cows and trains. Not my best souvenir !

yves845

I'm generally overstuffed with spare parts that I never use, so no problem on that side !
Plus I will stay at my daughter place and they'll probably have time to pick me up at Dulles.
Outside of germany, Rohloff and Gates are rarities for urbanites, in rural spain it was sometimes funny to see people wondering why my bike had neither a chain nor a derailleur (as far as I could understand their spanish).
On the contrary while touring in northern Germany, where the combination seemed a must on almost every bike I crossed, I could not stand proudly (and stupidly) outside of the croud.

jamawani 

Puis, peut-etre avril?Je crois que le temps sera bien meilleur.
La difference entre difficile et assez agreable.

Par example -
La route Chesapeake & Ohio est non-pavee, mais merveilleuse.
Bien sur, s'il pleut beaucoup, elle est impossible a traverser.
Les possibilites sont 50/50 en avril - moins en mars.

Et je dois dire que une petite tempete dan les Pyrenees
est different d'une tempete dans les Rocheuses en mai.
Parce qu'on est plus loin de la civilization dans les Rocheuses.

(mes deux centimes - -)

indyfabz

Not on Amtrak. Reservations are required, and space is limited.

Tourist in MSN

Agree with what indyfabz said, above.

All passenger trains are operated by Amtrak.
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...table-0317.pdf

The cross country trains from east to west are often limited to one a day. I have never had to board a train at 3am, but twice I arrived at my destination in the middle of the night.

Amtrak has been transitioning from only carrying bikes in bike boxes to being able to carry a bike in a bike rack in the baggage car. But if the rack is full, it is full. Thus the need for reservations.

But in some large communities there are trains operated as part of a mass transit system too, those are not run by Amtrak but those are for much shorter distances (tens of miles).

Tourist in MSN

I do not know how long a belt sprocket on a Rohloff lasts, I use a chain so my experience is not relevant. But since almost no bike shops where I travel have the Rohloff sprocket removal tool, I carry that tool when I travel. I do not carry the chain whip, I assume that if I need to remove a sprocket I am at a bike shop and they would have a chain whip I can borrow. (I have not switched to the new splined carrier.)

Have a great trip.

rm -rf

Adventure cycling sells detailed maps of their routes, with lots of information useful to cyclists. In much of the eastern USA, starting in March, the weather is quite variable, ranging from warm days to snow and ice.
You might do the TransAmerica trail out to Colorado, then follow other trails to San Francisco.
Trail overview map, the TransAmerica is the orange line. Transamerica detailed maps.

Snow can linger in the western mountains, with some roads closed since winter. I don't know when is a good time of year for the mountain crossings.

alan s 

KFC

I have ridden the C&O several times. It is an epic ride, but maybe not so much in March. Your are very likely to encounter rain ( sometimes heavy), or the effects of recent rain. The trail tends to get VERY muddy, some of which can get quite deep. It will also be cold - very probably nighttime temperatures below freezing. I last rode it April 17 - 20, 2018 and while I did not experience rain, many parts of the trail were closed, washout out or deep with mud. Several hiker/biker sites were closed also. Good Luck.

yves845

The belt I think is without problems usable for 15 000 to 20 000 km (I'm on 10 000 km with it ) and I do have a spare (under 100g) and a rear sprocket plus the tool needed to remove it

yves845

Seems fine, and contacty ACA is a good idea,
I will do it in time
And March seems really too early

stevepusser

Are you looking to include San Francisco in the ride, or are more open to crossing Nevada and California on a more northerly route to stay out of the Central Valley and end up near Eureka?

You'd want to look at the ACA Western Express route for getting to San Francisco. You'd have to put your own route together for the northern route, but it would be a lot more rural and remote than the Western Express.

Juan Foote

I am already guessing you know about CGOAB?

Read some journals there. Based on what you are saying you should easily be able to discern a route that will hit your personal high points.