Cross-country US bike tour
01-07-20, 06:27 PM
#26
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Happy Riding,
Bill
I'm at the terminal end, so I also won't be joining you ... but in California at least and maybe other states, we have something called Hike and Bike sites at the State Park campgrounds.The rule is that if you get there under you own power, they can't turn you away because of space. The Hike and Bike sites I think are generally not used that much anyway.
Cheers,
Bill
01-07-20, 06:32 PM
#27
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Also, I will be sure to take your advice on Yellowstone and the Tetons, as both of those places are definitely on the list of places to spend some time at during this tour-- thank you!
Likes For Bildo5183:
01-07-20, 07:38 PM
#30
Let's do a Century
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 8,316
Bikes: Cervelo R3 Disc, Pinarello Prince/Campy SR; Cervelo R3/Sram Red; Trek 5900/Duraace, Lynskey GR260 Ultegra
Mentioned: 59 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 651 Post(s)
Liked 879 Times
in
408 Posts
I rode cross country in 2016 supported by my wife who was driving our van. I rode from Oregon to Boston basically following Route 20 which goes coast to coast. Where traffic got a little busy on the actual Rt 20 I followed roads that paralleled Rt 20. That worked out well for me. We had intended to mostly camp but wound up in hotels as we had our old dog with us. Good luck on your trip.
__________________
Ride your Ride!!
Ride your Ride!!
01-08-20, 08:29 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,214
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18397 Post(s)
Liked 15,492 Times
in
7,316 Posts
Both are spurs that go into/close to the cities. You have to reverse to get back to the regular route. The NYC spur doesn't even go into the city. It ends in Summit, where you catch a train. The Philly spur takes you to the Art Museum (and the famous statue of Rocky) almost entirely on trails/rec paths.
01-08-20, 10:42 AM
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times
in
171 Posts
Cross-country US bike tour
Howdy neighbor,
I have been cycling in Metro Boston since 1977.
The forerunner of ACA, Bikecentennial, had been founded in 1976 with just one cross country route. I have posted (link) a synopsis of our trip.
Also FYA, I rode with @jppe on the last day of his cross-country trip into Boston.
If you are traveling on your own or with others with makeshift plans, it’s hard to make specific suggestions even if and especially if you are an experienced cycle tourist. 
Philosophically though, I really liked this post about cycle-touring:
Hello fellow bicyclists and Happy New Year! My name is Bill and I currently live in Boston, MA. I joined this forum because I am doing a cross-country US tour (Boston to LA) starting next May, and would like to connect with fellow riders who are embarking on a similar journey around that time who'd possibly like to bike sections of it together.
I have been a city rider for years now, but I am new to the world of bicycle touring. I purchased a Masi Giramondo over the summer-- have put it to the test over a few rides-- and am really looking forward to riding on it across the US next year.
Does anyone have cross-country touring advice that they could share with me? Some stories they would like to share? Anyone making a similar trip next Spring and would like to ride a few days together? Hit me up!
Cheers,
Bill
I have been a city rider for years now, but I am new to the world of bicycle touring. I purchased a Masi Giramondo over the summer-- have put it to the test over a few rides-- and am really looking forward to riding on it across the US next year.
Does anyone have cross-country touring advice that they could share with me? Some stories they would like to share? Anyone making a similar trip next Spring and would like to ride a few days together? Hit me up!
Cheers,
Bill
I rode cross country in 2016 supported by my wife who was driving our van. I rode from Oregon to Boston basically following Route 20 which goes coast to coast. Where traffic got a little busy on the actual Rt 20 I followed roads that paralleled Rt 20.
That worked out well for me. We had intended to mostly camp but wound up in hotels as we had our old dog with us. Good luck on your trip.
That worked out well for me. We had intended to mostly camp but wound up in hotels as we had our old dog with us. Good luck on your trip.
I have been cycling in Metro Boston since 1977.
…We toured in Michigan and Ontario.
In 1977 we moved to Boston on our bikes, as a bicycling honeymoon from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and then took the train up to Boston.
We have toured in New England and the Maritime Provinces, and one trip to the DelMarVa peninsula.
In 1977 we moved to Boston on our bikes, as a bicycling honeymoon from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and then took the train up to Boston.
We have toured in New England and the Maritime Provinces, and one trip to the DelMarVa peninsula.
Also FYA, I rode with @jppe on the last day of his cross-country trip into Boston.
Philosophically though, I really liked this post about cycle-touring:
A thought or two, based on personal experience....
Also, what's the hurry? One of the joys of touring is the singleness of purpose and absence of demands. All you have to do is get there: you don't have to get there fast or get their first - and if you are touring with camping gear, odds are you can be incredibly flexible about what "getting there" means on any given day.
Embrace that. Don't let your tour become an exercise in trading one rat-race for another.
Also, what's the hurry? One of the joys of touring is the singleness of purpose and absence of demands. All you have to do is get there: you don't have to get there fast or get their first - and if you are touring with camping gear, odds are you can be incredibly flexible about what "getting there" means on any given day.
Embrace that. Don't let your tour become an exercise in trading one rat-race for another.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 01-08-20 at 10:52 AM.
01-08-20, 01:45 PM
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
Posts: 8,895
Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee
Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2599 Post(s)
Liked 1,924 Times
in
1,208 Posts
I think Glacier was well worth the detour. Of course, now I'm left wondering about Lolo Pass, John Day, and all the things I missed on the last TransAm map. OTOH, I have lots of pictures of the west side of Washington Pass to balance that!
01-08-20, 03:55 PM
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Maine, USA
Posts: 1,612
Bikes: Corvid Sojourner, Surly Ice Cream Truck, Co-Motion Divide, Co-Motion Java Tandem, Salsa Warbird, Salsa Beargrease, Carver Tandem
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 533 Post(s)
Liked 435 Times
in
227 Posts
Awesome! Learn something new every day. Cheers.
I rode cross country in 2016 supported by my wife who was driving our van. I rode from Oregon to Boston basically following Route 20 which goes coast to coast. Where traffic got a little busy on the actual Rt 20 I followed roads that paralleled Rt 20. That worked out well for me. We had intended to mostly camp but wound up in hotels as we had our old dog with us. Good luck on your trip.
01-08-20, 05:38 PM
#35
Senior Member
I don't expect you'll change your whole itinerary based on my experience but I'm from Massachusetts (Western part) and did the NT west to east. Can't say I didn't fight any headwinds but I can say that had I been heading west instead of east at one point I would have had to take at least a day off. Steady 35 mph headwinds, with higher gusts, would have been a no go. Instead I was sailing and did 120 miles that day.
I did the whole continent (Anacortes, WA to New Carlisle, Que) in sections. I used the train. Via Rail Canada and Amtrak in the U.S. You can go to Seattle from Boston on the train and ride your bike back. (It's ridiculously inexpensive to take a bike on a train compared to an airline.) I wanted to start from Anacortes so I used commuter rail from Seattle to Mt. Vernon and then a commuter bus to Anacortes. That was entirely personal. Thinking it through I would probably have been as happy detraining in Everett, WA and working my way northeast to intersect the NT somewhere along its route or, if I had had the time, taking the ferry from Everett and riding up the islands to Anacortes.
At any rate there were departures from the NT that I was happy I took. Walker to Duluth and then Duluth to Kingston, ON crossing the UP and traversing the Manitoulin Islands then using the ferry to the Bruce Penninsula. From Kingston to home involved the Erie Canal towpath. From home to New Carlisle involved long stretches of La Route Verte in Que.
I write about it here: https://sites.google.com/view/xing-t...y-bicycle/home. Obviously not worth as much if you aren't traveling in the same direction I did.
There is a Facebook group devoted to NT posts that is worth checking out though. Worth your inspection even if you only find yourself on limited sections of the route.
Phil Lussier
Ashfield, MA
I did the whole continent (Anacortes, WA to New Carlisle, Que) in sections. I used the train. Via Rail Canada and Amtrak in the U.S. You can go to Seattle from Boston on the train and ride your bike back. (It's ridiculously inexpensive to take a bike on a train compared to an airline.) I wanted to start from Anacortes so I used commuter rail from Seattle to Mt. Vernon and then a commuter bus to Anacortes. That was entirely personal. Thinking it through I would probably have been as happy detraining in Everett, WA and working my way northeast to intersect the NT somewhere along its route or, if I had had the time, taking the ferry from Everett and riding up the islands to Anacortes.
At any rate there were departures from the NT that I was happy I took. Walker to Duluth and then Duluth to Kingston, ON crossing the UP and traversing the Manitoulin Islands then using the ferry to the Bruce Penninsula. From Kingston to home involved the Erie Canal towpath. From home to New Carlisle involved long stretches of La Route Verte in Que.
I write about it here: https://sites.google.com/view/xing-t...y-bicycle/home. Obviously not worth as much if you aren't traveling in the same direction I did.
There is a Facebook group devoted to NT posts that is worth checking out though. Worth your inspection even if you only find yourself on limited sections of the route.
Phil Lussier
Ashfield, MA
01-09-20, 11:22 AM
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
Posts: 8,895
Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee
Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2599 Post(s)
Liked 1,924 Times
in
1,208 Posts
I don't expect you'll change your whole itinerary based on my experience but I'm from Massachusetts (Western part) and did the NT west to east. Can't say I didn't fight any headwinds but I can say that had I been heading west instead of east at one point I would have had to take at least a day off. Steady 35 mph headwinds, with higher gusts, would have been a no go. Instead I was sailing and did 120 miles that day.
We met a couple in eastern Colorado, heading eastbound, who told us a horror story about the headwinds from Lander to Rawlins, WY. They had to take a day off in Rawlins to recover from that day. A couple weeks later, we fought headwinds westbound, making 20 miles in the last five hours of daylight before we camped, exhausted, some 40 miles outside Lander.
01-09-20, 11:45 AM
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,214
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18397 Post(s)
Liked 15,492 Times
in
7,316 Posts
Lander to Jeffrey City I was so glad to encounter a strong couple on a tandem. Serious cross/headwind from about the 2 o'clock position. By the afternoon the wind had shifted and were coming out of the SW. I had trouble walking to the café in town for lunch. I left Jeffrey City for Rawlins at dawn the next morning to try to beat as much wind as possible.
01-09-20, 08:22 PM
#38
Senior Member
Hike & Bike
When I rode from Astoria OR to San Francisco CA in 2014, I put the state parks on a map on my tablet that had hiker biker sites based on a state park website, that way we could plan our destination each day for such a site. But, at that time not all California State Parks with campgrounds had hiker biker sites. Has that changed?
Some of the hiker biker sites we saw appeared to be partially populated by homeless, thus it could be an area where you need to watch your gear pretty closely, lock things up, etc. There were two of us, so one could stay in the campsite most of time to watch our belongings. But if you are traveling alone, that is harder to do. Situational awareness is the key.
Some of the hiker biker sites we saw appeared to be partially populated by homeless, thus it could be an area where you need to watch your gear pretty closely, lock things up, etc. There were two of us, so one could stay in the campsite most of time to watch our belongings. But if you are traveling alone, that is harder to do. Situational awareness is the key.
01-09-20, 08:45 PM
#39
Senior Member
I did the whole continent (Anacortes, WA to New Carlisle, Que) in sections. I used the train. Via Rail Canada and Amtrak in the U.S. You can go to Seattle from Boston on the train and ride your bike back. (It's ridiculously inexpensive to take a bike on a train compared to an airline.) I wanted to start from Anacortes so I used commuter rail from Seattle to Mt. Vernon and then a commuter bus to Anacortes. That was entirely personal. Thinking it through I would probably have been as happy detraining in Everett, WA and working my way northeast to intersect the NT somewhere along its route or, if I had had the time, taking the ferry from Everett and riding up the islands to Anacortes.
I write about it here: https://sites.google.com/view/xing-t...y-bicycle/home. Obviously not worth as much if you aren't traveling in the same direction I did.
...
Phil Lussier
Ashfield, MA
This was a business trip, so the extra time for rail travel eliminated Amtrak.
My experience with Amtrak has been fine with a folding bike. The Northeast corridor lets you check a boxed bicycle at most stations, but I wasn't able to pick it up for a day or two. The Pacific Surfliner (San Diego to Los Angeles) accepts full size bicycles without boxing, travel in the same car.
Last edited by AngeloDolce; 01-09-20 at 08:49 PM.
01-09-20, 08:51 PM
#40
Senior Member
If you do a roll on/off with the train, you'll be the one who moves the bike, not some underpaid and overworked baggage handler. Just one other factor to consider. Of course, train travel requires a much greater time commitment.
03-14-20, 09:54 PM
#41
Full Member
Heres a link to The TransAm Eastern Express Bike Route .It'll get you from Walden CO to Washington DC.
Free maps!
https://www.easternexpressroute.com/
Crazy guy on a bike did this
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=8823
Free maps!
https://www.easternexpressroute.com/
Crazy guy on a bike did this
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=8823
03-21-20, 04:21 AM
#42
Senior Member
Heres a link to The TransAm Eastern Express Bike Route .It'll get you from Walden CO to Washington DC.
Free maps!
https://www.easternexpressroute.com/
Free maps!
https://www.easternexpressroute.com/
03-21-20, 05:39 AM
#43
Senior Member
Great thread! Makes me want to do all of the suggested routes. However, given the recent unpleasantness, lodging may be more of a challenge than one hopes. My plans this Summer involve the GAP and C&O, then a train to NYC. A quick look at some of the hostels shows some planning not to open, on the Cape, and some with no plans, as yet published. I'm wondering about campgrounds, public and private, and, especially places with bunk rooms, dorms, group lean too, etc. Any info on Warm Showers and/or Air B'n'B?
