antokelly

don't blame you for being afraid, a pack of wild dogs can do a person a lot of damage.

antokelly

well would have to say is how different my country would be to yours that would be my fascination.going quick like the ramm i would not be capable of doing that.if i had loads of time and money and good company then yeah that would do it for me

EriktheFish

Ahh, yet another thread gone to the dogs.
Short summary from the hundreds of threads here on the subject:
-Yelling (no, bad dog, go home)
-Stopping (get off bike, keep bike between you and dog, walk away/charge dog on foot)
-Speeding (outrun 'em)
-Swinging (pump or stick)
-Spraying (water bottle, Halt, pepper spray, homemade concoctions)
-Noise making (air horn, doggie ultra-sonic devices)
-Shocking (taser, prods)
-Shooting (firearms)

Yumadons

My husband and I motelled the first half of the TransAm last summer, North Bend / Coos Bay, OR (United flies there) to Pueblo Colorado. It was 2040 miles, we carried no camping gear. I guess "piece of cake" is subjective but if we could do it (husband has lung lymphoma and COPD plus new hip and knees, rode a Trek electric bike), I'll bet your friend could too I looked closely at the ACA elevation maps and was careful not to make long uphill or headwind days. We're starting the second half Sept 1 but going off the ACA TransAm route to the east coast - I'll continue the journal. Stats from the trip below and my journal contains all the motel info:

Mileage from North Bend to Pueblo: 2050m
Riding days: 47
Rest days: 8 (4 of these were veterinary convention)
Avg mileage per riding day: 43.6m
Longest day: 71m (two of these)
Avg motel cost inc. tax: $86 (includes 20 breakfasts & 3 hot spring passes)
Total motel cost for 56 nites: $4832
Total loaded weight of Don's panniers / rack trunk / handlebar bag: 16#
Total loaded weight of Suzanne's panniers / rack trunk / handlebar bag: 27#

https://bicyclelife.topicwise.com/doc/yumadons1

Rob_E

A friend of a friend of mine decided that biking across the country would be a fun adventure. Up until then he hadn't done much biking. On his Crazy Guy On a Bike Journal he points out the first day of his Southern Tier, eastbound trip was the furthest he had ever ridden in one day (50 miles) up to that point. His coast-to-coast trip was 42 days long.

Your friend may be arrogant, but maybe just realistic. If you can make the bike stay upright move it forward, then you're more than halfway there. More time in the saddle means stronger legs and better endurance. You can get some of that by training or you can pick it up as you go. "Piece of cake" may be over-selling, or it may be a matter of opinion, but if your friend has their mind set on biking coast to coast, I see no reason why they couldn't. My "tours" have all been measured in days rather than weeks or months, but it's easy to see that if you can spend a whole day on a bike and get up the next day and do it again, there are not many limits to how far you can go.

Jim from Boston

I consider it a defineable "credential," like a Century compared to a 96 mile ride.

Here's an even more exotic fascination--perimeter bicycling. See this web page of the Perimeter Bicycling Association of America:

https://www1.perimeterbicycling.com/p...world-records/

I have done only one cross-country ride, LA to Washington, DC, and it was a life-changing experience, partly because of other life changes at that time, so it was a good fit. My dream ride is a perimeter tour of the US.

hueyhoolihan

you're a big help!

smarty pants.

MassiveD

Matchka, I think there are a bunch of reasons for the appeal of a trans, whatevers:

1) Adventure and challenge, the same reason Everest with Oxygen with a tour company probably gets you noticed at some cocktail parties. Despite it being absolutely bogus.

2) Aesthetic of the obvious line. This also has a mountaineering comparison that Comici (?) described as that followed by a falling drop of water. Which leads to some pretty stupid route choices.

3) Sense of completion, like a summit you know when you are there

4) It has a name, people like that it is a lot easier to get one's mind around or explain to others

5) They aren't tourist, so the real aspect of touring does not enter into it

6) Drive, a powerfully defined objective and reward, is more motivating.

7) Just so happens that a coast to coast crosses many geographic zones, and obviously hits two oceans

etc...

But yeah, it is kinda artificial...

It is also kinda risky, you make it 99% of the way, but the saddle sores are so bad that you get blood poisoning, , and you live the rest of your life with a burdening sense of failure. Vs. the Forrest Gump version of just stopping when it's over and heading home.

MassiveD

So it was alluded to, which of the three main routes is the dog free one?

Also, which route and from what direction has the best easing into it terrain. I like routes where there is a week or so of steadily increasing effort, and then you have you legs back. But both coast can be hilly.

valygrl

There are way more than 3 "main" routes even if you stick to Adventure CYcling routes.

I did Lewis and Clark to about Bozeman, then went off on non-ACA routing (route prepared by a tour companion, and very nicely). I liked L&C's start, the first few days are not too seriously hilly, and you get a great tailwind in the Columbia River gorge.

I think the dog issues are most commonly talked about with regard to the southeastern portion of the "Transamerica Trail" - but you can have issues anywhere, like I said, I was chased in SD and also PA.

I do see the appeal of coast to coast, as an early tour, but once you've done a few long tours, I think you'll figure out what appeals to you, and you can tailor your tours to that. SOme people like cultural stuff or interacting with locals, others like adventure, others like particular kinds of terrain or weather. FOr me it's all about mountains and coasts and RIDING. The cultural / people stuff is all well and good as an aside, but that's not why I tour, and I don't "smell the roses" - I check them out briefly as I whiz by as fast as I can. That might sound wrong to some of you, and that's fine, I'm sure I wouldn't want to do your touring style either.

MassiveD - Transamerica Trail (and to some extent, coast to coast in general) is like The Nose. Lots of people do it, it's a well-worn path with lots of prior information, you won't be alone on it, but it's still a huge accomplishment. Once you've done it, you'll probably want to go on to something else - whether it's harder aid, more free climbing, speed.... (ok enough, but it's a fun analogy)

SFGary

Jim from Boston: (and sorry for the post hijack, OP) what route did you follow, were you camping or CC touring? If CC, how did you manage AZ/NM. I am attempting one from SF - D.C starting on a southerly route via Barstow to eventually join the TransAM @Pueblo but it seems like there would be several days of over 100mi between motels in those 2 states...did you keep a journal?

antokelly

no worries it's all related

tarwheel 

I live in NC and have cycled all over the Southeast as well as the Midwest, and I haven't observed a higher incidence of wild or unrestrained dogs running free here. This is just another stereotype about the South, IMHO.

Burton

A lot of that depends on who you ask. I think some people have managed a coast to coast bicycle ride in under 10 days. IMO thats just a masochistic attempt by someone to prove something to themselves. Bicycling at an average speed of 26 km/h for 22 hours a day will get you there, but really doesn't give anyone a chance to actually SEE or VISIT any part of the country. Technically, you could do the same milage on a trainer at home while watching television and have about the same experience.

Coast to coast would probably take me about 20 years and then some. I did part of the Big Sur and the MidWest by motorcycle and that was a five week trip - but then I get distracted easily and stop to explore a lot. On the other hand that five week trip covered 15,000 kms so technically it was a 'Coast to Coast' multiple times - just a lot more fun!

My trips to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Cabot Trail were similar. I'd be lucky to have covered 50 km between 7:00AM and noon. But there are over 100 waterfalls along the BRP and they're all worth a detour.. and sometimes a stop-over.

I figured airplanes, cars and trains were for people in a rush. For people that like to explore - a bicycle or hiking boots are made for the job.

Jim from Boston

The trip was back in May to June of 1977 on our honeymoon as we were moving from Michigan to Boston and managed a two-month hiatus from work. Our original plan was to go from LA to Boston with an eight week deadline, but around Colorado we decided we weren't traveling fast enough, so veered towards Washington to take the train up to Boston. We navigated with an AAA USA Road map showing us the general direction, and then we used state Highway maps for day-to-day routes. It became a standing joke that at every rest stop, at every meal, and settling in at night we brought in a map to plot the next few miles.

The general route was starting in Laguna Beach where we stayed with a classmate, and within few miles turned inland past San Juan Capistrano and onto the Ortega Highway and our very first mountain pass ever. We passed by 29 Palms and left California at the tip of Nevada into Bullhead City, AZ, through Kingman and onto old Rte 66, to the Grand Canyon; then on to Four Corners, Mesa Verde, CO; crossed the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek pass; then through La Veta pass on into Kansas, through Garden City (where we met a Bikecentennial rider for 1976).

Through Kansas we paralleled US 50, and crossed the Missisippi in St Louis (on a Sunday). We crossed the Ohio River three times at Madison, Ind, (?) Mt Carmel, Ill, and Maysville Ky, all charming towns. Then through Southern Ohio crossing into West Virginia at Point Pleasant, and through to Blacksburg, VA, and Winchester, VA. On the second last day we easily crossed five named passes in the Shenendoahs. Unfortunately, a rainstorm the day before kept us from reaching Washington on a Sunday, so we entered during rush hour on a Monday, crossing the Potomac on Constitution Avenue (the same Route 50 we encountered in Kansas.)

Otherwise the weather was outstanding with only that one bad rain day in Virginia. Even the desert was unseasonably cool in May. We did carry about two gallons of extra water in the desert. The hottest days were in Kansas in early June. We were completely equipped for camping but the main plan was to do about fifty miles a day and try to find a place with a shower. Our most rural “stealth camp” (with permission) was behind a barn in AZ. We did at least one century day, in Kentucky, to find a nice place (Maysville).

The mountain roads out West were long but not too steep since they were federal highways and had to accommodate trucks. Backroads became more plentiful in Kansas, and the steepest hills were on backroads in the Missouri Ozarks, and in West Virginia Appalachians.

My wife did keep a perfunctory journal and we marked each day on our USA map, but so many of the memories are deeply embedded in my mind. Every year beginning on our anniversary on April 30 for the next eight weeks I frequently try to recall where we were at that particular time on that date back in 1977. Sorry to further hijack this thread, and thanks for asking, but one of my personal attractions to Bikeforms is to reminisce and read about other cross-county tours. MassiveD described the attractions of a trans quite well.

ADDENDUM: Our original plan was to pass through Las Vegas, but in Goffs, CA we met a retired state cop who advised us to bypass Vegas. So we instead went directly through Arizona, adding additional mileage.

SFGary

Jim from Boston, this has been most helpful. I am wresting with how I can get across AZ/NM without camping or carting the bike on a rental pick up for the couple of longish sections so your route will help me decide on the optimal route. Thanks very much.

djb

t'es drole toé (kinds sums it up doesnt it, what a boring experience, but I guess it turns their cranks)

MassiveD

A 10 day trans am is a race, not a tour. But it is a baseline that tells one something.

Vernon Huffman

I've cycled from the west coast of the USA to the east three times. Each was very different.
In 2006, Bike4Peace went from Everett, WA, to Washington, DC, along the route of the Lung Assn's Big Ride, approx 3500 miles. I captained a tandem as part of the video crew. We spent seven weeks.
In 2007, I spent 6 months riding from Portland, OR, to Washington, DC, with a 12-yr-old girl, her 2-yr-old twin sisters, and their mama, the strongest woman on earth. We went around the Rockies, crossed Texas to New Orleans, up river (in Aug) to St Louis, then across West Virginia for a total of about 4500 miles.
In 2010, we rode from Oakland to DC, about 3500 miles, along Adventure Cycling routes in two months.

My best advise? Don't set a schedule. Just get on your bikes and follow your hearts. Learn and plan all you can, but don't hold yourself to it. You will discover more than you can imagine.

Jim from Boston

+1. Similar to my favorite post about the long distance touring experience: