4 corners of USA ride
09-03-19, 05:04 PM
#1
Banned.
Thread Starter
4 corners of USA ride
Where would you start?
What month of year would you start?
Whats a good guess on how long this would take?
How would you increase your safety on a difficult ride like this?
What month of year would you start?
Whats a good guess on how long this would take?
How would you increase your safety on a difficult ride like this?
09-03-19, 06:34 PM
#2
Senior Member
Is this a self-support tour? If so, 75 miles per day average should be a good guideline. 9100 miles starting from Portland, Maine, going south to Miami FL, then west to San Diego California, then north to Seattle Washington, then finally east back to Portland Maine.
121 days if you stick to 75 per day, though I would budget a full 6 months or 180 days to do it, so you can stop and smell the flowers and take a day or two off here and there.
121 days if you stick to 75 per day, though I would budget a full 6 months or 180 days to do it, so you can stop and smell the flowers and take a day or two off here and there.
09-03-19, 08:11 PM
#3
Heft On Wheels
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I would love to be able to do something like this. I would do it over a years time....yep a year. Start in Maine or Washington in in the late spring and then ride though the south states during the winter months and ride the northern route over the summer. I would not put a miles per day type basis on it but ride on feel and just go with the wind. See all the cool stuff the US has to offer.
Safety would come down to really good route planning and lots of lights.....if your alone this will be super important but if you have support it would be much easier I guess.
Good luck!
Safety would come down to really good route planning and lots of lights.....if your alone this will be super important but if you have support it would be much easier I guess.
Good luck!
09-04-19, 03:58 AM
#4
Senior Member
Back in May, two cyclists doing pretty much a "four corners" tour stayed with us for a few nights. Janet and Stephen Rickey are retired, have done many cross country and self-supported long tours in the past. He is in his 70s, she is in her 60s - they sold their house, bought e-bikes and have been on the road for about 11 months now. The started in Washington state and headed south, turned left at San Diego, turned right at Florida, made a U turn in Key West, headed north (staying with us in Maryland) and then turned left in Maine - and have now just gotten back to the eastern edge of WA state - 11 months and about 12,000 miles later.
You can see their journal on Cycleblaze here. Janet does not post maps, but she has been using a mix of ACA routes, Google mapping and the East Coast Greenway on the East Coast.
You can see their journal on Cycleblaze here. Janet does not post maps, but she has been using a mix of ACA routes, Google mapping and the East Coast Greenway on the East Coast.
09-04-19, 05:54 AM
#5
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Is this a self-support tour? If so, 75 miles per day average should be a good guideline. 9100 miles starting from Portland, Maine, going south to Miami FL, then west to San Diego California, then north to Seattle Washington, then finally east back to Portland Maine.
09-04-19, 06:37 AM
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4 corners of USA ride
I have posted about an imagined perimeter bike tour on this thread, “Do you have a lifestyle fantasy?”
That website does not define the "perimeter" of the USA, nor his accomodations en route.
To see the listing of perimeter records, click on the tab: Perimeter Records, then follow the link, Perimeter Bicycling Accomplishments and World Records.
…We toured also during those decades [1970s to 1980s], including an eight-week cross country cycling honeymoon from Los Angeles to Washington DC. I'm doubtful she would want to go back to touring, but might want to participate as follows. When I win the big lottery, I want to buy a luxury RV as my sag wagon and cycle the perimeter of the country, so I’ll need a driver. 
I have daydreamed about it to the extent of defining the perimeter as riding within 50 miles of the border all around the country. The only other definition I know of is in the motorcycle community, where I have read the definition as traveling from the cornermost towns in the country. This would obviously be a shorter route since it would bypass the additional contours of Michigan, upstate New York, and Texas.
I'd like to try for a continuous ride: starting in Boston around September and down the east Coast to Florida in December; across the South though to March or April, the West Coast to June/July (though North to South is apparently the preferred direction), then across the North in the heat of the summer (or start in Boston in around June or July for the counterclockwise route).
In the course of my fantasizing, I have discovered The Perimeter Bicycling Association of America Inc. [link] which maintains perimeter cycling records for various political and geographic entities. For the USA, the record is 12,092 miles in 180 days held by Richard J. DeBernardis (date not specified).
I have daydreamed about it to the extent of defining the perimeter as riding within 50 miles of the border all around the country. The only other definition I know of is in the motorcycle community, where I have read the definition as traveling from the cornermost towns in the country. This would obviously be a shorter route since it would bypass the additional contours of Michigan, upstate New York, and Texas.
I'd like to try for a continuous ride: starting in Boston around September and down the east Coast to Florida in December; across the South though to March or April, the West Coast to June/July (though North to South is apparently the preferred direction), then across the North in the heat of the summer (or start in Boston in around June or July for the counterclockwise route).
In the course of my fantasizing, I have discovered The Perimeter Bicycling Association of America Inc. [link] which maintains perimeter cycling records for various political and geographic entities. For the USA, the record is 12,092 miles in 180 days held by Richard J. DeBernardis (date not specified).
To see the listing of perimeter records, click on the tab: Perimeter Records, then follow the link, Perimeter Bicycling Accomplishments and World Records.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 09-04-19 at 06:23 PM.
09-04-19, 02:00 PM
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@Rajflyboy, have you posted this in the Touring forum? Seems right up their alley.
