gregmacc

Thanks Indyfabz ... aii good information. When you say book trains early would you suggest several days before? weeks?

indyfabz

IIRC, there are only 5 roll-on bike spaces on the Capitol Limited each day. From what I hear, they are popular. I would think in terms of weeks, but I am planner and don't like to leave things to chance.

alan s 

The Capitol Limited RORO service has been inconsistent. The first year, there were 4-6 wall hanging spaces (don’t recall exactly). Other times they have used an open compartment with bikes lying on their sides. Last year I just handed them my bike and they put it somewhere. Weekends tend to fill up, but weekdays are probably not heavily used. You want to make the reservations several weeks in advance.

brandenjs

Just a heads up for anyone planning to make any kind of trip up the C and O and planning to go into downtown Harpers Ferry. This is a big deal in the area though there is an alternative, but longer way to get into town.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/trans...er-derailment/

fishboat

Greg..I've looked into the Chicago-Milwaukee segment. As I've mentioned, I've not cycled south of Illinois Beach State Park, so no first-hand experience here. From what I can tell, people do ride Chicago>Milwaukee and say it's about 80% dedicated bike trail. Good portions of it go along the Lake Michigan shore and then somewhat inland along city streets (with bike lane) and onto other bike trails. Downtown Chicago (near Union Station where Amtrak from Pittsburgh would arrive) to the Illinois/Wisconsin state line is 55 miles. Here is one route that looks to be pretty good, god enough that a tour company used it:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/7533436
Another link I ran across:
Bicycling from Milwaukee to Chicago

I'd think the riding along the lake on bike trails would be very nice, although you'd also be riding significant sections on city streets. Take a look at the route..you'll have to decide how attractive it is.

Another option that occurred to me was to take Amtrak(train is the "Hiawatha") north from Chicago-Union Station to Sturtevant, Wisconsin and then start riding from there. I called Amtrak on whether bicycles are allowed, how many, roll-on..etc.. and customer service said there was no information yet. She suggested I/you call back in April and maybe info would be available. The Sturtevant Amtrak station is 11 miles southwest of a good campground. That campground is 5 miles southeast of the trailhead I posted previously.

Have you toured north of Green Bay?

I've not toured north of Green Bay, but I have done day rides in Door County. There's good riding anywhere up there as long as you stay off Hwy 42 & 57..and maybe Hwy A.

https://doorcountypulse.com/on-the-road-again/

https://www.nordoorsports.com/articl...maps-pg148.htm

... towards Lake Superior?
Again,, I've not bike-toured in the U.P Michigan, however I've been up there many times. It is remote up there, but a beautiful area. I'm not sure how far north you'd like to go..you might consider Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. BEAUTIFUL region and lots of good camping on the way there. Great hiking along the cliffs/seashore and very scenic. Pictured Rocks is about 200 miles NNE of Green Bay. A good bike route up there would take some research..I'm sure people have done it. Depends on your interests and how much time you have.

Update..did a quick search and found a RWGPS member "Aren" that looks to have ridden Green Bay to Pictured Rocks while staying off Hwy 41 & Hwy 35
https://ridewithgps.com/users/1345963

Feel free to contact me through BF PMs..I'll get the message.

u235

I've been following that too. There is a HI Hostel on the Maryland side at HF. I've stayed there before and no need to cross into HF proper. Although if you wanted to visit HF you're out unless you're ok with just looking at it from the other side of the Potomac.
You can replenish supplies/food relatively nearby in Brunswick or Shepardstown along the C&O before or after HF if needed.

alan s 

Here is NPS information on the current and future resurfacing project.

https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvis...ng-project.htm

fishboat

Greg,, I just did a quick catch-up of your other thread..USA touring suggestions. I appears Wisconsin was discussed quite a bit over there...nice to hear as I'm always looking for other places to visit.

Anywho.. crime in the Milwaukee area was mentioned over there..living in the area for the last..ahh..nearly 60 years..and riding in the area for 40+ years, if you follow the track I posted earlier, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't, you'll have zero crime issues to worry about. Enjoy the scenery and have fun. If I'm around, I'd have no reservations about riding you through any part of the trail.

alan s 

I benefited from the discussion, but now have to decide whether to ride a loop from Milwaukee to Door County or the original plan to cross to Ludington and ride down to South Bend. If you could do one or the other, which would you prefer?

IPassGas

Wow, this is wonderful news. For so long I have hope that funds would be found toward improvements of the C&O surface, which is not easy given the current poor funding climate for NPS. The C&O is well deserving given its high use and location to population centers. The improvements are not a simple task, the GAP has the benefit of the old railroad bed, and consequently, the 100's of culverts previously created by the old railroad to divert water.

u235

Obviously not a popular opinion but I like the random mixed bag and change of surface it had. That made it different and exciting compared to being on the average rail trail. I enjoyed the late May not yet cut 18 inch high grass in the center and even the wet mud and/or the dry cratered clumps near Cumberland. You can't make everyone happy . It's still going to flood and have washouts though. I'll admit I did take the parallel paved trail once near Hancock. Oddly on that though. A lot of people must do that because the actual C&O has a lot of smaller branches and debris on it in those sections. Stuff that would normally be in smaller pieces and pushed aside as people ride through.

Lanesplitter

That's difficult to answer without knowing how long you plan to ride and if you plan on using a train. I'm guessing that's why you chose South Bend as a launching point, because there's a luggage stop there.

If it were me, and presupposing the use of Amtrak, I'd say Milwaukee is a better spot to start from. The northern half of the lake is far nicer. It isn't close at all. Let's also assume you have around three weeks and you ride like sixty miles a day. In this case, I'd hit Door County and spend 3-4 days there, then aim to loop around to either Ludington or Muskegon to take the ferry, depending on time. It would be faster to take the Badger in Ludington, because it's quicker to get to Milwaukee from Manitowoc than it is to get from Ludington to Muskegon. By doing a northern loop, you get to see all of the top-tier things on Lake Michigan: Door County, Mackinac Island, and Sleeping Bear Dunes.

If time were tight, like if have only two weeks or significant rain, you could do loop by riding the rail trails and roads south from Green Bay to Milwaukee once you've explored DC. I haven't ridden them, but the Fox River and Eisenbahn Trails are about 25 miles each.This would put you inland but I bet it would be worth it to see Lake Winnebago. I just looked at some images and regret not having gone.

alan s 

Apologize for not clarifying. Plan is to take the train to Milwaukee from DC (where I live), and riding for 8 days. So it would be Amtrak to Milwaukee, then Door County loop starting and ending in Milwaukee OR starting in Milwaukee/Badger/ending at South Bend to catch the train home. I eventually would like to do both and visit Mackinac Island, but that would not be possible in the time allotted.

Lanesplitter

I'm not even sure you could make it to the Badger in eight days. The ferry in Milwaukee and back to South Bend would be doable, but if there's weather issues, you'll have to hustle.

So, with eight days I'd just start from Milwaukee. I think you could assume about around 2.5 days each way from Milwaukee to Sturgeon Bay. That would leave three days to explore D.C. If things go well, you could even get to Washington Island for a half day.

I really don't think you could go wrong with either. And truly love the Indiana Dunes, South Haven, Saugatuck, Holland, and the whole coastline in general between Chicago and Muskegon. The problem is, it's so much more developed on the Michigan side with long stretches without lake views or access. The Wisconsin side is much more peaceful. I will say, if you compare the whole state of Michigan to Wisconsin for touring, I'd give the edge to Michigan. The problem is, it's not easily accessible by Amtrak if you're on a timeline, because most of the great touring is up north.

fishboat

Alan..apologies for not getting back to you. My GF bought a car in Ft Myers and we had to make an air/road to trip to FL to pick it up/drive it home. 80+ degrees and sunny down there..sigh. Love the weather, but traffic was a bear..Ft Myers to Tampa airport(drop off rental car), 130 miles..3.5 hour drive..heavy traffic and folks just can't stop crashing into each other.

As for your question..in reading Lanesplitter's comments, I'd say he pretty much has it nailed. We did a circle-Lake Michigan auto-camping-biking trip last year(Milwaukee>UP Mich>Traverse City/Leelanau Cty>Sleeping Bear Dunes>Indiana Dune Nat'l Park>Milw..~1000 miles) and I was surprised how developed the Lk Mich east coast has become since I visited it last..maybe 50 years ago. The lower MI, Lk MI-shore area state parks we drove through(didn't stay) leaned (largely) toward volume of sites over privacy. We stayed in undeveloped state or national forest campgrounds..very nice. We drove main roads on our (rainy) day south to Indiana Dunes, so I can't speak to how a bike ride would be.

I can speak to the WI coast of Lk Mich. Pretty mellow route as it's mostly trails going up north. The connecting roads are low volume rural roads. Eight days would make for a good trip to Door Cty (DC) and back. The east side of DC is much quieter than the west side, and just as scenic. The west side towns, while very nice, are more touristy. The main connecting roads for the tourist traffic are Hwys 42 & 57 (& sometimes A). You won't want to bike those...mostly. Hwy 57 on the east side is much better than hwy 42 on the west. Potowatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay(near the end of the Ahnapee State Trail) is a good place to camp..on the non-electric side. Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek is a big park and very busy. Northern Sky Theater does open air-in the forest theater-plays on a stage in the state park..excellent. Peninsula Players also puts on some great shows. Newport State Park (very north end of the cty) is a great camping place..carry in sites only. Beautiful park!

A ride up the west coast of the county and down the east side would make for a nice ride.

Tourist in MSN

If my current plan for a trip out west falls apart, I might have to consider this as a plan B. Thanks for the detail. I live in Madison, so it would be an easy alternative.