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What route would you take on a Cross Country trip across the US?

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What route would you take on a Cross Country trip across the US?

Old 12-02-15, 08:13 PM
  #26  
Jim from Boston
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Originally Posted by jppe
If I were to do a route that finished near Boston could you provide local knowledge on cycling around that area? I've visited and driven in the area a few times and I'd definitely need help on roads less traveled!!
Consider me as Metro Boston's Ambassador to BikeForums.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
...I have also posted my own compendium of road cycling in Metro Boston, since I live centrally and ride in all directions. See also this very active Northeast Regional Discussion thread, ”Metro Boston: Good ride today?” to discover many interesting areas, with a lot of great photos; the de facto Boston subforum.

That should get you started, and consider me a resource. Welcome to “the Hub.”

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Originally written for Road Cycling, it also describes the MUPS, and traveling with (fully-assembled) bikes on the subway, and Commuter Rail.
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
….By way of personal introduction, I have lived in downtown Boston (Kenmore Square) for over 30 years, and I ride in all directions as noted above. I describe myself as a year-round cycle-commuter, occasional centurian (in training during the nice weather) and former cycle-tourist (including a cross-country ride).
I just need a couple or more days notice for any mutually agreeable meet-ups.
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Old 12-03-15, 07:04 AM
  #27  
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As everyone knows - - Chapel Hill is the Southern part of heaven.
Which is why the sky is Carolina blue.
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Old 12-03-15, 07:48 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by jamawani
As everyone knows - - Chapel Hill is the Southern part of heaven.
Which is why the sky is Carolina blue.
You were definitely there too long.
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Old 12-03-15, 08:30 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by jppe
You were definitely there too long.
Cow Tech, eh? Well, I have a stats degree from there, too.
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Old 12-03-15, 11:04 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by volosong
Thank you. Filed away for future consideration. What month did you leave Vancouver Island?

Mid-July, I think.
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Old 12-03-15, 11:18 AM
  #31  
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If time or money wasn't an issue, I would probably ride the Northern Tier because the weather should be more favorable during the summer months. I do not like hot, humid weather. However, if I do decide to ride cross country -- and I've been thinking about it -- I would probably ride the Southern Tier in spring or fall because it would take less time and cost less money.
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Old 12-03-15, 06:04 PM
  #32  
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Based on some of the areas we have ridden through I think an ideal tour would be across part of Canada then dropping down into Montana to catch The Northern Tier. It may be a little longer, and some climbing, but it is well worth it.

- Start in Vancouver, BC, and ride across BC to Calgary on Tans Canadian Highway.
-Calgary south to Waterton Lakes NP(Canadian).
-Waterton NP to St. Mary.
-St. Mary to West Glacier via of Glacier NP.
-Hook up with the Northern Tier at West Glacier.

It would be a great route, especially with a side trip to Jasper NP.

The last leg of the route outlined above, Glacier National Park, Going to the Sun Road.
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Old 12-03-15, 07:41 PM
  #33  
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I'd probably opt for something more akin to the route these folks took.
Trans America Trail



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Old 12-04-15, 10:24 AM
  #34  
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This is something I've thought about a bit. Maybe more than a bit...

I wouldn't want to take one of the heavily travelled ACA routes. Instead I'd prefer to take back roads and rail trails, and avoid four lane roads and big cities. I'd rather spend my riding time in the country, and my off bike time in small town America. Riding on the interstate (Southern Tier, western portion) or going through big huge cities (Phoenix is on the Southern Tier route) are both things that I have ZERO interest in doing.

With this in mind I started a Google map project, virtually scouting a back roads route across the country - just as a blue sky project to keep me busy during lunch hour etc. It's amazing how much info you can get from online mapping if you start searching. Here's a link to the (more or less) completed West and Central portions.:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...Zc&usp=sharing

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...oI&usp=sharing

The funny thing is that my attitude about finally getting out and touring has changed while making this map. My idea is no longer to try and cross the US, but to just try and tour back roads, without a real firm distant destination, and enjoy the people and places that I happen to see. I've even been thinking about making a new (and more likely to be ridden) map - a back roads tour of my home state, Ohio. There's lots of beautiful country out there that most cyclists never see - that's where I want to go.

BTW check out crazyguyonabike.com for touring stories and routes - it's an awesome site.

Steve Z
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Old 12-04-15, 12:11 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by swampboy62
............I wouldn't want to take one of the heavily travelled ACA routes. Instead I'd prefer to take back roads and rail trails, and avoid four lane roads and big cities. I'd rather spend my riding time in the country, and my off bike time in small town America. Riding on the interstate (Southern Tier, western portion) or going through big huge cities (Phoenix is on the Southern Tier route) are both things that I have ZERO interest in doing.

Steve Z
I agree with you with you on this point. I think it is nice to tour in areas where touring cyclists are a rarity. The bike is a great ice-breaker, and people will approach you quite readily. The people we encounter are an important part of the tour for us. That does not happen on routes like the Pacific Coast Route where dozens of cyclist pass by daily.

However, big cities are adventures in themselves, and you do meet a lot of people cycling through them. We don't seek them out, but we don't avoid the either.

My wife's and my philosophy on touring is that we try to get a cross section of the countries we ride through. We do not "cherry pick", but take the good with the not-so-good. It is like going to New York City, and thinking you've seen New York, or the converse of just riding through the rural areas. I think this is especially true in foreign countries where 90% of American tourists never get out of the big cities. It is impossible to get a comprehensive feel for the history and culture of an area without riding through some of the larger cities.

Having said all that, I also prefer the small towns and non-touristy places

P.S. We have ridden through both Toledo and Cleveland with good experiences
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Old 12-04-15, 03:03 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by swampboy62
I wouldn't want to take one of the heavily travelled ACA routes. Instead I'd prefer to take back roads and rail trails, and avoid four lane roads and big cities. I'd rather spend my riding time in the country, and my off bike time in small town America.
(1) "Heavily travelled" has a different meaning on many (most?) ACA routes that what you're projecting. Even on the granddaddy of ACA routes, the TransAm, you can go for days or weeks without meeting other cyclists.

(2) You might be surprised how little four lane roads are on some of the ACA routes, and how much you ride through small towns on back country roads. One example was a county seat in Missouri, population 174. Another is crossing Kansas south of Great Bend; somebody wrote a store for the ACA magazine a few years ago about riding one mile naked.

Phoenix and San Diego are outliers on the ACA routes, in my experience. I will note that after a while on the back roads I was happy to see a larger city (although not Phoenix's size) a couple different times. Of course, YMMV.
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Old 12-05-15, 02:42 PM
  #37  
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I don't know what route I'll do or when I'll go but did my first training ride today. A solo 100 miler in temps 30-55 degrees. Also included changing a tube that was going flat. I couldn't find anything wrong with the tube.....I think it was just getting tired from the extra weight I've put on!!! I need to shed some weight and eventually get more used to multi day longer days in the saddle. Hopefully the good base miles I've accumulated will help out at some point.
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Old 12-05-15, 02:51 PM
  #38  
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I'd like to go across diagonally. Either Point Roberts or Neah bay, down to Key West. I have no idea what route I'd take, though.
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Old 12-05-15, 03:07 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets
I'd like to go across diagonally. Either Point Roberts or Neah bay, down to Key West. I have no idea what route I'd take, though.
A guy I know did this route last summer. It was his 10th crossing of the U.S. He was only 72! The route might interest you.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...id=12092&v=2Pc
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Old 12-15-15, 10:53 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by jppe
I always thought I'd do the Southern Tier since I figured I'd be limited on time and it's the shortest distance. I like where it starts and finishes but getting across all those miles in Texas might just do me in......
Don't fall for the hype. Everything is not bigger in Texas. Miles in Texas are exactly the same length as those in Rhode Island.
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Old 12-15-15, 11:56 PM
  #41  
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I did the northern tier. I chose it in part to beat the heat in the summer. The crossing over the mountains is a bit easier on the northern tier than the trans am; the mtns are not quite as high and you get into the high plains sooner. I modified it as I followed the southern part of Lake Superior and crossed into Ontario before dipping back into the US in NY. There were very few hot days and that made for good riding.
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Old 12-16-15, 09:04 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
There's no best route, it boils down to what you like and places you want to visit.

If I were doing it, I'd let my northerner bias rule and take a northern route, starting in Portland or Seattle, crossing through Idaho and Montana, then swinging southwaed to avoid Minneapolis, and angle south through Wisconsin, looping below Chicago, and coming across \central Indiana and Ohio.

Finally there's a decision whether to continue drifting south and crossing through Maryland, or staying a bit more north and riding New York's southern tier plateau.

Besides my northerner's bias, I prefer the northern route because it avoids the southwest's deserts, and the long drawn out central plains, but it's just me.
I have no experience cycling in MD or NY but plenty in both places on my Ducati. I would take NY every time.
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Old 12-16-15, 09:07 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by tcs
Don't fall for the hype. Everything is not bigger in Texas. Miles in Texas are exactly the same length as those in Rhode Island.
Not according to Texans.
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Old 12-16-15, 09:08 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets
I'd like to go across diagonally. Either Point Roberts or Neah bay, down to Key West. I have no idea what route I'd take, though.
Smart. That way is all down hill. I saw it on a map.
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Old 12-16-15, 09:09 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by bikemig
The crossing over the mountains is a bit easier on the northern tier than the trans am; the mtns are not quite as high and you get into the high plains sooner.
Well, if you're starting from the west, you get a day or two to warm up before you hit Washington's four passes in four days. IME that's tougher than the higher Colorado passes with a few easy days between them.
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Old 12-16-15, 09:11 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by swampboy62
This is something I've thought about a bit. Maybe more than a bit...

I wouldn't want to take one of the heavily travelled ACA routes. Instead I'd prefer to take back roads and rail trails, and avoid four lane roads and big cities. I'd rather spend my riding time in the country, and my off bike time in small town America. Riding on the interstate (Southern Tier, western portion) or going through big huge cities (Phoenix is on the Southern Tier route) are both things that I have ZERO interest in doing.

With this in mind I started a Google map project, virtually scouting a back roads route across the country - just as a blue sky project to keep me busy during lunch hour etc. It's amazing how much info you can get from online mapping if you start searching. Here's a link to the (more or less) completed West and Central portions.:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...Zc&usp=sharing

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...oI&usp=sharing

The funny thing is that my attitude about finally getting out and touring has changed while making this map. My idea is no longer to try and cross the US, but to just try and tour back roads, without a real firm distant destination, and enjoy the people and places that I happen to see. I've even been thinking about making a new (and more likely to be ridden) map - a back roads tour of my home state, Ohio. There's lots of beautiful country out there that most cyclists never see - that's where I want to go.

BTW check out crazyguyonabike.com for touring stories and routes - it's an awesome site.

Steve Z
Do you know the book Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon? https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-.../dp/0316353299
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Old 12-17-15, 08:29 AM
  #47  
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I'm mildly amused at the attraction to North Dakota and Eastern Montana's scenic vistas versus Kansas or West Texas, but hey, to each his own.

Everybody's got their own kick going. Me? Sure, I've thought about it. Xcountry I'd probably go from Amistad Reservoir to the International Peace Garden, or maybe dip my rear wheel in the salt water in San Diego and my front wheel in the salt water in Corpus Christi and call it good.

Xcountry route choice can be influenced by leave date. February? St. Augustine, headed to San Diego. April? Yorktown, headed to Astoria. June? Astoria headed to Yorktown, or Bar Harbor headed to Anacortes. August? Anacortes, headed to Bar Harbor. September? San Diego, headed to St. Augustine.

Just a few random thoughts. Free advice is worth what you pay for it.
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Old 12-17-15, 09:19 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by bruce19
Do you know the book Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon? https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-.../dp/0316353299
Oh, yea. Great book. Of course, I would think so. One of these days, I want to do the same thing, except on a bike.
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Old 12-17-15, 10:36 AM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by bruce19
Do you know the book Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon? https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-.../dp/0316353299
I still use his restaurant classification system, one through five calendars. I've carried a copy of it in my day planner for about 20 years.
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