danny dea

Anyone familiar with or have experience with Cycle America tour company? I'm looking at doing their coast-to-coast trip. Thanks, Danny

john m flores 

I'd done two trips with them - Colorado in the 90s and Glacier/Waterton in the 00s. Chose them because they were very affordable/no-frills. First time, I camped, which most everyone did, and we stayed on high school football fields and dinners were cooked by local civic groups (i.e., local Booster) and served in the gym. Second time we did the hotel option (the minority) and were shuttled each evening to our hotel. Staff both times was professional and helpful. In Colorado, my pedal fell off so one staffer let me finish the day on his mountain bike and that evening the mechanic took the crank off of his own bike and let me ride with it until I could get a replacement.

I'd definitely do another trip with them. If you are looking for no-frills touring, then they are a great option.

greatscott

Cycle America will cost you almost $8,000 for a coast to coast ride; I think Adventure Cycling is less expensive with a self contained coast to coast costing about $3,000 less than Cycle America, and Adventure Cycling donates a lot of money to rails to trails programs, they also have the only complete mapping of the entire US with a slew of information on the maps that are second to none, in fact their the only touring mapping system you can get outside of Garmin which doesn't have anywhere near the level of information that Adventure Cycling maps have. All Adventure Cycling map routes have been thoroughly tested for traffic safety as well and travelled by tourists over the years that have made recommendations to fine tune the map routes. They also offer the most number of touring trips of any touring company and you can choose between Inn to Inn, self contained, van supported, or fully supported, take your pick.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/gui...ntained-tours/

Brian25

Geez. $8,000 dollars to camp out while touring across the country. You know, it's not that difficult to find camping spots by yourself. I'd be down with doing it myself and do it for easily under a grand, If I were in your shoes. I already toured from San Francisco to Atlanta by myself for under $400.

john m flores 

I’m a member of Adventure Cycling. Good organization. But the difference here is that Cycle America carries your luggage, feeds you, and has a sag and mechanic.

Not saying one is better than the other. Just apples and oranges.

indyfabz

That also includes meals and luggage transport, among other things. Some people are willing to pay for that. And with larger groups you need larger staff, which increases the price.

indyfabz

Supported and unsupported ACA tours include food. One the supported tours there is a caterer that prepares meals. On the unsupported tours there is a food budget built into the cost. (Adult beverages not included for insurance reasons.) The leader doles out money each day and group members take turns shopping and preparing meals. My fist ever tour was their unsupported Northern Tier tour. Quite an experience having to shop and cook for a dozen people about once/week. Sometimes we would eat out, either by necessity or as a treat.

Camping was also built into the price. IIRC, the average daily budget for camping was $5/person. Some nights we stayed for free in places like municipal parks. Some night we stayed in relatively expensive places like hostels or KOAs out of necessity. We even got motel rooms in a couple of places. (Hard to find camping in Cleveland, OH. ) Food was $15/person. That was back in '99. There was also "fun money" built in to the cost. Can't remember the amount/person. Maybe $40. If we had a day off somewhere that offered an activity like rafting the leader would dole out cash. It was really just getting your own money back to spend or not. Was totally up to you. At the end, we ended up under budget and split up the remaining money during breakfast the last day. Think it was about $15/person. Also supplied was all the group cooking gear, including three Coleman Peak stoves. The cooking gear, except for the stoves, all went back to ACA at the end of the trip. The stoves were raffled off to group members who were interested in them. Because they got so much use for 93 days ACA didn't like to re-use them for other trips. First aid and repair kit were also provided and carried by the group leader.

Before the trip, a guy I know asked me why I was paying someone to ride across the country. I told him I had never toured unsupported (the first day of the trip was only my second time riding a fully-loaded bike), camped or camp cooked a day in my life and was interested in learning from others. There was definitely a learning curve. Because of my lack of experience, I asked to be last on the first cooking rotation so I could watch and learn from others. When my turn finally came I ended up touching one of the stoves on a place where I shouldn't have and ended up with a really bad burn blister on one of my index fingers. I never did that again. To me, it was worth the extra money. At the end of trip in Bar Harbor, ME, I rode home to Philly solo.

john m flores 

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

indyfabz

No problem. I have done both types with them. Did their now-defunct Cycle Vermont supported tour back in 2010 with my then GF. Apparently, there were some logistical problems regarding camping that made it difficult to continue running. While touring in Montana a couple of times I crossed paths with their Cycle Montana supported tour. The last time I did (in 2016), we ended up camping at the same place. As I was setting up my tent I heard a loud, unforgettable voice with a southern accent. Looked over and saw a woman, her husband and friend that bad been on Cycle Vermont in 2010. A very "dramatic" trio who the GF at the time and I referred to as the "Dream Team." Texted the GF "You will never believe who's on Cycle Montana." Also turned out that the leader that year had also been a participant in the Vermont tour. He invited me to join the tour for breakfast the next morning.

danny dea

Thanks to all for the info and thoughts. I am a long time member of Adventure Cycling and have toured with them as well as long solo self contained tours using their maps. The solo tours are my preference but my wife is uncomfortable with me doing that this year. I completely agree that ACA is a great organization and their tours are a very good value for the price. As others stated, everything needed, and some extras along the way, is included in the price. However for this trip Cycle America had the route, timing and start/end points that fit my schedule. Thanks again for all replies. Danny