America coast to coast

[Dayvo]

It does sound good, but the reality could prove to be different.

My desired route is 'North West to Key West', almost a diagonal line across the country.

I'd be looking at a distance of about 100+ miles a day, with a rest day every six days, or unless I pull a bird see a place of great natural beauty and want to hang around for a few nights days!

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I think my rationale behind a 'well trodden route' is that when i look at a map of the states it is just so vast I dont know where to start. At least the transam is a route that has been tested and seems easy enough to follow. But at the end of the day all I want to do is to be able to tell my grandkids I rode across america on a bicycle, so they can yawn and get bored with me....if I ever get any GK's but thats another story...
...hanging around on great natural beautys is also a tour objective

100 miles a day is ok, I'd plan on that as well, jus tso long as the raod surfaces are good and the headwinds are going th eother direction!

 

[skmc1955]

I was thinking of putting my name forward for this(redundancy permitting!) but 100 miles a day! fully loaded! I,m not a seasoned tourer but that seems a heck of a lot!

 

[Dayvo]

I was thinking of putting my name forward for this(redundancy permitting!) but 100 miles a day! fully loaded! I,m not a seasoned tourer but that seems a heck of a lot!

Given the right conditions, it works out, more or less, to about 6-8 hours a day.

And you WILL ride yourself towards fitness; and very quickly.

 

[skmc1955]

I,ve just put vancouver to miami into multimap, and it comes out at 3601 miles, but obviously thats on major roads, so that would be the minimum

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

120km a day loaded is about right for me, it gives time enough to enjoy th eride and arrive at a campsite around 6-7pm ish based on leaving camp at about 9am wiht some short stops along the way. But to my mind it all depends on so many variables...wind, rain, hills, outlaws and souix indians etc

 

[need2]

I think my rationale behind a 'well trodden route' is that when i look at a map of the states it is just so vast I dont know where to start. At least the transam is a route that has been tested and seems easy enough to follow. But at the end of the day all I want to do is to be able to tell my grandkids I rode across america on a bicycle, so they can yawn and get bored with me....if I ever get any GK's but thats another story...
...hanging around on great natural beautys is also a tour objective

100 miles a day is ok, I'd plan on that as well, jus tso long as the raod surfaces are good and the headwinds are going th eother direction!

only other information I have on the coast2coast trip my old boss is doing is that they have a few support vans with them therefore they don`t have to carry any kit with them,As for the exact number I am not sure of as I think there are sevral going on the trip,but as said before I can find out if anyone wants.If anyone does I won`t be back on here until thursday nite so dont think i`m ignoring you I just won`t have picked up the messages ...

 

[Tempest]

Have just joined the forums, I've been looking into a coast to coast trip myself, I'm pretty certain this hasn't been mentioned but if it has apologies in advance.

There is a website http://www.discoverytrail.org/ which has details of an official non motorised route for hikers and cyclist's.

Hope it's of some use.

 

[talespinner]

US Coast to Coast

I rode cross-country self-contained from California to Virginia. It took me two months on my Cannondale T-800 touring bike. If you need any help planning a trip, I have a touring web site with information on touring and the book I wrote about my trek. www.bicycletouringtales.com.

 

[dellzeqq]

there's this..
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=20782&v=4t
by far the most lucid and sensible account I've come across

 

[Paul Narramore]

Hardly relevant but I'll mention it anyway.

In 2002 I rode my motorbike from Vancouver down to Nogales on the Mexican border then up to Toronto, in six weeks.

In 2006 I again rode my motorbike from New York to San Francisco then back to NY, a journey of 17,000 miles in three months.

I love the US, my favourite country, and one day I must return.

 

[rich p]

there's this..
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=20782&v=4t
by far the most lucid and sensible account I've come across

What strikes me about this account is how boring a lot of it is!

 

[dellzeqq]

What strikes me about this account is how boring a lot of it is!

the fear that I've always had about a ride that certainly stirs my imagination, is that the U.S. is a very big place that goes on a bit. I've driven across Canada four times, and across the U.S. twice, and it does go on and on and on. The thought of riding across (say) Saskatchewan is pretty daunting - when you can see a road bridge forty miles away and it's the most prominent thing on the landscape you know that there's a whole lot less stimulation than you'd find in Leicestershire. I think the writer does show the thing for what it is - a loooong bike ride with precious little incident.

 

[Paul Narramore]

Before I went to the US I got a big map of the country and added all those places I wanted to visit, then just joined up the dots. There were the odd days of tedium but to ride along miles and miles of roads without having one's hand hovering over the brake lever, was a joy. So little traffic.

In brief my route (in 2006) was New York - Washington DC - Blue Ridge Parkway - South Dakota - Little Big Horn - Mount Rushmore - Crazy Horse - Sturgis - Cody, Wyoming - Yellowstone NP - Million Dollar Highway - Estes Park - Mount Evans - Pike's Peak - Durango - Las Vegas - Zion & Bryce Canyons - Grand Canyon - Tucson - Tombstone - San Diego - Malibu - Las Vegas (wife flew out to meet me) - Death Valley - Yosemite - San Francisco - San Antonio (the Alamo) - Natchez Trace - Nashville - Bowling Green KY (home of the Chevrolet Corvette) - Williamsburg - New Jersey.

Not a lot of time for boredom on a motorbike, probably more so in a bike.

 

[Plax]

Another pipe dream for me also. One day I'm going to cycle some of the US at least.