Cycling Across The USA

[worldtourjon]

Hey
Firstly I am going on a world trip in november. Briefly I am starting in India going to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas, Oz, NZ, Fiji before I hit USA. I'm hoping to be in the US by mid way through May 2011.

With that bit of background (please bear this mind because I'm going have all my traveling gear AND not have been able to train in the interim...7 months or so). Yes I know, this is starting to sound like a stupid idea already...but that's kind of why I like it

Well my plan is to fly in to Los Angeles spend a few days seeing the sights and the making my way up the West coast to San Francisco. I'll buy my bike there and all my kit (something I'm hoping to have sorted well in advance). Then I'm going to cycling from SF to East coast.

Now this is in the very early stages of planning and I'm trying to gather as much advice as possible. Firstly has anyone done this before would be a good place to start.

Secondly and this would apply to anyone who has done an independent tour before, how important is it to plan every single road. I've got plenty of time so I'm willing to get lost and obviously I'm going to plan as much as I can but to plan what could end up being 4,500 miles mile by mile is going to be a massive effort.

Thirdly does anyone know where I can get the maps and information I need. I've been looking at the Trans American route which seems the obvious way to go but this is £100+ and I'm not sure how good it is...any ideas? has anyone done this route before?

Finally (for now ) what would people suggest being the best route I want to explore the East coast as much as possible, Boston, NY, Washington DC, Florida. I'm tempted to go to Boston and then cycle down the East coast (however this will mean passing through and between BIG cities which I'm not too keen on and Id expect people not to recommend). In this case I might just ditcht the bike in Boston (or Flordia if going North South is more advisable by people)

I hope that makes sense (I'm writing this between breaks at work to keep the hours ticking by )

Hope someone can answer some or all of the q's

Jon

 

[HelenD123]

Hi Jon,

That sounds like a fantastic trip. I'm heading off to Canada next week and haven't planned the route in much detail. Only time will tell whether I come unstuck. You can get a general idea of the TransAm route from the ACA website. I think the printed maps have details of campgrounds, stores etc. Perhaps by the time you've been travelling for 7 months you won't need the reassurance of having every detail like this provided for you.

For getting your bike in LA, I'd suggest putting a post on Crazyguyonabike and asking for some bike shop recommendations. It's a US-based site and someone just got great advice about doing the same thing in San Francisco.

Helen

 

[BigonaBianchi]

wow...good luck with that one..I dont think its totally necessary to plan each road in advance...jus thave a rough route plan in your head and but th erelevant maps as you go along maybe. Having said that I would take my Garmin loaded with USA maps

 

[Yellow7]

Hi Jon.
If your starting in SF & heading to East coast then you could do the Lincoln Highway, the official U.S coast to coast route: http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org

I plan on picking up on this route as part of my big tour, starting August 21st.

I rode route 66 in 2008, Chicago to LA, & had an AMAZING time! The 'out back' americans are so friendly & welcoming. There a U.S. camp ground chain called KOA, there just the ticket, they normally have a cafe & shop so good to 'fill the tank'.

The above website gives towns & maps, though you'll still need state maps as some of the original route (as with route 66) has gone, really depends on what your after but may prove useful.

I plotted the route several months ago in prep for my tour....

Mark. MK

 

[jay clock]

in terms of training don't worry. If you were doing a one week tour it would be a waste to start off unfit. But you will quickly get into it.

In terms of planning every mile - NO NEED! However having read tons of journals about people doing the Adventure Cycling routes, i do think do their routes has the big plus of bumping into tons of other cyclists which could be fun

 

[dpiper]

I did all the big tourist sites in terms of national parks in the west half of USA last summer - details, maops etc here that might be of use: www.tra-velo-gue.co.uk (drop down box for USA west)

Going back to finish a global circumnavigation this summer - search for 21st century boy on Facebook to join the blog! (21 centuries in 21 days)