I solved the accomodation for Trans America

[Bigtallfatbloke]

...I can't afford to camp every night so i decided to buy a house each night

 

[Kirstie]

or just squat in empty ex-sub prime mortgage repo'd houses...

 

[Cathryn]

Hehehe....there are always silver linings to every credit crunch.

 

[rich p]

Slightly OT, all the blogs I've read about people cycling across the US have involved horrible days having to cycle on busy roads and struggling to find campsites. Obviously there are good bits to it too, but they kind of put me off the idea.

 

[Brains]

I won the lottery at the weekend, so I'm going to buy a bank.

The question is how much change will I get for £10 ?

 

[Brains]

Slightly OT, all the blogs I've read about people cycling across the US have involved horrible days having to cycle on busy roads and struggling to find campsites. Obviously there are good bits to it too, but they kind of put me off the idea.

I've driven across it. I have no interest in cycling across it.
Bits are nice, other bits are very nice. But there is an awful lot of nothing between the nice bits.

(Also US road system and mindset are designed to see cycles as a toy)

 

[Dayvo]

I've driven across it, too (1988) and coincidentally, it was more or less the same route as I hope to cycle in two years time.

I hope to camp most of the time (unless housed by desirable females), and hope to avoid bears, mobs, loonies, and other non-desirables!

 

[friedel]

Slightly OT, all the blogs I've read about people cycling across the US have involved horrible days having to cycle on busy roads and struggling to find campsites. Obviously there are good bits to it too, but they kind of put me off the idea.

We'll let you know how it works out next summer (now looking like we will fly into San Francisco and cut north through the US to Canada) but I really think that with North America the key is planning really well and sticking to the back roads. Don't do like those who decide to cross Canada every year on the main highway! I don't know if that's an American phenomenon too but it would be a misery....

 

[Dayvo]

Don't do like those who decide to cross Canada every year on the main highway! I don't know if that's an American phenomenon too but it would be a misery....

Travlled from Toronto the Calgary by Greyhound Bus 20 years ago. 55 hours of my life and I have never ever been so bored. Only sharing a spliff made the journey 'more fun' (but I've no idea what I was laughing at!).
Would definitely not consider cycling on those kind of roads.
I hope to find the back roads, too.

 

[Nigeyy]

By its sheer size and population density there will be unavoidable bits of where you will have to take major roads that aren't pretty or pleasant necessarily. But the good news is that small town America does exist, just mostly off the beaten track. To see the really nice parts of the USA and without being stuck on major roads would take longer than most seem to take cycling across the States (just my opinion).

One suggestion: take a tour of the New England states -Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. You could easily spend a month doing this and see quite a bit and have a variety of scenery.

I've driven across it. I have no interest in cycling across it.
Bits are nice, other bits are very nice. But there is an awful lot of nothing between the nice bits.

(Also US road system and mindset are designed to see cycles as a toy)

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

If I do this and it is stilla BIG if then I will want to ride across it...I need to be able to say that I rode across America when I am 180 years old and chatting up the nurses in the hospice.

 

[Yellow7]

Across USA on Route 66

Hi guys. I stumbled across this thread while browsing the forum. I'm 4 weeks back from cycling Route 66. I'd recommend the US to anyone, well apart from the daily miles I was doing.
Sure there were long sections of nothing, but I love the solitude. I was caught out a few times for campsites but always found a way around the problem, from camping behind a church in Pecos (NM) to being accepted onto a couples sofa near Kingman (AZ). I was really taken back at the genuine friendliness of the people there, so welcoming.

The traffic never posed a problem either. I was always given room on the roads, & the unavoidable sections of the I40 & I25 trucks, where possible, moved over to the second lane, even though I was on the shoulder.

Took a day out at Williams to for a trip to Grand Canyon. WOW!! WOW!! & WOW!! Awesome!
And sure, post tour blues first few weeks at work, being office based I felt claustraphobic, almost caged.
I also raised £1000.00 for a local cancer hospice & the World Wildlife Fund.


There's no point in attempting a challenge you know you can acheive.

Mark.

 

[Dayvo]

Welcome to the forum, Yellow7!

Good write-up; it'll give a few of us here a bit of confidence and more motivation to do it.

I'm planning on doing it Jul/Aug 2010, although I've not really looked at any maps yet (except Google's satellite maps).

What's your next challenge?

 

[Yellow7]

Hi. I'd shift your proposed months, you'll cook! I was so supprised just how warm Chicago was, let alone the Mojave dessert section.

I chose Aug / Sep to get the tail end of summer & start of Autumn. But the Mojave was still 117F, the water in my bottles was warm/hot. I could only get 4 weeks leave so I was doing 100 mile days but well worth it.

As i'd also raised money for chairty the local paper published a story;

If you do choose to do 66 use the 'Here it is' 8 map set, this is good a a rough guide along with book 'Route 66, the travellers guide'. I also read the book by Michael Wallis (no relation!) 'Route 66, the mother road'. I was well clued up on the sites to see but not always enough time in the day to see them all as my daily mileage was so high
My next challenge? I think next year i'll do a 'local' one, end to end, should be a tad easier than old 66, with a bit more greenery, that's one thing i did miss, but i didn't miss our weather!!
Mark.
MK.