How long do you think it would take? I don’t mean racing it, I mean maintaining a decent pace each day, but allowing enough time to enjoy the experience.

I assume a carbon road bike would be a bit on the harsh side for such a venture? I suppose that something that could take panniers would be best option, in order to be able to carry all the necessary gear.

It’s always been a dream of mine but I’m just wondering how practical a dream it is.

Scratch that, I’ve just found a bunch of decent websites, with lots of useful info.

Bringing it back around.. i is a dream of mine as well. Fulfilling it spring of next year but am as of yet alone. When are you thinking?

I was thinking summer of next year. I’m guessing around three months to do the trip, but it would all depend on whether I could swing that with work.

By my research, it would be about 2-3 months as well.
I know people who have done it, one in a week or two.. but i desire my will to live.

East-west or West-east?

Feel free to drop me an email(in profile) if you want to link up.

I was thinking east-west.

Even if you do say Washngton DC to San Franscisco, probably one of the further routes, it is around 2815 miles, which equates to 31 miles/day ovr 90 days. Assuming I could manage 45-60 miles/day, that equates to around 60 days, giving a fair mount of leeway.

I’ll look into it a bit futher and will let you know

Have a look at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com loads of info

Mcmoonter of this parish did it last year, look at http://www.adventurecycling.org/ they sell the maps you need. They are amazing giving so much info such as elevation etc.

crazyguyonabike is a good shout as well.

Washington DC – San Francisco is one of the shorter summer coast to coast routes. I did it last year. 3764 miles. I didn’t take the most direct route though. DC to Colorado was fairly direct but Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California involved a fair amount of weaving.

The most popular route is the Adventure Cycling Transamerica at 4200 miles. In 2009 I went Vancouver – Boston at 4500.

Riding San Diego to Florida is shorter but too hot to ride in the summer.

For my Washington DC to San Francisco I took 65 days including 7 rest days.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/ridingwest

One of our lot did it.
http://www.leightonbuzzardonline.co.uk/ironman_jason_makes_it_to_the_finishing_line_1_2976502

Did it (well most of the way) a few years ago. West to east is better for prevailing winds. I used the adventure cycling maps most of the way, which are excellent. Just don’t make the mistake I made of trying to do it in the height of summer.

Thanks folks. I’m not overly convinced work would let me have the time off, but perhaps I’ll try and throw it into a few converstions next eek and see what the reaction is.

It seems to be a more practical dream than I thought. 😀

irc – I didnt know you hung out here too.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/8912

I rode it last summer Yorktown VA to Florence OR. I’d say east to west is better. Id rather have the sun behind me in the morning and not in my eyes, or those of wayward motorists.

The TransAm express route means you miss out on Yellowstone and the Tetons. Wyoming, Montana and Idaho are beautiful states.

We rode in mega heat and humidity through VA, KY, IL, MO and KS. Come to think of it, the temperatures only went down when we climbed into the Rockies.

I just bought my air tickets for this years tour. Pacific coast south frm Vancouver to San Francisco, then returning up through the Sierras and Cascades across Oregon and Washington.

It is very practical and doable. I did the west cost route from Canada to Mexico and if a fat lard arse like me can do that anyone can.

The biggest lesson I learnt is that there are no rules, you do what suits you, you will meet so many people doin the same thing.

Moont, My route is mostly upper stateside. I have debated going desert lowlands, just for the pure insanity.. but I dont see why it would be anywhere near worth it in the long run(for the story).

On a side note, Mikey, 30 miles a day is selling yoruself short. Unless you want to really take your time and sight see(ride into exact locations) 70-100 will come along faster than you’d think.

If you are camping than you will be doing well to do 100 miles a day, I was towing a trailer and shortest day was 32 doing a bit of Big Sur longest day was 80 which was across L.A. Average was about 50 a day.

Moont, My route is mostly upper stateside

Is that the ACA Northern Tier route? If so irc has ridden that too I think.

If you are camping than you will be doing well to do 100 miles a day

Id agree with you. We carried all our gear, and we seldom rode less than 60 miles a day. We had a few near one hundred mile days. We only had one mega day with a screaming tailwind.

Your daily mileages are mostly determined by which towns have services along your route. Stealth camping is rare on the TA. Staying in hostels, churches, ‘city’ parks and even folks homes is all part of the fun

I did San Diego – Jacksonville last year, solo and unsupported in 29.5 days, towed a trailer and combined wild camping, state parks & motels. As stated in some of the earlier posts wild camping can be difficult.

McMoonter
Yes I hang about here as well as crazyguyonabike. I do a little bit of MTBing. I live a mile from Mugdock so I have decent stuff on my doorstep. It’s good training for touring 🙂

thank folks, it’s all very useful information.

On a side note, Mikey, 30 miles a day is selling yoruself short. Unless you want to really take your time and sight see(ride into exact locations) 70-100 will come along faster than you’d think.

I thought it probably was but for planning I thought I would take a conservative estimate, allowing for some sight-seeing and some down-time at the end.

I haven’t decided if I want to camp yet; largely because I would like to do it as light as possible. However, I noice that K.O.A. offer cabins and they are liberally spread all across the country. It’s just a thought at the moment and I’ll need to look into it a bit futher.

It’s annoying as I am actually quite excited, sitting here thinking about it, but I still doubt work will give me the time off. We’ll see.

However, I noice that K.O.A. offer cabins

Have you priced them? I tried a few KOA campsites in the USA but turned round and went back out the gate when they were asking $39 a night for a solo cyclist.

I doubt their cabins will be cheaper than a small town motel at £50 – $70. It’s possible to ride across the USA using motels. But most people doing that take some sort of camping gear as a backup. In the west towns can be 60 miles apart so if you find all the beds taken you are snookered.

Here’s a 54 day San Francisco to Boston tour using motels. By finishing in DC these kind of daily miles would allow a 42 day coast to coast.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/sftobostonbybike

Personally I’d carry light camping gear though. A 600g down bag, a bivvy bag, and a half length closed cell foam mat would do. No need for cooking gear unless you are a coffee addict. I hardly used my stove other than for coffee and maybe a dozen meals.

I looked on their website for prices, but couldn’t find any. It was just a thought and I’ll have to look into it a bit further.

I was thinking about taking some light camping gear as well, although I’ll probaly have to buy a new bike as I don’t think I can fit panniers on my road bike.

what do you do for a visa? dont you need an address youll be staying at in america?

you just list the first hotel etc that you’re staying in (and you don’t even have to stay there if your plans change).

This is all helpful. I’m planning to do a west to east crossing April to June 2013. Can’t wait! I’m happy to take my time and I want to take in the Rockies as well.
Need to work out whether it’s easier and cheaper to buy a bike and gear when out there or ship over. Erring towards former.

Bivying in the States with a small cooker and some food lying around good luck with that 😆 RACCOONS 😯 you have never encountered anything like them. Hiker biker sites in State Parks $5 with showers and Raccoon boxes. There are also a lot bigger things in the States than raccoons as well much bigger and with big teeth 😀

I agree with irc. KOAs were the most expensive campsites on our route. So expensive in fact we only stayed in one. If you read through a few transam blogs on CGOAB you will find lots of free hostels and churches especially in the East. Even if a town doesnt have a campsite listed, its worth phoning the Sherriff and they will often let you camp in a ‘city’ park. Some ‘cities’ have tiny populations. Security is never an issue. The Police even come up to check you are ok. There are at least three fire stations you can stay in. From memory, Mineral VA, Utica KY and Newton KA. Random trail angels like Becky in Eureka KS will have you stay at her house she runs the city pool, just show up there and she’ll take you home. She even opened the pool so we could swim there under the stars. There is another trail angel in Ordway CO.

You will never be stuck for somewhere to lay your head down on the TransAm. You will meet other riders most days and you’ll share trail info. Remember there may be anything like 4-600 riders doing the ride each summer. There is a great support network right across the country.

Do you have any ACA maps? They provide a mountain of info, always check their online addenda for up to the minute changes. Shops may have closed in remote areas.

We took an iPad and most nights read blogs from riders a few days ahead of us so we had even more of an insight into what lay ahead. Free WiFi is readily available even in the smallest one horse town cafe.

IRC, Moont, You guys are better than an encyclopedia. I spent most of last year planning and reasearching this trip and you have given me so much more than I have come up with.

Corroded, Depending on what you will do to save some cash and how trusting you are, I just shipped my DH rig to a location via an US forces base(who have USPS) for £23. POW!
I can help you out if need be. (if you plan to start in SF, which is prettymuch where I am moving to and will be until March)

I just shipped my DH rig to a location via an US forces base(who have USPS) for £23. POW!

There is a US naval base at Yorktown VA, about a mile and a half from the start point.

I took my own bike and gear on a Continental flight (now United) from Edinburgh via Newark to Washington DC. Total cost £60. We were lucky to have a friend who drove us down to Yorktown.

What type of bikes do you use for these types of journeys?

Another TransAm planner here.

Hoping to do it next year, and should be able to get enough time off work if booked in advance. But am now very tempted to do the Adventure Cyclist Associations new Sierra Cascades route as an alternative TransAm. 2500 miles from Mexico to Canada – following mountains, forests and National Parks.

Anyone interested in swapping planning notes / info / or possibly the option of riding as a small group, let me know.

What type of bikes do you use for these types of journeys?

Nothing fancy, we rode on a pair of 25 year old 531 touring bikes.

However we did meet the guy who custom built this in Idaho headed to Washington DC

We met three high school graduates riding west through Illinois. They had three road bikes and two BOB trailers. The BOB less rider had a semi restday in every three, but had to break the wind for the others.

Nina a 57 year old Norweigian mother of four rode a 29er with front and rear racks. She rode south from NYC to Yorktown the west to San Francisco. You could ride pretty much anything. We saw folks on mountain bikes, recumnents, tall bikes and we even saw pics of a guy who rode C2C on a unicycle.

Sue W, I’m going to do the Sierra Cascades route north from Klamath Falls OR up into Washington next September. It looks a beautiful route. I ridden a bit in the Cascades but Ive never seen Crater Lake. I’ve hiked up Mt St Helens and seen Mt Rainier in the distance.

There are a few blogs on CGOAB which are helpful. I just received my ACA maps the other day but havent had a chance to check them out properly.

I’ve been further south on the Sierra part of the route into California but found the roads much busier with tourist traffic and logging trucks so have opted to swerve that section in preference to the Pacific coast route south.

Be sure to let me know of your plans or of any blog you intend to keep.

I am looking to do something next year, possibly a C2C with camping etc. I managed 100 miles a day on an mtb down The Rockies last summer carrying all my stuff. Met loads of people doing C2C at various points along the way.

Assumed I would go on my own as difficult to get someone else to commit.

I found lots of camping options in state parks but cheap motels were also plentiful. People really friendly over there though.

After I finished the Tour Divide I flew to Portland and rode round Oregon. Riding down the coast I hated it, all that traffic after seeing so little down The Rockies. I did some of the route Sue_W is looking at as well. Some parts are really busy – I saw an ACA group setting off from Portland and saw the route some of which I had just done.

For Sue:

101_0185 by blackhound59, on Flickr

101_0191 by blackhound59, on Flickr

Bivying in the States with a small cooker and some food lying around good luck with that

As Pigface says careful with your food. The rule for bears is don’t cook or eat food in your tent or bivvy at all as the smell lingers. At night if you are in a bear area and not in a campground with bear boxes keep your food and anything smelly like toothpaste etc 150m away from your camp hung high in a tree. There is plenty info online for reducing the bear risk.

Raccoons? Not a huge problem. Only encountered them one night in Missouri. Bears? Only saw one, not close enough to be a problem. Not a big issue when road touring. Off road more likely to see them.

Bear encounters do happen though.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=2&page_id=81399&v=40

Well I have asked the question here at work. I guess I’ll just wait and see what their response is.

In the meantime, I found this last night that I thought may be suitable:

Cotic Roadrat

My brother did it solo years ago on a Dawes Super Galaxy, someone took a potshot at him whilst he was camping out, he’s not been back since.

*reads with interest* Mustard and I are hoping to do similar next year, or maybe year after, depending on work/finances.

McMoonter, had been meaning to get in touch with you – can you give me a rough budget figure for your time away?

can you give me a rough budget figure for your time away?

Oooo I’d be interested in that too.

can you give me a rough budget figure for your time away?

I’m not 100% sure of the total costs as I stayed in the States for four months and did a lot of other stuff before and afterwards. I probably spent well under £2k for the ride

I wore out a couple of rear tyres and a set of brake blocks and a roll of bar tape. Bike shops along the route make a lot of money out of the unwary replacing entire transmissions.

Food was our biggest expense, and it wasn’t that expensive, certainly a lot cheaper than over here. As I said above we mostly camped of stayed for free in hostels, churches, fire stations, city parks, someone even let us stay in a cabin that was being renovated, ‘the door’s open just go in’ . We near enough had a shower every night, so never felt as though we were roughing it.

We stayed in motels for about maybe seven nights, they were seldom more than $50 – $60 which we split. I think Mike broke the record for the highest roomshare. 5 folk and 5 bikes including a recumbent and trailers for $50. I much preferred camping, as we met more people. But when it was 90F in the tent at night in Kansas aircon was all we dreamed of.

I have heard of people who have ridden the TA on $10 a day.

Top freebie tip, one of the petrol station companies in Virginia and Kentucky lets TransAm riders have free drinks from their soda fountains. When its 100F you quickly develop a Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper habit.