People like this. A touring bike shop in Kansas with free use of shop tools for tourers, a bike shower, and a kitchen and more. hostel style accommodation coming next.

I think the TransAm route is pretty special in the services provided by those along its 4300 miles.

I have fond memories of staying in Newton Kansas. We spent a couple of nights in the fire station there.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=241075&v=bU

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=244253&v=bZ

Bike Newport, in Newport Oregon offer similar services to folks riding the Pacific Coast, though they do the spannering.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=302370&v=D5

We stayed in Churches and fire stations. In Colorado with a storm raging over the Hoosier Pass a complete stranger offered us somewhere to stay without hesitation, turned out she had ridden the route years before too.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=252558&v=c1

Anyone considering a multi month tour could do a whole lot worse than ride the Trans America Trail.

meanwhile on the flipside – my brother was camped at a remote site, pickup pulled up & the guy takes a random potshot at him 😯

I also had a great experience at Bike Newport. Replaced my GF’s bottom bracket while we waited, and she got new shoes from the bargain bin for $25!
The oregon coast route was so well set up for biking. I love the fact that all the state campgrounds have a “never full” policy for bikers.
Definately my favourite tour so far.

Paul

All this talk of the transam trail and no mention of the transam race this year.

Trans Am Bike Race

All this talk of the transam trail and no mention of the transam race this year.

It would be shame to race the route and miss out on the folks along the way. It was those interactions that ‘brought the Trail alive’ for me.

Can you imagine any bike shop in Britain saying “here’s the key to the shop, can you lock up when you leave”?

Can you imagine anyone in the UK saying ‘yeah, come and sleep in my house/garden etc, use my shower, here’s your dinner etc’?

Complete strangers are very welcoming and show great kindness on the Transam. Not the impression of the US you get from the news.

How much $ would one need roughly to cross America by bike.?

I think it depends how you wish to travel. I didn’t want a tight budget and allowed $100 p/day which was plenty. There are quite a few nights where you don’t need to pay for accommodation so your ‘saving’ can go into a slightly more expensive hotel/motel/meals as circumstances dictate or bring your spend down if you wish. A relaxed crossing is ITRO 70 days but you can easily improve on this.

Road food is cheap, plentiful and fast… so not always great. It’s a real treat to find places that serve veg and I found a couple of swanky restaurants en route to keep my foodie credentials current.

You could easily do it cheaper but for me, touring isn’t about being cheapest I like to sample some of the good life and treat myself along the way which can be a great pick me up after a shitty day(s).

$7000 😯

Doable on a credit card… 😀

How much? For an 11 week tour in 2009 my total spend was around $2500 not including flights, travel insurance, and money spent after I arrived in Boston so that’s around $31 per day.

That’s camping almost every night along with a few nights in houses, 3 or 4 motels, and a couple of hostels.

Going back since then I’ve spent more but didn’t count what I was spending. It’s certainly doable on $50 per day excluding flights/insurance if mainly camping. But ideally whether you are touring frugally or not have enough money/credit card room that you don’t need to budget from day to day.

Can you imagine anyone in the UK saying ‘yeah, come and sleep in my house/garden etc, use my shower, here’s your dinner etc’?

Actually this happens to us most years on the Welsh Ride Thing, although normally we have to pay for the dinner when it arrives.

It was those interactions that ‘brought the Trail alive’ for me.

Imagine doing it again but on 650B’s? Double alive!

Funny the contrast – the odd really welcoming individuals and then in turn the odd complete nutter on the road not giving a toss if they kill you as you’re obviously subversive-weirdo-scum for being on a bicycle.

the continental divide is similar, although you meet fewer people I guess as your not on many roads.

outside of american cities, america is a huge empty and quite stunning place. the people outside the cities I met are remarkably normal or crazy. 😉

my best quote was from an old guy struggling with the door of a toilet at a campsite. he stopped and looked me square in the eye: “goddamn its just a sh1thouse”. 😉