looking for LOT's of info
 

I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a coast-to-coast trip,
generally from San Diego to Jacksonville, probably in February, '07.
At the moment I'm looking at doing it as a modified, of sorts, credit
card tour. I say "modified" in that I'll need to carry quite a bit of
clothing to account for the possibility of big weather swings.

I'm planning on staying as southerly as possible, until I-10 & 1-20
intersect in W Texas, then I'll likely stay relatively along I-20 until
I reach NE LA, where I'll head south again and then basically follow
the coast.

I've spent quite a bit of time riding in S. AZ in years past, and
recall that for much of the time it's simplest to ride the shoulder of
the interstate. I also recall from driving through W. Texas that most
of the interstate has a perfectly good frontage road for almost the
entire distance from El Paso to Ft Worth.

I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on whether it is still legal to
ride the shoulder of the interstate in most of the west.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions of particular highways I may want
to use, and more importantly, highways that MUST be avoided, I'd
appreciate the feedback.

I'm open to any hints, feedback, tips, warnings, etc... as I'm a
novice at cross-country touring.

I'd ask that you email me directly, but if you've got a really good tip
that should be shared with everyone, please by all means post it to the
group.

thanks,

Scott

hendricks_scott AT hotmail DOT com

looking for LOT's of info
 

Scott wrote:
I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a coast-to-coast trip,
generally from San Diego to Jacksonville, probably in February, '07.
At the moment I'm looking at doing it as a modified, of sorts, credit
card tour. I say "modified" in that I'll need to carry quite a bit
of clothing to account for the possibility of big weather swings.

I'm planning on staying as southerly as possible, until I-10 & 1-20
intersect in W Texas, then I'll likely stay relatively along I-20
until I reach NE LA, where I'll head south again and then basically
follow the coast.

I've spent quite a bit of time riding in S. AZ in years past, and
recall that for much of the time it's simplest to ride the shoulder
of the interstate. I also recall from driving through W. Texas that
most of the interstate has a perfectly good frontage road for almost
the entire distance from El Paso to Ft Worth.

I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on whether it is still legal
to ride the shoulder of the interstate in most of the west.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions of particular highways I may want
to use, and more importantly, highways that MUST be avoided, I'd
appreciate the feedback.

I'm open to any hints, feedback, tips, warnings, etc... as I'm a
novice at cross-country touring.

I'd ask that you email me directly, but if you've got a really good
tip that should be shared with everyone, please by all means post it
to the group.

Get the Adventure cycling Souther Tier maps. Save yourself time,
trouble and the dangers of cycling on interstates. That's a bad idea.
Another option would be one of Lon Haldeman's PAC Tours, unless you
really want to go it alone. I find that quite understandable, although
I'd like Lon's tours too.

looking for LOT's of info
 

I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on whether it is still legal
to ride the shoulder of the interstate in most of the west.

I'll second the suggestion you've already received about using Adventure
Cycling maps. I rode the southern Tier in a San Jose to Jacksonville
ride in 2001 and mostly followed their route
(http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm).

Most of those western interstates are legal for bicycles. However, a
friend of mine who cycled most of the CA-TX distance on interstates had
~8 flats from the small wire beads from disintegrated truck tires. After
he switched to smaller roads, many fewer flats.

I'm open to any hints, feedback, tips, warnings, etc... as I'm a
novice at cross-country touring.

My biggest suggestion would be to make yourself a little less of a novice
by making a 3-5 day shakedown ride or two before you do the cross-country
ride. This gives you a chance to try out equipment and try out your
credit-card light preferences.

My second suggestion would be to assume you might have some days of tough
weather (cold, headwind, rain) and plan with that contingency in mind -
either by having some extra days or equipment or both...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

looking for LOT's of info
 

Mike Vermeulen wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on whether it is still legal
to ride the shoulder of the interstate in most of the west.

I'll second the suggestion you've already received about using Adventure
Cycling maps. I rode the southern Tier in a San Jose to Jacksonville
ride in 2001 and mostly followed their route
(http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm).

Most of those western interstates are legal for bicycles. However, a
friend of mine who cycled most of the CA-TX distance on interstates had
~8 flats from the small wire beads from disintegrated truck tires. After
he switched to smaller roads, many fewer flats.

I'm open to any hints, feedback, tips, warnings, etc... as I'm a
novice at cross-country touring.

My biggest suggestion would be to make yourself a little less of a novice
by making a 3-5 day shakedown ride or two before you do the cross-country
ride. This gives you a chance to try out equipment and try out your
credit-card light preferences.

My second suggestion would be to assume you might have some days of tough
weather (cold, headwind, rain) and plan with that contingency in mind -
either by having some extra days or equipment or both...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

Thanks for the hints. I'd thought about the Adventure Cycling Southern
Tier route, but (and there's always a "but...") I need to stay as far
south as reasonably possible due to weather concerns in February, I'll
have just enough time to make it if I average 100m a day, with two
planned rest days and a possible third contingency day, AND (drum roll
here...) I'm going to do it on a fixed gear.

Yeah, I know... fixed is nuts and most folks think it's not doable, but
I ride fixed gear all winter long for my base mile training (I race
road and track) and will often ride 300-400 miles a week on fixed
gears. I figure if I'm doing that WHILE working 40 hrs a week, then it
shouldn't be too big a stretch to do a century a day if I'm not
working. I'll do a bit of extra prep work in November/December to make
sure before biting off more than I can chew.

So, the hillier sections in Arizona, especially east of Phoenix through
New Mexico to Silver City aren't really what I'm looking for. I
suppose that the Southern Tier route from La east will work just fine.
I've just got to get from San Diego to Dallas in early February without
freezing.

Scott

looking for LOT's of info
 

On 31 Jul 2006 14:48:41 -0700, "Scott"
wrote:
Mike Vermeulen wrote:
I'll second the suggestion you've already received about using Adventure
Cycling maps. I rode the southern Tier in a San Jose to Jacksonville
ride in 2001 and mostly followed their route
(http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm).

My second suggestion would be to assume you might have some days of tough
weather (cold, headwind, rain) and plan with that contingency in mind -
either by having some extra days or equipment or both...

Thanks for the hints. I'd thought about the Adventure Cycling Southern
Tier route, but (and there's always a "but...") I need to stay as far
south as reasonably possible due to weather concerns in February, I'll
have just enough time to make it if I average 100m a day, with two
planned rest days and a possible third contingency day, AND (drum roll
here...) I'm going to do it on a fixed gear.

Yeah, I know... fixed is nuts and most folks think it's not doable, but
I ride fixed gear all winter long for my base mile training (I race
road and track) and will often ride 300-400 miles a week on fixed
gears. I figure if I'm doing that WHILE working 40 hrs a week, then it
shouldn't be too big a stretch to do a century a day if I'm not
working. I'll do a bit of extra prep work in November/December to make
sure before biting off more than I can chew.

Well, you certainly sound ambitious. Good luck! (Do you have any
bail-out plans?)

So, the hillier sections in Arizona, especially east of Phoenix through
New Mexico to Silver City aren't really what I'm looking for. I
suppose that the Southern Tier route from La east will work just fine.
I've just got to get from San Diego to Dallas in early February without
freezing.

Dallas often freezes in February. I'm trying to imagine how you're
going to get there without freezing, without much success. El Paso can
be pretty chilly, too, and you can't get any further south while
staying in the U.S.

Have you considered doing the trip in reverse? If you took the
Adventure Cycling route leaving out of Jacksonville in early February,
you'd have the Gulf to mediate temperatures on the first part of the
trip, and maybe things would warm up before you got to the mountains.

Pat

Email address works as is.

looking for LOT's of info
 

Scott wrote:
I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a coast-to-coast trip,
generally from San Diego to Jacksonville, probably in February, '07.
....

A couple years back, a dad & lad pair did a similar route (on a
Viewpoint tandem) around the same time of year. Google for Viewpoints
and you'll probably find their website. Junior was about 8, and dad
home-schooled him along the way. Really nice trip stories. IIRC they
live in Chicagoland.

HTH

--Karen D.
Counterpoint!

looking for LOT's of info
 

After that, it's back to the Gulf Coast for the
remainder of the trip.



Just a thought. Last time I looked, the Adventure Cycling Route went
through some areas of the Gulf Coast that were devestated by Hurricane
Katrina. You may have to re-think your route through areas that are
still not rebuilt.

Janet

looking for LOT's of info
 

Janet wrote:
After that, it's back to the Gulf Coast for the
remainder of the trip.



Just a thought. Last time I looked, the Adventure Cycling Route went
through some areas of the Gulf Coast that were devestated by Hurricane
Katrina. You may have to re-think your route through areas that are
still not rebuilt.

Janet

Janet,

that's a great point.

However, from relatives I have in the near vicinity, I understand that
most of the essential infrastructure is workable now. While I won't be
spending much money in any of the areas I pass through, I imagine they
can use every penny they can get. So, I wouldn't dream of bypassing
them unless absolutely necessary. Besides, I'd like to see first hand
the remnants of the devestation.

Scott

looking for LOT's of info
 

A couple years back, a dad & lad pair did a similar route (on a
Viewpoint tandem) around the same time of year.

I think you are thinking of this web site:
http://www.cushwafamily.com/la2jax/

It was a fun read.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen