Anyone here ridden across the U.S.?

[jckid]

I was just wondering if any of you have ridden across the U.S. It is my big dream, and hopefully I'll have the chance to do it some day. I've made the trip a thousand times in my mind! If you've made the trip, I would love to hear about your experience. Here are some of my questions: Did you go alone or with a group? Can you recommend a good tour company? Was it as much fun as you expected? How did you train for it? What bike did you ride? What route did you ride? If you knew then what you know now, would you do it again?

[ada@prorider.or]

I was just wondering if any of you have ridden across the U.S. It is my big dream, and hopefully I'll have the chance to do it some day. I've made the trip a thousand times in my mind! If you've made the trip, I would love to hear about your experience. Here are some of my questions: Did you go alone or with a group? Can you recommend a good tour company? Was it as much fun as you expected? How did you train for it? What bike did you ride? What route did you ride? If you knew then what you know now, would you do it again?

well me only in a camper
but spoked to several people who did
trained and untrained
they just did go out rode the route 66
several started in west cost other in east cost
mainly they rode interstate´s they said and i made pic of they doing that here in holland its on radio when some ride,s on a interstate sticktly forbidden here
so was strange to see for me that was easliy done in usa
all had great fun and stayed at local motels
cees

[rePhil]

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/

You should find everything you want to know.

[Kirk Pacenti]

I was just wondering if any of you have ridden across the U.S. It is my big dream, and hopefully I'll have the chance to do it some day. I've made the trip a thousand times in my mind! If you've made the trip, I would love to hear about your experience. Here are some of my questions: Did you go alone or with a group? Can you recommend a good tour company? Was it as much fun as you expected? How did you train for it? What bike did you ride? What route did you ride? If you knew then what you know now, would you do it again?

J,

I did the trip 9 years ago with my girlfriend (now wife). It was one of the best things I have ever had the pleasure of doing. 10.5 weeks of riding and camping, it really was great!

I would not recommend a group ride. We ran into a few of those groups and it didn’t seem like much fun. Just buy all the maps for the route you'd like to do from Adventure Cycling. We did the central route.

If you are going to go the group route, go with Adventure Cycling they have done the trip more than anybody. Or if you’re a super stud who's pressed for time, look into Lon Holdermans tour. 3k miles in 29 days! Lon's trip requires you meet their minimum training regimen, but if you finish, it also qualifies you for the RAAM. My wife's uncle did the trip from Seattle to Portland (Maine) in 13 DAYS!!!! He also raced the RAAM 6 times and gave us a lot of good info.

It was way more fun than I had expected and would do it again tomorrow! I don't know if my wife would agree though. We have talked about doing it again with 2-3 other people in an RV and rotate riding/driving days.

Train? What's that??? No "training" really, we just rode our MTB's around UC Santa Cruz a couple extra days a week.

Our shortest day was up and over some pass in White Bird, Idaho 14 switchbacks in 5-6 miles of STEEP climbing. When we finally got up to the top we were greeted by a stiff headwind of 20+ mph. We had to pedal hard down hill just to hit 18mph! Only made it 20 miles that day and called it quits!

Kansas was another story! Coming from the west (out of CO), we had incredible tail winds. Our best day 120 miles, with panniers acting as sails we actually coasted (and soft pedaled) for a long stretch at around 22.5mph! Never less than 100 miles a day through Kansas...it was easy.

We rode a couple of custom "Pacenti" touring bikes I built for us while I was working at Bontrager. I sold mine after the trip, because I decided it was too small. My wife still has hers.

We took the central route. Like I said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd really love to do the "Continental Divide" route too. It’s 80% off road!

:banana: :banana: :banana:

[Fixed]

J,
s too small. My wife still has hers.

We took the central route. Like I said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd really love to do the "Continental Divide" route too. It’s 80% off road!

:banana: :banana: :banana:
bro 80% off road cool cheers oh yeah the wife's uncle ..well he's a bro i.m.h.o. cheers

[Ray]

I've never crossed the US but I've toured self-contained, credit card, and supported. For short trips, supported is fine and fun (you get to ride an unloaded bike and someone else handles all of the logistics). I wouldn't want to go all the way cross country on someone else's schedule though. Self supported is too much weight, it's like riding a truck instead of a bike - all atmo, of course. To me, the best compromise is a very light credit card tour with minimalist camping gear for the occasional night when you get caught out and can't make it to (or find) a hotel or hostel, or the occasional beautiful evening in a great spot when you just want to stop and take it all in. I've looked into super light camping gear and I think you could probably do a trip like this with a total load of about 15 pounds in a saddlebag. It's on my list to do someday after the kids are out of the house.

-Ray

[quattro]

I rode from Narragansett, R.I. to Jackson Hole, WY by way of Niagra Falls Canada, total miles ridden were 2660. I hit the road with two friends two weeks after graduating from U.R.I. in June 1981. A week into the trip one friend bailed out, so we were two. In Canada we ran into two guys we had met at U.R.I., but they left a week after us and we met up on a back country road without knowing what routes we were going to ride! Amazing!! We were a group of four. Next we met up with a lone cyclist from N.Y. in Michigan and we were a group of 5. Across Michigan and then a ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee Wisconsin. I really enjoyed the green rolling terrain of Wisconsin, loved Madison and the University, into Minnesota, dropped down to Iowa, then into South Dakota by Mt. Rushmore and into the Big Horn Mountains, through Power River Pass at an elevation of 9666 ft. When we crossed into South Dakota we somehow lost the three guys we had met up with, we were now two again. Into Wyoming and through Yellowstone Nat'l Park across the continental divide and then into The Grand Tetons and finally into Jackson Hole, WY. A fantastic trip, we slept at camp grounds and in farm fields every night for 6-1/2 weeks it was great to be outdoors, and young! I highly recommend the northern route to avoid the heat of the middle to southern part of the country if you go in the summer months. I have never been on a trip with a tour company so I can't say this is better or worse, but you get to do the route plannng day to day and stop when and where you want when you are on your own or in a small group. PM me if you wnat more details. Good luck if you pull it together, it can be the trip of a lifetime. :beer:

[bcm119]

I haven't, but a friend of mine did a boston to portland OR trip a few years ago and there is a lengthy log about it here (http://robots.mit.edu/people/lichter/biketour/bikelog.html)

[Kirk Pacenti]

I've never crossed the US but I've toured self-contained, credit card, and supported. For short trips, supported is fine and fun (you get to ride an unloaded bike and someone else handles all of the logistics). I wouldn't want to go all the way cross country on someone else's schedule though. Self supported is too much weight, it's like riding a truck instead of a bike - all atmo, of course. To me, the best compromise is a very light credit card tour with minimalist camping gear for the occasional night when you get caught out and can't make it to (or find) a hotel or hostel, or the occasional beautiful evening in a great spot when you just want to stop and take it all in. I've looked into super light camping gear and I think you could probably do a trip like this with a total load of about 15 pounds in a saddlebag. It's on my list to do someday after the kids are out of the house.

-Ray


Ray,

We met a guy in Yellow Stone who did it this way all the way across. We rode with him for about 5 days.

He was a frequent international traveler and had all these MICRO servings of tooth paste and other toiletries. He had a $500.00 tent that only weighed 4lbs....maybe less. He did it on a carbon trek race bike 12-15lbs gear. Our loads were closer to 50lbs each. But the bikes were built for it and rode great! I hit 57mph coming down Lolo pass, super stable bike with plenty of gear left....unfortunately I ran out of courage.

He was on a pretty strict schedule. But because of this his wife could send him care packages every 10 days at a designated post office. She'd send him Power bars, tooth paste, letters wishing him well etc. The best part is that she'd send his laptop too. He'd write an open letter to his friends and family and then ship the lappy back. She'd email the letter to everyone, they could respond and she'd send the lappy back to him again. He did this all the way across!

We parted ways after 4-5 days, but since he lived in VA and we were ending our tour there too, we hooked up again for a few days with him and his family. We practically got to relive the whole thing in just a couple days time.

[Tom]

My brother and his family rode from Colorado to Vermont in a month. The kids were junior and senior in high school at the time, and a friend of the kids was with them, another high school senior. He had never ridden more than 30 miles at a time and he had a bike too small and sneakers. They had no trouble with the riding. My brother's parents-in-laws are Winnebago types so they noodled along around and behind them, but the group had a Bob trailer full of bike parts, tents and sleeping bags and pretty much camped. I think they moteled it a couple times so they could shower.

They had the Adventure Cycling maps and they worked great.

The only thing they'd do differently, my brother said, was to make sure everybody had the same parts on their bikes so they didn't have to drag four different kinds of spare parts along with them.

[Willy]

I tried to two years ago to go but my boss wouldn't give me the six weeks off but I did take 3 weeks and went from San Francisco to Pueblo Colorado - great trip. I used America by Bike at http://abbike.com/ -they were great. One of their tour guides has his own site http://www.bamacyclist.com/ that gives good tips and suggestions.

Good luck - my partial trip was fantastic and I hope to complete it sometime in the near future.

[flydhest]

I believe TooTall has done it as well.

Any comments, large man?

[znfdl]

I believe TooTall has done it as well.

Any comments, large man?

Too Tall and I rode across the country on www.pactour.com together. Hard work but worth the effort. We averages 123 miles per day for 23 days, but our gear was sagged.

Too Tall also has ridden with Queen on their Tandem.

I am hoping ride PAC Tour again next year.

Training for me was:
Commute 4 days a week. (40miles round trip per day)
2 long rides on the weekend, with plenty of intervals and climbing.
Biggest thing is to work out your nutrition.

[Ray]

Ray,

We met a guy in Yellow Stone who did it this way all the way across. We rode with him for about 5 days.

He was a frequent international traveler and had all these MICRO servings of tooth paste and other toiletries. He had a $500.00 tent that only weighed 4lbs....maybe less. He did it on a carbon trek race bike 12-15lbs gear. Our loads were closer to 50lbs each. But the bikes were built for it and rode great! I hit 57mph coming down Lolo pass, super stable bike with plenty of gear left....unfortunately I ran out of courage.

He was on a pretty strict schedule. But because of this his wife could send him care packages every 10 days at a designated post office. She'd send him Power bars, tooth paste, letters wishing him well etc. The best part is that she'd send his laptop too. He'd write an open letter to his friends and family and then ship the lappy back. She'd email the letter to everyone, they could respond and she'd send the lappy back to him again. He did this all the way across!

We parted ways after 4-5 days, but since he lived in VA and we were ending our tour there too, we hooked up again for a few days with him and his family. We practically got to relive the whole thing in just a couple days time.
I've ridden fully loaded touring bikes too and they handle fine with lots of weight. I just don't find them to be much fun to ride. Not too bad on long steady grades like in the Rockies, but horrible on the short steep rollers we have back east - you can't carry any momentum and you can't really get out of the saddle. Not bad, but a completely different experience that takes a lot of the fun out of riding for me.

Going very lightweight is even easier now - a lot of ultra light backpacking equipment has been developed that works great for bike touring too. You can get 1-2 person tents that weigh slightly less than 2 pounds these days, sleeping bag/pad combos that combine at less than 3, and stove/pot combinations that are a pound or less, even with a fuel canister. This is pretty minimalist stuff and I don't know if I'd want to camp in it every night (I don't like camping enough anymore to do it every night anyway), but it would be good for a combination of hoteling and camping. With today's wireless PDAs and cell phones, you can carry more than enough communication equipment minimally.

10 - 15 pounds on the back of a relatively responsive sport touring bike doesn't feel like a racing bike, but it's pretty responsive and fun to ride and you quickly adjust to the extra weight. To me, a hotel/camping combo tour with minimalist gear is the best compromise between independence, flexibility, creature comforts, fun riding, and cost (cheaper than all but the cheapest supported tours). Everyone has their own tolerances and preferences though, and the only way to find 'em is to try different kinds of touring.

The one strong recommendation I'd make is NOT to go cross country for your first tour. Do some 2-3 day tours, one or two one-week tours, and at least one 2-3 week tour to see what you like. Touring can be a blast, but it's not for everyone and better to know what you like before you make a major committment.

-Ray

[Too Tall]

Yes! Three times :)
Yo Kirk, RAAM qualified / 29 days???? Are you thinking of the Elite Tour (?) I was on that and it was 15 days...deal was if you did no drafting and finished every mile in daylight you'd be RAAM qualified. Seana Hogan, Pete Pennsyres and Bob Breelove were there.
PAC tour is the way to go if you do not want to do loaded touring. This really appeals to me as each day is a lark on your bike while crossing the USA...just pedal!!! It is a special thing to do in no lesser part because the number of people who have ever crossed the USA on bicycle is likely counted in the hundreds not thousands.
The first PAC tour I did was also a stage race so I trained for two years to adapt to long miles with speed....nearly killed me. Second crossing I trained 400-500 miles / week with a goal of consistent 5-6 hr hilly solo one stop centuries. Third PAC tour was on tandem with my wife Queen :) :) She trained indoors mostly, the woman has amazing dedication. She focused on raising strength at speed and VO2...it worked. I did not log as many miles as in the past as I was a "seasoned" vet at this game and logged 300-350 / week focusing on speed. On some weekends myself and Queen would ride tandem 180 miles-ish with a speed goal of 17-18 with no more than 3 stops....that worked.

For the non-tandem tours I rode a steel Clark Kent race bike and than a Serotta Ti Legend.

Hope that helped, pls. feel free to ask questions.

[Kirk Pacenti]

I've ridden fully loaded touring bikes too and they handle fine with lots of weight. I just don't find them to be much fun to ride. Not too bad on long steady grades like in the Rockies, but horrible on the short steep rollers we have back east - you can't carry any momentum and you can't really get out of the saddle.


"Fun" being a subjective term here, but I know what you mean. They are certainly not your “first club ride on your new Ottrot” kinda fun! And your right, the Rockies were no sweat, the Ozarks on the other hand....ouch!

Getting out of the saddle was a bit disconcerting at first. Even though I built the bikes really stout, mine felt like a wet noodle the first time I had stand up for a steep grade. It was wiggly enough to make me sit right back down!

What's really amazing though, is that by the end of the tour, I couldn't feel any flexing at all. I am sure it was partially that I got used to the sensation, and partly that the load, and I got substantially lighter as the trip progressed. It's amazing how much stuff you start jettisoning after a couple weeks on the road.

As to taking some pre-tour tours; it's probably good advice, but it's not the way we did it. The 4,014 miles of our trip was the first tour either of us had taken! We might not have done the big one had we known what we were getting into! :p

[Kirk Pacenti]

Yo Kirk, RAAM qualified / 29 days???? Are you thinking of the Elite Tour (?)

I'm not really sure. I had just "heard" something about being able to qualify for RAAM on one of Lon's tours.

As to the #'s; are you talking about hundreds crossing via the PAC tour? Certainly more than that have done it with AC and solo...That would be my guess anyway. The Bicentennial, now Trans-American route has been going since '76.

[Bradford]

I've done several 1,000 miles + trips fully loaded, and a bunch of smaller trips, both loaded and with groups. Without hesitation I can say that my tours have been some of the best experiences of my life.

I would much rather ride fully loaded than with a tour group or in the credit card style. I love the way a fully loaded bike rides. I also find it much more satisfying to carry my own stuff than have it shuttled around by someone else. I usually ride with 50 lbs in the bags.

In addition, the camping part of the trip turns out to provide many of the great experiences. When I think of my trips, I think of the great campground on the beach at Tillmook, waking up with a Buffalo looking into my tent at Yellowstone, and cooking a great meal on a camp stove in Arcadia. I’m happy to stay in hotels when I travel for work or go to Disney, but I’ll carry my own stuff and camp when I tour on my bike.

Riding a loaded touring bike is much different than riding my Legend, and that’s fine with me. If you have the right bike, it will ride like a dream. Much slower, and tougher up hills, but as long as you have a real touring bike, it will handle the weight just fine. I like them both, just as I can enjoy riding a mountain bike in the woods as much as taking my road bike with the fast ride on Sunday.

I have been happy with the Adventure Cycling maps and would highly recommend them. You will be surprised how many other touring cyclists you will meet if you use these maps. When I go across the country, I’ll take the Adventure cycling northern tier route.

I’ve also toured with other people and alone. Some of my touring partners have been better riders, some not as strong. I’d say do it any way you can. I always try to get someone to go with me, but I’d ride alone again without hesitation.

I also think the idea of a smaller tour is a good idea, but I think a few days is too short. There are a couple of things that a smaller tour will teach you, like how to pack panniers and how to ride a loaded bike, and that is all good. But, you really don’t get into touring shape until you have been on the road for a week or so, so a 3 day tour will give you a false impression of how hard it is. After a week it just seems like natural riding.

If you are looking for a good 1,000 mile tour as your first trip, try Seattle to San Francisco, which I think is the perfect intro to touring. Great scenery, lots of campgrounds, some nice climbs, and plenty of towns in case something goes wrong. Then again, if I had just launched into a cross country trip on my first try, I would have loved it.

[wanderingwheel]

I did a solo, self-supported trip across the US when I got out of high school. I was trying to ride to college, but I didn't quite make the last few hundred miles up the east coast. I followed the TransAmerica route from Adventure Cycling. By far, the best thing I've ever done. Short touring trips are nice, but nothing beats an exteded tour.

[wanderingwheel]

Kirk, your tour sounds similar to mine, but I'm jealous of the tailwinds you got in Kansas. I had to fight a strong crosswind all the way across the state. At the time, I was riding with two other tourists and we tried to echelon with our fully-loaded bikes. We used the 1 mile interval between crossroads as each person's turn on front.

[ditchman]

My wife and I rode tandem across the country in 1990. Fully loaded and self contained.

4500 miles in 77 days, Northern US route with two trips into Canada.

Started out in good shape ended in awesome shape.

Camped out and stayed with people we met.

Would recommend staying away from large groups of cyclists. We found that people in small town get tired of masses of cyclists coming through town. If you are alone or in a small group people are more welcoming.

One of the best experiences of my life.

[bcm119]

I'm in agreement with what Bradford said. For me, the whole point of touring is being out there alone or with a friend or 2, completely self supported and independent. The camping is perhaps more than half the fun, and although I've never done a supported tour, I don't think I'd be interested in it. I like the way a loaded bike rides too... once you get in the groove, it is a whole new type of riding that I really enjoy. While I've contemplated a cross-country tour many many times, I think I would stick to a smaller area. I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy riding across certain parts of the country. I like the landscape of the West, and New England, but not in between so much.

[znfdl]

I have only had positive experiences on fully supported trips. I have been on 2 PAC Tour US Crossings and One Pac Tour Desert Camp. I will be doing the 7 day Pac Tour Mountain Tour later this March. Pac Tours are interesting, as you get people from across the US and usually many other countries. the comraderie that you build on these rides is quite nice.

I do remember one particularly nice ride across Texas, where we had a double paceline for 125 miles. It was great to see 20 cyclists work together and not try to drop anyoneas we kept a steady 20-21 mph pace. On these tours I have made some nice friends that I still get together with even though the Tour that I did with them was 11 years ago.

I do agree that I would not do a Tour greater than 50 people. I also prefer a fully supported tour, as it takes alot of the worries out of prolonged fast touring.

Like I said, I will be doing another Pac Tour next year. Would anyone be interested in joining me?

[scrooge]

. When I go across the country, I’ll take the Adventure cycling northern tier route.

.

Mind if I ask why you'd choose that route and not the TransAmerica? Too busy on the TA? Something specific you want to see?

[scrooge]

My wife and I rode tandem across the country in 1990. .

Do you do a lot of tandem riding? Would you go this route again, or go with singles?

[Bradford]

Mind if I ask why you'd choose that route and not the TransAmerica? Too busy on the TA? Something specific you want to see?

It’s all personal preference, but I think the Northern tier would have better scenery. I’ve heard from many people that on the Transamerica route, the middle section (the flat wheat and corn states) gets really boring. The northern route looks like some great places to me.

I did a ride from Missoula, Montana to Steamboat Springs, Colorado about 10 years ago. I rode the first 500 miles with a friend and the second 500 miles alone. The first day over Togwotte pass (just east of Yellowstone) into Wyoming was wonderful. But the next five days of riding through the same red rock and sage really wore me down. (That nasty Wyoming wind didn’t help, either). My guess is that Kansas could be the same deal, day after day of the same scenery.

The other reason for me is that I live in Rhode Island, so if I rode the Norther Tier I could ride home and skip the return trip. Now that I'm moving to Denver, I'm not sure this matters as much.

If I could find the time, I’d do all three routes, but my order of preference would be Northern tier, Southern tier, and then the Transamerica route.

[Bradford]

Do you do a lot of tandem riding? Would you go this route again, or go with singles?

Not that you asked me, but I have done two tours on my tandem with my wife, the first on Cape Breton and the second in the Canadian rockies for our honeymoon.

I love touring on the tandem, but it is yet again different from touring on a single. My wife isn't as interested in the fully supported deal, so we did trips where people carry the luggage. Well worth doing in my opinion and a lot of fun.

Just make sure you understand how strong of a rider you wife is. My wife isn't so strong, so riding the tandem with no weight is like riding a touring bike with a half load. If we rode with full bags, man that would be a lot of weight for me to pull.