Originally Posted by
CrimsonEclipse
I'm thinking about a coast to coast tour next year. It's obviously a long distance and I really lack knowledge of the road conditions and proper routes. How would you go about route planning?
Also, and suggestions on how many miles per day or any other suggestions for such a long trip.
Originally Posted by
staehpj1
Another way is to have a general idea and just improvise. I don't think this is done too often for a coast to coast, but I know of at least one guy who was successful in a recent xc with this approach.
Back in 1977 when my wife and I went from LA to Washington DC, in May through June, we had a US map with our intended start and destination, and we used state maps to pick out routes on a daily basis. It became a standing joke that every time we stopped we would look at the map; kind of like a nervous investor checking his stocks every couple of hours. We found that there were few choices, mostly federal and large state highways up through Colorado, which had the advantage of limited grades to accomodate truck traffic. Thereafter were plenty of state and local roads, but often with steeper grades, especially in Missouri and West Virginia.
BTW, it seemed to me that there were times in Colorado that I wasn't sure if I was traveling up or down. I wouldn't mention this except I once saw a program about some trans-Canada cyclists that related a similar experience. Has anyone else noticed this?
Our daily plan was to do about 50 miles per day, to find shelter where we might be able to take a shower. We did from 20 miles, due to mechanical difficulties, up to 100 miles in Kentucky.