Touring - Anyone biked across the US in less than 3 weeks?

Hey guys,

I am planning to bike from San Diego to Norfolk this coming spring of 2006. Due to time and budget limitations I am gonna try race across pretty much rather than take it easy and travel around. I am wondering if anyone here biked across in a reasonable fast time. I would love to hear about your experience and I also have a few questions. Thanks

Have you done the math? That's almost 2900 miles by Interstate. My guess a lot further by back roads but City Select won't route that far on back roads. So let's use the 2900 number. So that is 138 miles a day, assuming you needed no days off for weather, body repair, bike repair, transport bike to starting location (or from ending) etc.

So it is probably really closer to 150-175+ miles a day.


I thought the whole purpose of touring was to get close to the countryside and smell the flowers? The only reason I can see for doing it in 3 weeks is just to say you have done it. There is nothing wrong with that but you better be in super top shape. Three weeks is just a little on the agreessive side

yeah you are right, 3 weeks is pushing it. I am interested in seeing the countryside but I can't be gone for long. I am also very interested in physical challenges and testing my physical limits. I also figured that in 3 weeks I can see a lot, inspite of the fact that I would be doing almost 200 miles a day. I've heard many cyclists that said that sometimes seeing those beautiful scenes could get old quickly. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors, but after seeing 200 beautiful meadows and 100 hills and 1000 small town one might start to lose interest. So I figured with a short trip like this I can still experience all that and at the same time get the physical workout that I want.

Look up RAAM, the race across America. I think they complete the trip in under a week.

Edit: Here are the records for the race: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/files/raaminformation/RAAMrecords.html

Definitely some impressive times.

If you've got limited time, you may want to just do the western section. I've heard people say that when they start East going west, they do so to get the more developed and boring Eastern and midwest stuff over with. Most people's journals start their poetic descriptions when they see the rockies rising up in the horrizon and don't stop those descriptions all the way through Oregon to the coast. So maybe a 3 week ride from Oregon through to Yellowstone would be more doable, still give you beauty, and provide that same intensity you're looking for.

I will say, though... that one of the most appealing aspects of a trip like that seems to be putting yourself so far out of real life's urgency that you lose all sense of civilised time. Everyday for 2-3 months is just you and your bike. It's supposed to be a life-altering experience not because of the distance covered or the sites seen, but more because of the way it reclocks your internal stressometer and personal understanding of what's important in life.

There is at least one supported tour that does a cross country trip in 30 days with an average 100 mi/day. But they carry your gear so you have a light bike.

How many consecutive 150-200 mile days have you done in the past? How many of these were self supported with whatever gear you would take on your cross country trip?

I'm not trrying to discourage you, but maybe you should try riding 400 miles this weekend to get a feel for what you are proposing to do.

Yeah, nice burbankbiker!

Norfolk, not a bad destination :)

This might interest you .... and I must say, it is VERY, VERY tempting to me too!! :D

http://www.transamracing.org/

Yeah, I've done it in three weeks - Huntington Beach, CA to Tybee Island GA. 21 days averaging 140 miles per day. Hardly a tour. It was a supported trip (www.pactour.com), they carried bags and provided lunch and snacks. As one of the slower riders, I spent a lot of time in the saddle. I saw a lot of scenery but had no time to stop anywhere. Rode past Meteor Crater and Mesa Verde both places I would have loved to see. Afterall when would I get be back to Meteor Crater (I did finally get to Mesa Verde).

If you truly want to ride coast to coast in a short time, I would suggest no more than 100 miles a day and plan on it being a "credit card" tour without camping or cooking gear. Before I did PAC Tour, I found a book in my local library outlining a trip from CA to NY in 30 days by four guys. Don't recall the title though :)

I have gathered a few comrades + myself on a voyage across the states. Flying to Colorado and biking from there back to NY. We're giving ourselves a rough 2 months to do it...this would be our first such journey. Does that seem too long of a time span for beginner folk like myself...or just right?

I haven't biked it, but I have driven it, and there is not much to see, or do, between the rockies and the appalacian(sp?) mts.

Thats what I'm kind of worried about...selecting the right roads too, mapping out a course so that its also interesting besides just trying to accomplish a trek over the distance.

I have gathered a few comrades + myself on a voyage across the states. Flying to Colorado and biking from there back to NY. We're giving ourselves a rough 2 months to do it...this would be our first such journey. Does that seem too long of a time span for beginner folk like myself...or just right?

Just right. About 29 years ago I was on a four days tour north and east of Denver area. Going north into Wyoming I met a teenage boy coming south. He said he had spent 2 months coming from the east coast. I offered the use of my backyard (6 blocks west of the Denver city limit) for camping. When I got back he was still there. He stayed with the wife and I for 10 days and with winter coming he sagged out. I shipped his bike home for him. So . . . if a teenager can do it solo you guys can too.

To the root question when I was keeping the stats for the UMCA I had one mileage fanatic go from San Diego to St Louis averaging 140 to 170 MPD. By the rules he had to collect witnesses every 40 to 50 miles and I verified all of them. He was in his early 20s. Coast to Coast in 2900 miles by back roads is not much of a problem RAAM does it every year. A lot of routes go from the LA area to Savannah, GA, Atlantic City, and NYC. Get some of the route descriptions and go from there. Also Adventure Cycling (Bikecentennial) has a lot of routes laid out with camping and support details.

I talked to a PACTour organizer once. He claimed that 3 months or 3 weeks, it costs about the same. Check out their site too. They have a Route 66 trip I'd love to take.

ah, good...I feel better. I'll definitely check out the site. I was thinking I would check with AAA to see if they could route something out for me...but im not sure if they do so for bikers.

ken, what is the link to that siteby the way?

Get the AAA to route your bike trip! Why not shoot yourself now! Is that a new service they offer? Their charter probably requires that they route you on the worst roads so as to provide a clean shot for the cars.

More evidence youth is wasted on the young. Sure meadows and forests get old pretty quick, not like spinning your feet like a robot.

Get a weather planer to figure out which route has the worst winds. That way you could find a route with a permanent headwind of 30 miles an hour. Never heard of anyone doing that, it would be a first.

Just jealous.

ken, what is the link to that siteby the way?

Pactour: http://www.pactour.com/



And a couple other sites which might provide some info for covering that kind of distance at that pace:
http://www.adventurecorps.com/
http://www.ultracycling.com/