Touring - Where should I tour?

I am from St Louis. I am thinking about taking a week or so off this summer to take a little bike trip. Where should I go? I have seen just about everything in Missouri, and I can see that there isn't much in Illinois (HAHA).

Should I:

A) Fly somewhere and ride home
B) Fly somewhere and ride a loop from the airport
C) Drive somewhere and ride from there (can't be too far, I would rather be riding than driving)
D) Suck it up and ride from home and see everything again.

Terrain is unimportant, but hills are nice.

Help a brother out with some ideas!!

I was thinking someplace nordic... Sweden, Iceland, Norway... someplace like that.

Koffee

I've been wanting to ride Northern Montana and the Canadian Rockies. But Alaska is also at the top of my list.

You've got the whole world in front of you. Where would YOU like to go?

If I were you, here's what I'd do:

1. Make a list of all the places in the world you'd like to see
2. Check your budget to see what amount you could afford
3. Research the places you'd like to see to find out how much it would cost to get there, and what sort of requirements those places had (i.e. visas, immunizations, etc.)
4. Decide what works for you.

I've been wanting to ride Northern Montana and the Canadian Rockies. But Alaska is also at the top of my list.


Really?? I've been eyeing northern Montana too for a couple reasons ... I live just north of northern Montana (right next to the Canadian Rockies), and I've never cycled in Montana. I need to add Montana to my list of States I Have Cycled In. I need to add Idaho too, so if I could do a route that went south from where I live, into Montana, west into Idaho, north into BC, and back over the Alberta ... that would be perfect! :)

There are plenty of places I would like to see. There are sufficient funds to do whatever. However, in order to keep said funds coming in, I can only be gone for a about 7 days, including any travel time to and from. So I am kind of limited.

I am sure I am not the only person with this problem. So I was wondering how others have dealt with it. Any suggestions, ideas would be welcomed.

Highway 1 from Calgary west (through Revelstoke), onto 99 to Vancouver looks good to me.

Check on that. I priced a ticket to Chicago and a ticket to Iceland. Right now, a ticket to Iceland on Iceland Air is $230 bucks plus tax, nonstop. A ticket to Chicago on most major airlines START at $430 plus tax, nonstop. Suffice it to say, If I can get my schedule arranged, I'll be going to Iceland for 5- 6 days. It's cheaper.

Sometimes, it just takes a little research. It can be done, you just have to be creative.

Koffee

Hey BLM--have you gone both North and South along the Mississippi? If you only have 7 days that would be efficient at least. I guess not too hilly though eh? You probably want to get out of Dodge. Seven days is tight for much more than that, unless you worked Ragbrai into your schedule--July??

Don't overlook Southern Indiana and especially Kentucky!
You'll find lots of remote, scenic, interesting AND hilly roads in both.

The following site has several routes that crisscross and circle KY.
Should you be interested in Southern Indiana please contact me for more of the same!
Charlie

http://transportation.ky.gov/Multimodal/pdf/bkgd.pdf

Highway 1 from Calgary west (through Revelstoke), onto 99 to Vancouver looks good to me.

It's pretty much your only choice for that section! But it does have heavy traffic -- I've cycled it before.


What I'd probably do is to take Hwy 22, then Hwy 6, down from my area, head through Glacier National Park, and then I see that Hwy 2 would take me into Idaho, then north to Cranbrook, up to Invermere, through Vermilion Pass on Hwy 93 (rode that one twice last year) and home. Or something like that.

I know some people in Cardston, and I have relatives in Pincher Creek, so if I were going to do that this summer, I might drive down there, leave my car and cycle from one of those two spots.

It's pretty much your only choice for that section! But it does have heavy traffic -- I've cycled it before..

Hey Machka--Is it worth the ride--I guess both getting there and the actual ride? I like mountains/passes and the road looks extremely scenic on the map. thanks


What I'd probably do is to take Hwy 22, then Hwy 6, down from my area, head through Glacier National Park, and then I see that Hwy 2 would take me into Idaho, then north to Cranbrook, up to Invermere, through Vermilion Pass on Hwy 93 (rode that one twice last year) and home. Or something like that. .[/QUOTE]


This looks like a fun route, especially if you know people along the way.

Hey Machka--Is it worth the ride--I guess both getting there and the actual ride? I like mountains/passes and the road looks extremely scenic on the map. thanks


This looks like a fun route, especially if you know people along the way.


I've only done bits of the Canadian side of things, but based on that, I would have to say .... YES DEFINITELY!!


Here's my photo album of the Golden Triangle tour I did last summer ... that one started at Castle Junction (where the Icefield road meets the Vermilion Pass road) goes down to Radium Hotsprings, over to Golden, and back to Castle Junction.

All the photos labeled "GT" are from that tour:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/1a1b&.src=ph

There's a whole galary of shots taken by the tour photographer for that tour here:
http://www.elbowvalleycc.org/Photoalbums/GT05/pages/default.htm


The week after that tour I did a 400K brevet starting in Calgary, going out to Vermilion Pass and back. These are photos from that ride (the ones labeled "2005 Vermilion400K", near the bottom). On that same album, there are also a couple photos labeled "ElbowFalls200K", and those were taken in the Bragg Creek area, in southwestern Alberta:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/a7af&.src=ph


In 2002, I rode the Rocky Mountain 1200 which goes from Kamloops up to Jasper, down the Icefield Parkway to Lake Louise, then over to Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Vernon, and back to Kamloops. These are my photos from that adventure:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/2bbb&.src=ph

And the BC Randonneur's photos (and stories) of several Rocky Mountain 1200 adventures:
http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/rocky/rm_stories.html

I am from St Louis. I am thinking about taking a week or so off this summer to take a little bike trip. Where should I go? I have seen just about everything in Missouri, and I can see that there isn't much in Illinois (HAHA).

Should I:

A) Fly somewhere and ride home
B) Fly somewhere and ride a loop from the airport
C) Drive somewhere and ride from there (can't be too far, I would rather be riding than driving)
D) Suck it up and ride from home and see everything again.

Terrain is unimportant, but hills are nice.

Help a brother out with some ideas!!
Why do you even have to ask? This is your life, your passion, do what YOU want to do. Yes, all of us on this forum will have our favourite tours or favourite dreams, but the real question is what is YOURS?

I am from St Louis. I am thinking about taking a week or so off this summer to take a little bike trip. Where should I go? I have seen just about everything in Missouri, and I can see that there isn't much in Illinois (HAHA).

Should I:

A) Fly somewhere and ride home
B) Fly somewhere and ride a loop from the airport
C) Drive somewhere and ride from there (can't be too far, I would rather be riding than driving)
D) Suck it up and ride from home and see everything again.

Terrain is unimportant, but hills are nice.

Help a brother out with some ideas!!

Have you seen everything in Missouri from a bike saddle? Things are different at 15 mph.

If you've seen it all from your bike, then put the bike on your car, drive for a day, and do a week long loop. In a day, you can easily get 700+ miles away, so you should have plenty of new possibilities within that radius.

If you fly, you can pretty much guarantee about a full day lost, though you can go further if desired.

I've only done bits of the Canadian side of things, but based on that, I would have to say .... YES DEFINITELY!!


Here's my photo album of the Golden Triangle tour I did last summer ... that one started at Castle Junction (where the Icefield road meets the Vermilion Pass road) goes down to Radium Hotsprings, over to Golden, and back to Castle Junction.

All the photos labeled "GT" are from that tour:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/1a1b&.src=ph

There's a whole galary of shots taken by the tour photographer for that tour here:
http://www.elbowvalleycc.org/Photoalbums/GT05/pages/default.htm


The week after that tour I did a 400K brevet starting in Calgary, going out to Vermilion Pass and back. These are photos from that ride (the ones labeled "2005 Vermilion400K", near the bottom). On that same album, there are also a couple photos labeled "ElbowFalls200K", and those were taken in the Bragg Creek area, in southwestern Alberta:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/a7af&.src=ph


In 2002, I rode the Rocky Mountain 1200 which goes from Kamloops up to Jasper, down the Icefield Parkway to Lake Louise, then over to Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Vernon, and back to Kamloops. These are my photos from that adventure:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/album?.dir=/2bbb&.src=ph

And the BC Randonneur's photos (and stories) of several Rocky Mountain 1200 adventures:
http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/rocky/rm_stories.html

sorry for the threadjack folks. Machka--when is the earliest start time up there. Late May-early June? Thanks for the links! It looks like great touring up there.

St.Louis here as well. Man, you should look at North Central/Northwest Arkansas. You're wanting to ride, yes? Not interested in the locals other than to eat and sleep, right. Those Ozark mountians are pretty incredible. Check out some of the state parks. You climb 2-4 miles and it's the hardest climbing you'll do. Rockies, you climb long but at a sustainable grade. Ozarks make the strongest men and women whimper for mercy. Plus, the landscape is pretty damn scenic. It's in your back yard and it's close enough to give you plenty of ride time. I've been to the Rockies, the Smokey's. While those may be more vista awesome, if you're wanting to do some worthwhile time on the bike, just skip over the border to the South. Plus, no need to aclimate to the altitude. Save the epics for when you've got a couple of weeks to really soak them up.

sorry for the threadjack folks. Machka--when is the earliest start time up there. Late May-early June? Thanks for the links! It looks like great touring up there.


The campgrounds open the weekend before the May long weekend ... so about mid-May. However, that's no guarantee there won't be snow!! :D

The Golden Triangle tour is on the May long weekend (May 21st or so), and we had snow the first day on that tour. Fortunately it didn't snow for very long, and didn't stick, but those who opted to leave their tights and full-fingered gloves in their luggage in the luggage van regretted it!!

I would suggest going after the May long weekend, perhaps sometime in June, because everything will be open, but the kids aren't out of school yet, so things aren't quite as busy as they can get in July and August.

Why not try a 7 day tour that covers everything. Georgia for example. You can go from mountains, to hills, to flats, to the ocean. You're get a taste of all different scenery doing it that way and even different cultures.

Cheers,
http://biketour.ne1.net

Howdy -

Here's what I hear - -

a. 1 week
b. Something different than MO/ILL
c. Limited travel time

So I'm thinking non-stop flight - not too far - - Denver??
Then take the shuttle to Fort Collins - nice college town with bike shops.

From Fort Collins west you can do a gradual climb up to Cameron Pass - plus the traffic is not nearly as bad as in Estes Park. North Park - the region just over the pass - is incredible biking country - cool in the summer - with a 360 panorama of mountains. You can either head north into Wyoming and over the Medicine Bow Mtns and back to Cheyenne (Don't use US 287 between Laramie and Fort Collins) or go south towards Breckinridge, Leadville, and Vail. From either endpoint you can catch a shuttle back to DIA.

American, United, and Frontier all offer non-stops between STL and DIA. It's pricey to fly your bike. Plus you have the issue of space on the shuttle - you'd need to call them for an O.K. Another option is to UPS your bike to a bike shop in Fort Collins and then UPS it from wherever you end up.

There are a number of options in northern Colo/southern Wyo that would allow you to see new places, have cooler temps in the middle of the summer, and get there pretty quickly. Not sure if you'll be camping or moteling it - or how much touring experience you have. Even in the Rockies, there are easier and there are tougher routes.

If you are interested, I'd be glad to offer any experience I have. E-mail me.

Best - J

I'm with jamawani, except I would drive. Drive or fly you will lose a day on each end. Drive to Pueblo Colorado, park at Pueblo Lake State Park and do a loop tour from there. A very inexpensive trip, and none of the hassle of flying with a bike. 7 days? Come on, you really have 9 days, Sat-following Sun.
Get up early on Saturday morning and your there by dinner, on the road the next morning. Tour Sunday - Friday (6 days), Drive home Saturday and you have a day to recover before the daily grind begins once again.

This is my plan for a tour this year, though, I will be doing a Great Lakes Loop.

Hope this helps.

Until recently, all of my big tours have lasted at least two weeks, but last summer I did a week-long tour for the first time. I wanted to minimize the amount of time travelling to and fro, so I planned to hang out in my part of the world. I knew that getting out of the city would be extremely unpleasant by bike, so I opted to use a commuter train as a springboard.

On the first morning, I rode 15 minutes to the train station, waited ten minutes for a train, and took the 15 minute ride to get out of the city. Less than 45 minutes after leaving home, I was en route!

I travelled for six days, and then took a five-hour bus ride home. From the bus terminal, I rode 30 minutes to my home.

Total "travel" time for a seven-day trip: less than seven hours.

I am from St Louis. I am thinking about taking a week or so off this summer to take a little bike trip. Where should I go? I have seen just about everything in Missouri, and I can see that there isn't much in Illinois (HAHA).

Should I:

A) Fly somewhere and ride home
B) Fly somewhere and ride a loop from the airport
C) Drive somewhere and ride from there (can't be too far, I would rather be riding than driving)
D) Suck it up and ride from home and see everything again.

Terrain is unimportant, but hills are nice.

Help a brother out with some ideas!!

There is another option, which is what I usually do, which is to fly in to one city, and fly back from a different city.

America's Best and Top Ten has a nice state by state tour list:
State by state cycling tours (http://www.americasbestonline.net/cyclingstate.html)
Top Ten list for Cycling Tours (http://www.americasbestonline.net/cycling.html)

How about something around the great lakes or the lakes in Northern MN or the badlands in South Dakota/N. Dakota. All of those should be a possible drive from St. Louis.

There are plenty of places I would like to see. There are sufficient funds to do whatever. However, in order to keep said funds coming in, I can only be gone for a about 7 days, including any travel time to and from. So I am kind of limited.

I am sure I am not the only person with this problem. So I was wondering how others have dealt with it. Any suggestions, ideas would be welcomed.

Flying somewhere with a bicycle is a hassle. And it's expensive. What I have done with my past two tours is to take a one-way car rental. It's expensive, about $90 per day, and it can be a bit of a hassle but it works. National Car Rental is better than just about anybody for one-ways, by the way.

You start your trip on a Friday night (pick up the car Friday afternoon). Be at your destination by Saturday morning. I, personally can drive around 1200 miles in a day, but I kind of stupid that way. 600 or 700 miles away is more reasonable. Then you either ride back home or you ride to another destination and pick up a car and drive home, arriving back home on the Sunday before you have to go back to work.

Or you could arrange to rent a car for a week, drive it to another city and arrange to leave it at another rental branch. Ride a loop (5 to 6 days so you can't go too far, around 500 miles tops unless you are an animal like Machka ;) ), pick up the car and drive home.

Destinations: Black Hills.
Yellowstone (Start in Jackson Hole, go over Teton Pass to West Yellowstone, then go clockwise around the park and out the south entrance.) in September which is the best time.

Colorado. Start in Denver go to Estes Park and over Trail Ridge Road to Granby. Granby to Kremmling then to Dillion. Over Loveland Pass and back to Denver.

East: Lake Erie. West Virginia. Along the C&O Canal. Vermont in the fall.

Upper Peninsula.

Wisconsin Rail Trails.

The list is endless.

Now we are talking. Thanks for all the ideas. Keep them coming. I am liking the rental car idea. I hadn't thought of that. Drive out 600-700 miles and ride back. Great idea.

From what I am hearing flying is a big hassle, unless maybe I can ship my bike to someone I know in the region I am heading. Which is a possibility as well, although an inconvenience for a friend.

Thanks for everyone's ideas.

Now we are talking. Thanks for all the ideas. Keep them coming. I am liking the rental car idea. I hadn't thought of that. Drive out 600-700 miles and ride back. Great idea.

From what I am hearing flying is a big hassle, unless maybe I can ship my bike to someone I know in the region I am heading. Which is a possibility as well, although an inconvenience for a friend.

Thanks for everyone's ideas.


The one-way rental car is a great idea Cyco--thanks

One-way rentals usually have a hefty drop-off charge - plus the only folks who do it tend to be at large airports. Most smaller agencies don't want to release their cars.

Another possibility is to drive to KC - park at Union Station - and take Amtrak to La Junta - overnight. You could leave after work - get to KC by 10:00 - park in the new deck - box your bike - and get to Colorado a lot more rested than after driving 800 miles. You could probably get a ticket for the cost of the gas alone - a sleeper for the cost of the rental & gas.

The reason I mention KC is that there is no baggage service between St Louis and KC - by driving to KC you catch the Southwest Chief directly. You could also take the train all the way to Santa Fe and ride back to La Junta rather than do a loop out of La Junta. If you southern Colo and northern New Mex sounds interesting - this is a relatively easy way to get there with a bike. However - Amtrak does often run late - - probably less likely westbound than eastbound. Of course, if YOU are late getting to the station 0 you can be sure the train will be on time.

Best - J

Now we are talking. Thanks for all the ideas. Keep them coming. I am liking the rental car idea. I hadn't thought of that. Drive out 600-700 miles and ride back. Great idea.

From what I am hearing flying is a big hassle, unless maybe I can ship my bike to someone I know in the region I am heading. Which is a possibility as well, although an inconvenience for a friend.

Thanks for everyone's ideas.


The hassle in shipping, or even putting the bike on a plane, is that you have to put the bike back together when you get there. That often takes some time and opens the door to error in reassembly.

I've used the rental car route twice now and it works like a dream. The first time I did it I used Budget but they have some funky rules about where you can pick up and drop off cars (a Corprate vs franchise problem) so I had to start my trip 500 miles further on then I wanted to. They also had a surcharge for taking the car across the Mississippi. I looked into ending my trip in Memphis and driving back to Denver but in the end didn't do that. The surcharge was around $50.

When I did a tour this summer, I used National. Since I had two people to deal with, I rented an SUV for more cargo space. It was only a little more expensive than a full size and it was much easier to load 2 bikes and gear in. We drove to Missoula, MT in the 24 hour period allowed for the one day rate, parked at the airport and rode away.

For the return from Portland, we use National again and again got an SUV (both were small ones, GMs I think). We drove from Portland to Denver in one day (I wouldn't suggest doing that :o ) and still got it back within the 24 hour time frame.

I also rented a car for a couple of extended rest breaks (I would have been riding but my whiny daughter just had to get off the bike :rolleyes: ) from Enterprise. Enterprise is nice because they come to pick you up and I didn't have to have reservations. It allowed us to roam further then if we were on our bikes so we got to see Mt. St. Helens and somemore of the Oregon and Washington coast, then we would have. Enterprise doesn't do one-ways however.

I'm going to continue to use this mode to get me to my destination on future trips because there is less hassle than dealing with the airlines or buses or trains. Travel times are longer, of course, than airlines but a lot shorter than the other two modes.

One-way rentals usually have a hefty drop-off charge - plus the only folks who do it tend to be at large airports. Most smaller agencies don't want to release their cars.

Another possibility is to drive to KC - park at Union Station - and take Amtrak to La Junta - overnight. You could leave after work - get to KC by 10:00 - park in the new deck - box your bike - and get to Colorado a lot more rested than after driving 800 miles. You could probably get a ticket for the cost of the gas alone - a sleeper for the cost of the rental & gas.

The reason I mention KC is that there is no baggage service between St Louis and KC - by driving to KC you catch the Southwest Chief directly. You could also take the train all the way to Santa Fe and ride back to La Junta rather than do a loop out of La Junta. If you southern Colo and northern New Mex sounds interesting - this is a relatively easy way to get there with a bike. However - Amtrak does often run late - - probably less likely westbound than eastbound. Of course, if YOU are late getting to the station 0 you can be sure the train will be on time.

Best - J

Depends on the rental company. Check around. There are lots of little airports that have rental companies attached and that opens up a lot of territory. For example, you could rent a car from National, one-way it to Colorado Springs airport, and ride from there. Travel time to Colorado Springs by car from St. Louis is probably less then rail. Cost for a one-way car from National is $116 for a full size (one day rental) or $154 for an SUV.

Plus you don't have to box your bike or reassemble it other than putting the wheels back on. Then there is the luggage. On a train (or plane) you have to deal with 4 bags, sleeping bag, tent and sleeping pad. That's a lot of stuff to keep track of and move around. I love the idea of rail travel but it is more of a hassle than car travel.

Denver is about ~12 hours from St Louis by car.

I think the best way would be just to quit my job and leave. Sounds easy enough, right?

If you are willing to pick up a rental car at a suburban office and drop it off at an airport, you may find there is more wiggle room when planning one-way trips. My local car rental joint is happy when I drop off a car at the airport because it saves them the trouble of transporting cars back to the airport, where most of them live.