Fifty Plus (50+) - A Long, LONG Ride!

My route on my cross country ride this summer will be from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh via the PA S route, across southern Ohio, to West Laffayete, IN, through IL, MO, KS, CO, AZ, and CA, arriving in Orange County, CA. Anyone care to ride with me partway? Or host a fat, sweaty cyclist for dinner and a night? Be sure to look for me on the road:

http://lh3.google.com/neil.thehistorian/R1QV-3_nG1I/AAAAAAAAAbc/F34THHmWjuQ/s400/Pedalwest%20Destiny%20logo.jpg

Good luck Mr. Historian. It will change your life, and you will come to understand what a great country, and what great people live here. Don't get discouraged when the bad days arrive because there will be many more good ones. Each day will be an adventure. It will probably take about a week to get acclimated, but then the days will fly by. Have fun, don't hurry, mingle with the folks and enjoy America!

I'm planning on riding to the Indiana border with you:) Of course that's only 29 miles from my house.

Dinner and a place to sleep are yours....I'll lock the psycho cat in her bedroom.

Good luck Mr. Historian. It will change your life, and you will come to understand what a great country, and what great people live here. Don't get discouraged when the bad days arrive because there will be many more good ones. Each day will be an adventure. It will probably take about a week to get acclimated, but then the days will fly by. Have fun, don't hurry, mingle with the folks and enjoy America!

Excellent post, OHB.

Mr. Historian, we can probably get a bunch of southern California BFers to join you near the end of your journey -- keep us posted. I was privileged to join the two Red Across America guys for the last 20 miles of their cross-country ride to raise money for the Red Cross after 9/11/2001.

Dinner and a place to sleep are yours...

If I thought that I could get an invitation to spend the night with a woman by riding across country, I woulda done it years ago!

Since you've declined to push through Arkansas, I'll have to pass on the dinner. But good luck to you.

Have a great trip. I'm looking forward to reading about it and seeing pictures. Sorry I can't join you.

If anyone is planning a similar expedition through the Southeast, it would be fun to join you for part of the ride through Georgia.

If I thought that I could get an invitation to spend the night with a woman by riding across country, I woulda done it years ago!

My family room floor or enclosed patio is always open to cyclist:)

I presume you have the route planned through Spokane or somewhere close by? I will take a day off to ride with you, either meeting or departing, you may choose which.

I presume you have the route planned through Spokane or somewhere close by? I will take a day off to ride with you, either meeting or departing, you may choose which.

Here's the route:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm?pg=detail&s=9

Excellent post, OHB.

Mr. Historian, we can probably get a bunch of southern California BFers to join you near the end of your journey -- keep us posted. I was privileged to join the two Red Across America guys for the last 20 miles of their cross-country ride to raise money for the Red Cross after 9/11/2001.

I'd very much like to have people ride with me. I guess this should be co-ordinated with Bike Forums' "The Driver", my host in Orange County.

If you're doing this ride east to west, and you're leaving in June, doesn't that take you through some awfully hot areas in the middle of summer? I know AZ is up over 100 much of the summer. That's where I got heat stroke without ever seeing it coming. Be careful...

If I thought that I could get an invitation to spend the night with a woman by riding across country, I woulda done it years ago!

Sometimes a force we don't understand draws us to touring:

http://lh6.google.com/neil.thehistorian/R1TkFn_nG3I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/oykcT31K6JU/s800/night.jpg

I see that you have chosen to put Wyoming on your blogspot pic! Cool. On average you will probably be dealing with cross or head wind through most of the state. Your route from the Colorado border to Rawlins is very familiar to me. Lots of big rollers on the first half. The ride from Riverside to Saratoga is great. Scenic and mostly down hill. The bad thing about Saratoga to Rawlins is that you will have to be on interstate 80 for about 20 miles. I-80 averages about 6500 tractor trailers a day and that stretch, while pretty flat, can be a bit windy (cross head wind likely) so the darned trucks blow you around. A bit of advice for riding the stretch between Rawlins and Lander. Be prepared to ride through some very desolate terrain. You will not see more than about 10 trees along the road in the entire 125 miles. The first section is on Hwy 287 and tends to get a lot of truck traffic, but has a pretty good shoulder. In addition it can get hot and windy on those 125 miles. The good news is that the wind tends to hold off till mid morning and goes down early evening. Lander to Dubois will be most likely be in the 90's at mid day with no humidity and (again) cross to head winds. The good news is that the scenery is nice and not much traffic. Dubois to Yellowstone is great scenery, but you will have to climb over Togwotee Pass and then back up to the Yellowstone Plateau. Be prepared for cold nights in Yellowstone and lots of traffic near major attractions like Old Faithful. If you have any questions about Wyoming let me know and if I don't have an answer I will find one for you.

I see that you have chosen to put Wyoming on your blogspot pic! Cool. On average you will probably be dealing with cross or head wind through most of the state. Your route from the Colorado border to Rawlins is very familiar to me. Lots of big rollers on the first half. The ride from Riverside to Saratoga is great. Scenic and mostly down hill. The bad thing about Saratoga to Rawlins is that you will have to be on interstate 80 for about 20 miles. I-80 averages about 6500 tractor trailers a day and that stretch, while pretty flat, can be a bit windy (cross head wind likely) so the darned trucks blow you around. A bit of advice for riding the stretch between Rawlins and Lander. Be prepared to ride through some very desolate terrain. You will not see more than about 10 trees along the road in the entire 125 miles. The first section is on Hwy 287 and tends to get a lot of truck traffic, but has a pretty good shoulder. In addition it can get hot and windy on those 125 miles. The good news is that the wind tends to hold off till mid morning and goes down early evening. Lander to Dubois will be most likely be in the 90's at mid day with no humidity and (again) cross to head winds. The good news is that the scenery is nice and not much traffic. Dubois to Yellowstone is great scenery, but you will have to climb over Togwotee Pass and then back up to the Yellowstone Plateau. Be prepared for cold nights in Yellowstone and lots of traffic near major attractions like Old Faithful. If you have any questions about Wyoming let me know and if I don't have an answer I will find one for you.

Thanks. I love the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" parody. I understand others are on the way.

I'll contact you with any questions I may have. Thanks again.

By the way, I was thinking about your route and remembered that Togwotee Pass is having some major reconstruction. It appears that you may not be able to ride over it. Here is a link to the a page describing the construction http://www.gotogwoteetrail.com/index.php?fuseaction=p0007.&mod=17&PHPSESSID=a8c8c941745fdc92e61b8e4d25504c17

I see that you have chosen to put Wyoming on your blogspot pic! Cool. On average you will probably be dealing with cross or head wind through most of the state.

Given the wind factor, is it easier to ride cross-country from West to East?

Here's the route:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm?pg=detail&s=9

They are taking you over a good bit of the roughest (i.e. hilliest) part of the state on some narrow roads that have too much logging and dump truck traffic for me to recommend. Were I you, I would consider not going as far North in Illinois as they route you. Instead, cross the Mississippi at Cairo, head straight across the Southern part of the state on Highway 60 to Springfield, and then get back on their route. Highway 60 is not interstate but the vast majority of it is 4 lane with wide shoulders and it is in reasonably good shape. There are plenty of places to stay or camp along 60, and it is reasonably well blessed with C-stores. And it is very pretty. Either way, you will be close enough to me that we will meet and you can get a chance to spend the night in a house instead of a tent or a motel and have a home cooked meal. Like I said, I'll ride a day with you too, on either the inbound or outbound, your choice. Which you can make when you get a whole lot closer.

Given the wind factor, is it easier to ride cross-country from West to East?

Not according to Neil's route source. This from their FAQ page:


If I go from west to east, will the jet stream blow me the whole way across the country?

Actually no. The jet stream does indeed blow from west to east, but it is generally at an altitude of 30,000 feet. The wind patterns on the ground are affected by a number of factors and can cause the wind to blow from any and every direction. The majority of cross-country riders we talk to seem to have an equal number of headwind and tailwind days, with crosswinds being more prevalent. However, there is one of our routes where the wind seems to be consistent. During the summer months on our Pacific Coast Route, the winds are predominantly out of the north. So riding from north to south is advisable.

Here's the route:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm?pg=detail&s=9

That the TransAm route that ends in Oregon...how are you planning on getting to Orange County?

Given the wind factor, is it easier to ride cross-country from West to East?

I thought the ride across Ohio last summer would be blessed with tailwinds since we were riding west to east but it wasn't to be:( We had some really nice headwinds out of the east most of the week.

That the TransAm route that ends in Oregon...how are you planning on getting to Orange County?
Good question.

Around here, the wind is usually out of the west of some fashion ... due west, southwest, or northwest. Not always, but more often than not.

I rode west to east earlier this year expecting a majority of tail winds. WRONG! 85% east to west, but headwinds only make you stronger and that's a good thing.

Good question.

I still have seven months to find an answer. :-)

I still have seven months to find an answer. :-)

Instead of swinging up north in Colorado, you could follow US 50 across. It goes all the way to the California coast, where you could catch Hwy 1 southbound.

Or, you could save some time by dropping south through Las Vegas or Bakersfield, but that would likely be bloody hot that time of year.

If you need some ideas for your route, please contact me also. With my 14 crossings of the USA, I can surely help you. Maybe, I'll bump into you next year. While still finishing up this year's tour, I'm making plans for next year's ride already that will start out from Americus, GA sometime in March. I'll keep your website bookmarked and will also put a hyperlink to it on my website. I've got a special page for cycling websites like yours. Have you thought about adding a guestbook? I went to your website last night and I couldn't find one.

I don't think blogspot has a guestbook. You can leave comments on posts, of course.

Thanks, I'll be in contact shortly. So much to do these days.

Fairplay is WIDE OPEN spaces, called "South Park." Then you will have Hoosier Pass into Breck.

Breckenridge is over 10,000 feet. It will be cold at night. ALL of Summit County (Breck, Dillon) is FILLED with bikers in the summer.

From Dillon to Kremmling is a heavily traveled road along the Blue River with few shoulders. There have been bikers killed there, so be careful.

The ride from Kremmling up to Walden should be very nice. It is quite pretty.


Looks like fun.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/images/transamerica_6.gif

Fairplay is WIDE OPEN spaces, called "South Park." Then you will have Hoosier Pass into Breck.

Breckenridge is over 10,000 feet. It will be cold at night. ALL of Summit County (Breck, Dillon) is FILLED with bikers in the summer.

From Dillon to Kremmling is a heavily traveled road along the Blue River with few shoulders. There have been bikers killed there, so be careful.

The ride from Kremmling up to Walden should be very nice. It is quite pretty.


Looks like fun.


Not to quibble too much, but this guy is a "biker":
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/wheellife/media/PaulSr_europe6_.jpg

and this guy is a "cyclist":
http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/riders/pics/Armstrong_L5.jpg

Not to quibble too much, but this guy is a "biker":
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/wheellife/media/PaulSr_europe6_.jpg

and this guy is a "cyclist":
http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/riders/pics/Armstrong_L5.jpg

And your point?

And your point?

Just trying to clarify whether you were saying Summit County is filled with guys on Harleys, or guys on Treks.

If the former, I'd probably avoid cycling there. As a cyclist, I much prefer to hang out with guys on Treks, Colnagos, Cervelos, etc.


That, and I'm on a personal quest to suppress the use of the word "biker" when referring to folks who ride bicycles.

"Biker" is a harsh sounding word, and ambiguous with respect to its meaning. When I hear it, I think of fat guys on loud chrome-laden gas-burning motorcycles.

"Cyclist" is unambiguous, and sounds much more civilized ("Civilized cyclist" even has some nice alliteration going for it).

Just trying to clarify whether you were saying Summit County is filled with guys on Harleys, or guys on Treks.

If the former, I'd probably avoid cycling there. As a cyclist, I much prefer to hang out with guys on Treks, Colnagos, Cervelos, etc.


That, and I'm on a personal quest to suppress the use of the word "biker" when referring to folks who ride bicycles.

"Biker" is a harsh sounding word, and ambiguous with respect to its meaning. When I hear it, I think of fat guys on loud chrome-laden gas-burning motorcycles.

"Cyclist" is unambiguous, and sounds much more civilized ("Civilized cyclist" even has some nice alliteration going for it).

Oh!

With my 14 crossings of the USA, I can surely help you.
:eek::eek::eek::eek:

emphasis added