Touring - Cross Country E-W, looking for routes

My boyfriend and I are planning a cross-country trip, beginning the first week of September (hopefully!!). We'll be starting in Lancaster County, PA., and are thinking about heading south and taking a southern route (maybe, at least in part, the southern tier route from adventurecycling.org) to avoid too-cold weather as fall sits in. Does anyone out there have any favorite routes or ideas about areas we just can't miss? I'm from Tucson, AZ, so we're planning on going through Tucson on our way to California. Aside from Tucson (and Lubbock, TX, home of my aging grandparents) we don't have any specific spots in mind, so any ideas about travelling from PA to TX would be much appreciated!

(PS. I know people talk about winds, etc., making an E-W trip undesireable... but, well, our bikes our on this side of the country!!)

My boyfriend and I are planning a cross-country trip, beginning the first week of September (hopefully!!). We'll be starting in Lancaster County, PA., and are thinking about heading south and taking a southern route (maybe, at least in part, the southern tier route from adventurecycling.org) to avoid too-cold weather as fall sits in. Does anyone out there have any favorite routes or ideas about areas we just can't miss? I'm from Tucson, AZ, so we're planning on going through Tucson on our way to California. Aside from Tucson (and Lubbock, TX, home of my aging grandparents) we don't have any specific spots in mind, so any ideas about travelling from PA to TX would be much appreciated!

(PS. I know people talk about winds, etc., making an E-W trip undesireable... but, well, our bikes our on this side of the country!!)

I can't give you any input on a southern route, but as an east to west rider myself I can tell you there isn't any truth about the winds being worse in one direction or the other - on the ground at least! On my east to west ride I probably had only 3 or 4 days of absolute headwinds, and I met a west to east rider along the way who had the same experience in the other direction.

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www.denisegoldberg.com (http://www.denisegoldberg.com)

Hi,

Adventure Cycling publishes bike touring maps of several cross country routes, there on the web.

You may want to head south to connect with the Trans America trail out of Virginia and jump off in Kentucky and head for Nashville, Tn. From there the Natchez Trace Parkway(starts just south of Nashville and will take you all the way to Natchez , Miss. then you could pick up Adventure cycling Southern route into Arizona(it goes north of Tuscon) but you just hook a left when you need to.

Natchez Trace Parkway is national Park road and top speed for autos is 30 mph so is ideal in fall for cycling, they have campsites and services listed, go to web site (Google) Natchez Trace Parkway. You can print out maps and camping info.

The route from Lancaster County to where TransAm trail picks up I dont know except there will be hills involved.

Anyway two good sources for ya, good luck and tailwinds.


oh!, If your a jet at 20-30,000 feet then going against the jet-stream from E to W is a fuel burner; but we slugs on the ground have to deal with local wind currents that are more dependent on local weather. East, West, North, South, EeeH1 If god decides you get headwinds today, maybe he give you a break tomorrow!

mj
aka Chief Twonuneez

After riding both east to west and west to east I believe i hit as many head winds both directions It is worse when I was going West to East since I was thinking tail wind all the way .... MJ gives a good suggestion about Adventure cycling maps they show a lot of good info i use them to get an idea of what I can expect to see and find in the way of support each day/ groceries water/ towns /camp site ideas etc. I notice the maps only cover a few miles each side of the route though I always pick up a free state mape in each state as I enter aI stop at the visitor center. Other wise it is possible to miss somehting not ont he AC map

have a great trip
catfish



My boyfriend and I are planning a cross-country trip, beginning the first week of September (hopefully!!). We'll be starting in Lancaster County, PA., and are thinking about heading south and taking a southern route (maybe, at least in part, the southern tier route from adventurecycling.org) to avoid too-cold weather as fall sits in. Does anyone out there have any favorite routes or ideas about areas we just can't miss? I'm from Tucson, AZ, so we're planning on going through Tucson on our way to California. Aside from Tucson (and Lubbock, TX, home of my aging grandparents) we don't have any specific spots in mind, so any ideas about travelling from PA to TX would be much appreciated!

(PS. I know people talk about winds, etc., making an E-W trip undesireable... but, well, our bikes our on this side of the country!!)

Hi,
( a personal perspective)

I dont use Adventure cycling maps as the only source either, in fact, I dont use em much at all. They're guidlines and , for me, good to a point, but I dont like some of the routes they do. (THe southern route from e-w takes you into New Mexico mtns and mtns in Az into Superior and Phoenix, and I dont like the route near Superior, dont think it's very bike safe)(rest of it is fine). Jumped out of the mtns and headed for Lordsburg near the border. AC maps have their usuful stuff and help in planning your trip. It's not the bible. state bike maps and tourist bureaus can be most helpful. AC maps routes are good routes for someone crossing the country for first time by bike, takes some of the surprises away. Ulitmately you will decide your own route.

happy trails.

mj offers some good advice about the AC routes to Ky. then down to Nashville connecting to the nt parkway.As another idea you may consider working the skyline drive/blue ridge parkway(BRP) into your route as that offers a scenic cycle friendly route heading the direction you are planning on going as well.
Ideas might be take some of the remote amish Pa. roads over to Front Royal Va. where you pick up the start of the skyline drive then taking it to Afton Va. where you pick up mj's route(Ac transcont. route crosses the intersection of the skyline drive and BRP at Afton) from there or continue down the parkway to the Great Smoky Mtn. Natl.Park where you cross from there to Nashville picking up the Trace.Or one other alternative take the AC routes down to Afton then pick up the BRP to GSMNP to N'ville etc.Just some ideas but if you were consider one of these routes here is a link to a journal of someone who rode from N'ville to GSMNP as part of a CC ride giving the route he took for that part http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/?opts=300&doc_id=178&mtime=20030605164329

As to the winds as hot as it is here in Fl I don't mind a breeze no matter which way it is blowing.And I've gotten some pretty strong headwinds lately preceeding afternoon thunderstorms which I also don't mind as they cool things down.So if your riding into a breeze on your southerly route just slow down and enjoy the scenery rather than fighting it and think how much hotter it would be otherwise.

i rode across the south e-w a couple of years ago. it was excellent. starting in savannah, we road to LA. the trip was organized by overland adventures, so you might want to contact them for help.
but basically we went across Georgia from savannah, across alabama through montgomery, across mississipi, across arkansas, up into okie, down to nm(cross the rockies at taos), across arizona by the grand canyon, and up through southwest california, we crossed the mojave in one 120 miler around needles.

apparently texas is not bike friendly (lots of death). kansas will kill you with boredom and wind. the rolling hills in arkansas are a beautiful natural roller coaster, but watch out for dogs.

while in the south, take advantage of southern hospitality. many churches put us up on our way through and would probably enjoy doing the same for you.