Touring - Orange County, Ca to Omaha, NE?

Can any of you help out with route information for a self-sustained, solo six-week tour from Orange County, Ca to Omaha, NE which will start in a few weeks (about the first week of June). A first-time ride that should not be overly demanding with climbing, but also have good camping and scenic routes. Would CA desert- AZ canyons- CO- KS- NE be a reasonable route? Winds and Monsoon rains a worry? whatever seasoned advice you all can give is deeply appreciated. Tom

If you have time and haven't been there, go up near I-90 and go through the Black Hills. See Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. I've been through there a couple times and it's really scenic. Might check the elevations though. I remember the Badlands being fairly flat, but the Black Hills, (duh) and Mt. Rushmore will have some climbing. But your legs ought to be prime by then.:)

Wow, that is going to be one heck of a trip....When I moved to Fresno from Omaha, I decided that I would NEVER make that drive again. If for some reason I had to move back home I was going to sell every thing I own and fly back (flying, that's travel as god intended :lol:!!)...I can't even imagine biking that trip, then again I am still VERY much a newbe. Good for you!!

Well, I can't help you with getting to Nebraska, but if you hit the southern part of the State, Highway 6 & 34 is a nice route. Good shoulders for the most part, a lot of flatland, with a nice mix of rolling hills to keep it interesting. And, who knows, if you find your way down here, you might actually have some company for part of your ride! :D
Good luck, sounds like an awesome ride!

DeLorme has some of the best maps and atlas's available.

A suggestion that I have will not cost very much money, if any at all is you may want to start at your local library to see what they have to offer in the way of the DeLorme maps and atlas's.

Or if you feel so inclined or your library does not have what you need you can purchase the maps and atlas's. And DeLorme even has software available too.

Whether you find what you need at your library or you purchase it yourself. DeLorme is one fo the best to use.

I have a DeLorme map and atlas book of South Dakota. I'm using it to plan a trip along the Lewis and Clark route. I plan to ride part of by bike this summer.

Here is some advice I received from a veteran: " I can give you a very solid good piece of route advice: avoid the
Navajo Nation. I tend to avoid all Native American land now. This
means the entire northeast quadrant of Arizona. The natural scenery is
beautiful, but the human impact is not very nice. I called the highway
through the Navajo land the "Trail of Beers". The road was literally
lined with smashed bottles for hundreds of kms.
Route tip number two is more general: go buy yourself DeLorme State
Atlases. They seem big and heavy, but they're worth it. Cut them up if
you like and leave the parts you won't use at home. A 1:200,000 scale
map is well worth the money toward making a great trip. It keeps you
off of main roads (most important to enjoyment and safety) and it
helps you avoid hills when you want to avoid them and plan for them
when you need to.
Route tip number three: with your 1:200'000 DeLorme maps, always do
your best to aim for green. Yup, look at the map and go for green
areas. These are forests. Forests almost always make good bike touring
spots unless they're logging roads and your squeamish about climbing.
I love logging roads. "
I just ordered the maps online for the trip planning. I'll be checking the favored sights and routes in NM since it seems I should stay further south before heading north. The Northern route is definitely attractive (Rushmore, etc.) but just too far for me. Tom