Hello,
I'm planing to bike from Reno,NV to Albuquerque,NM in September and October next year. I'm thinking roughly Reno - Gran Canyon - Flagstaff - 4 Corners - Albuquerque. Maybe I'll follow the Western-Express-Route through Nevada. I really like to ride in solitude, so I'll avoid cities and large towns.
I'm German and I've never been to the US before, so I have some questions:
What do you think of the route in general? Is there something especially worth visiting on the way? Start is in Reno and finish in Albuquerque but I can make some detours.
What are the best maps? The more detail, the better.
I'll maybe bring a tent, but like better staying in B&Bs. How can I find B&Bs and Motels while planing?
What's the weather like in September and October in Nevada, Arizona, Utah and NM? Is it okay for cycling?
How dangerous is this? What are my chances of getting robbed if I ride alone?
Where is it legal to pitch a tent for one night and where isn't it?
First off, you might want to post this over in the touring forum as well. It gets more visitors and there might be some people in there who have ridden the Western Express Route.
I live in Reno, so I can help with the Reno part and the route through Nevada. There aren't many options, really. You can either head east on 50 and go through Ely or you can head south via 95 and go through Las Vegas. If you want to go to the Grand Canyon either one would work. There would be less traffic on 50 and it definitely fits your description of riding in solitude. There aren't that many towns on the way, so your lodging choices would be pretty limited. I'm not sure of any B&Bs on the way, but to search for hotels you can try expedia.com or hotels.com. To search for campgrounds take a look at http://www.recreation.gov/.
As for the weather, it should be very pretty good in September and October in Nevada. There will be a chance of rain, but most likely it will be sunny but not too hot. It will get cold at night, so be prepared for that. Expect wind, and even though you are going West to East there's no promise you'll always have a tailwind.
I think you'll find the best maps at adventurecycling.org and there are a lot of good stories at crazyguyonabike.com if you haven't checked that out already.
Hi, Philipp. I`m in Reno also and have to agree with pretty much everything that DXc said, especially about crossposting in touring and about reading the stories on Crazyguy from people who`ve cycled the route before- there are quite a few on that site. If you don`t know what we`re talking about, let me know and I`ll explain how to find those trip logs.
For the NV part of your trip, that time of year usually offers the best chances of perfect weather, but you do stand the possibility early cold or even snow- not many guarantees when it comes to weather. Going from W to E across the state, elevation gradually increases, so expect temps to probably drop a little bit accordingly. The area around Grand Canyon is at high elevation and will almost certainly be getting cold by October. Still doable, but you`ll need to be prepared for it.
It`s possible to stay at hotels in the small towns on highways 50, 95, or 93 if you have a good range, but they`re far apart and don`t leave many options if you want a short day for some reason. Being assalted is highly unlikely, even travelling alone. If I were to ride your trip, I`d carry a sleeping bag even if I didn`t plan on camping. Besides, camping in the western US is cheap easy- you won`t find many official campgrounds with payboxes, water, and toilets, but as long as you have everything you need, can stop almost anywhere along the road and enjoy yourself without worries. Camping is legal on any BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and most US Forrest Service land, though USFS camping rules vary by jurisdiction. No matter how you cross NV, most of your trip will be through BLM areas and I`d venture to guess that a large portion of your UT, AZ, and NM routes will be also. My knowledge of AZ and UT aren`t very good and I know very little about NM, so the only thing I can offer for sure about those areas is that you`ll spend a lot of time in the mountains, and the weather on your route will NOT be like it is in Phoenix. A lot of people seem to have misconceptions about desert weather, so I just want to make sure you understood that part. Please forgive me if I`m harping on something you already know . Touring subforum or Crazyguy will be able to give more specific advice than I can.
Do you have your Reno start under control? If you need airport or train pickup or a "base station" to stay at, I`d be happy to help.
Website for BLM, Nevada: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en.html
has somewhat vague maps of each region showing what land is under their control (free, no hassle camping) by color coding. Just click on any of the field office areas on the main map for a regional map, click again for the color key. Utah has a similar, but slightly more vague system, and I couldn`t find maps for AZ or for the New Mexico-Texas- Oklahoma (all together for some reason) areas. Maybe a phone call or email to them could turn up where the maps are hiding.
For regulations for US Forrest Service areas, unfortunately, you have to look up each individual national forrest. You`ll need to check road maps to see which NFs you`ll pass through. Whether you feel comfortable camping illegally or not is up to you, but I can tell you that I do occasionally camp in NF areas whrere I`m not supposed to camp. I make no effort to hide myself, though I no longer go through the trouble of making a fire, I generally set up camp about the time it`s getting dark anyway, and I rarely hang out longer than it takes me to eat breakfast and pack up in the mornings.
Random drivell and gibberish:
B&Bs aren`t common in NV or away from the heavilly touristed areas elsewhere in the west. Most small towns along highways will have some kind of motel (usually not very expensive) and a gas station with small convenience store. The motels might not show up on the internet, so you`ll just have to ask when you arrive. You won`t see many supermarkets except in bigger cities. A lot of your route will have stretches 100kms or more between services. From one town to the next, there are usually a few ranches or road maintenance stations in case you really have some kind of emergency. On any paved highways (even on the "loneliest road"), you`ll have at least occasional passing vehicles. Getting off pavement can lead to more serious desolation and isn`t advised unless you have a very good idea what you`re doing. Don`t trust the bicycle routing on Google Maps- they`ll have you needlessly pushing your bike through miles of sand traps or over rocky mountain roads far from civilization. Remember that not all place names on maps are current towns. That`s where Google comes back to save the day because now you can check out satelite images to get an idea whether a place is really a town or just a name. Grand Canyon is very nice, but getting from one side to the other by bicycle is known to be a pain. An aternative that might interest you would be to stay north of the canyon and go through the national parks in southern Utah, then cut south somewhere. Either way, you should have a nice trip. I`ve never cycled either of those routes, but a lot of people have- check Touring forum and crazyguyonabike.com! Warmshowers.org or Couchsurfing.org?net? could likely help you find other places to stay or even local help for route advice.
Last edited by rodar y rodar; 11-23-11 at 06:10 AM.
A lot of your route will have stretches 100kms or more between services.
You will need to carry a lot of water, some days you should be prepared to carry enough water for all day. Several of the "highway50" travelers have stopped here to rest (warmshowers) water is the big topic followed by "goatheads" or puncture vine, tough on tires.
R
Sounds like a great trip. I live in NM - I would say you'll probably be taking hwy 550 into ABQ from the northwest - it's not an overly mountainous route - alot of good rolling hills, and desolate for long stretches. One of the prettiest rides in NM is hwy 4 - it goes north from 550 about 40 miles NW of your final destination - if you are feeling up for a quick sidetrip at that point in your journey, go into Jemez Springs. Have fun!
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. Touring subforum or Crazyguy will be able to give more specific advice than I can.
