Neil_B

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:

Old Hammer Boy

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!

Beverly

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.

John E

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.

Big Paulie

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!

Artkansas 

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

BluesDawg

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.

Beverly

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

Terrierman

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.

Neil_B

Here's the route:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...?pg=detail&s=9

Neil_B

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.

solveg

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...

Neil_B

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

RockyMtnMerlin

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.

Neil_B

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.

RockyMtnMerlin

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 https://www.gotogwoteetrail.com/index...1b8e4d25504c17

Tom Bombadil

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

Terrierman

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.

Terrierman

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.

SSP

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

Beverly

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.

RockyMtnMerlin

Good question.

Tom Bombadil

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.

Old Hammer Boy

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.

Neil_B

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