netso

My wife and I would like to do this next year, what are the best tours? What bikes do we need? Time needed? We currently have Canny r4000si & Canny R2000si.

jcwitte

Here is a link to a number of different routes you could take.

https://www.adv-cycling.org/routes/network.cfm

Click on the route that interests you and it will have a summary that will give an idea of the best time to attempt that route and what you might expect along the way.

Mentor58

Adventure Cycling produces the most commonly used set of maps, you can also go to America By Bike and view the routes that they use.

Are you planning on doing a self-supported tour, ie camping out most nights, cooking your own meals, generally living off what you carry, or are you planning on doing what is usually called "credit-card touring" (I'm not really crazy about that name, but it's the one that's usually used), where you will be staying in motels, eating in resturants for most, if not all, meals. CCT generally lets you cover more miles per day, simply due to the fact that your not lugging as much gear around. That really helps determine what kind of bike would be best suited for the trip. People have done Long Distance Touring on everything from fixed geared bikes to Mountain Bikes to Recumbants. Most folks here would say that if your going to tour, a touring bike is the best bet. Generally speaking, think long wheelbase, relaxed angles, LOW gears, and stable as a rock. As for me, I ride a dedicated touring bike (C-dale T800 Silk Tour), and on an extended trip, will generally spend 5 days riding and camping, and then a day off with a motel room. I do like my occasional creature comforts.

America By Bike does fully supported tours (They haul all your stuff, set up rest areas, motel and resturant), they do the northern tier route in 50 days, the Adventure Cycling tour that is comperable is fully self supported (camping each nite, and tour members take turns cooking), takes 90 days. I'm just posting those so that you get a feel for the times you might need.

I recommend Crazy Guy On A Bike and read some of the travelogs posted there. Good tool to get an idea what other folks have done.

Hope this helps, there is a lot of experence in this forum, so don't hesitate to ask,

Steve W.
Who has been fighting flu all weekend

will dehne

I will be going across America on the southern route, April 23 to May 20.
This is a fully supported tour by America By Bicycle.
I added this to Mentor 58 information above so you are aware that there are faster tours available. I also know people who have done it on a Tandem in 11 days.
(I cannot do that)
My tour requires 100 to 150 miles/day. To be comfortable one is supposed to be able to do 100 miles in 6 to 6.5 hours. (I can do that)
Oh, by the way, the base cost is $5000/person not including lunches and getting to the location.
Perhaps this helps?

will dehne

I forgot.
My bike for that trip will be a Cannondale R2000 modified.
The crank gears will be 53/39
Cassette will be 11/32
Aero Bars.