raybo

My original plan was to ride across England in May. But, that trip was canceled and I now am looking for another place to ride in May/June. I don't want to ride in the desert and the mountains might still have snow.

I have in-laws in Lambertville, NJ (right on the ACA Atlantic Coast Route) and was wondering about starting in Lambertville and riding south to, say, Charleston South Carolina. I've only been south of northern Virginia once and like the idea of riding through that area. I would either rent a car and drive back to Lambertville (taking a different route then I rode) at the end of the tour or have my bike box shipped down to Charleston and fly back from there.

Some questions:

Is May/June a good time to bike in this area?

Has anyone done this ride and written a journal? (I couldn't find many at crazyguy).

How urban is the route?

Any other ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

joeyfrench

Hi, I did this route last year from SC to DC. My journal is here. I enjoyed the trip quite a bit, even though I was injured when I struck a dog. The route is really flat for most of the way, so that's helpful. I did my trip in April, and I found the weather to be pleasant. I could imagine that May/June would be busy in some places, especially if you take the Outer Banks alternate route (highly recommended).

Good luck, and enjoy the trip!

Joey French

raybo

How would you expect this "busyness" to show up?

Would the roads be more crowded and the campgrounds full?

I wonder if early to mid-May might avoid some/all of this crowding.

My concern is that starting up in New Jersey, the weather in April might be a bit iffy.

Ray

tomg

ray,
we went from s nj (through Lambertville) to portland, maine by an alternative to ACA route, though there was some overlap. we used the route Donna Lynn Ikenberry designed (goes through cape cod) entitled "Bicycling the Atlantic Coast, Florida to Maine" (isbn: 0898863031). friend rode up from S Carolina, we met, he went on to Nova Scotia then returned (same route) to charlotte, SC! if i had the time........... ACA route is more inland, ikenberry is more seaward.
have fun!
tomg

Nota

Hey, Joey,

I just read your blogs.

I did the whole BRP last year, too, just a couple weeks after you did it, only I went from north to south. I was originally planning on doing the BRP again this year, via south to north this time, but I recently got a wild hair up my butt, and am now thinking seriously about doing an "Outer Banks" tour, including all of both Carolina's coastlines, instead.

I'd like to start my tour sometime around the end of May this year, at the VA/NC border on the coast, and bike along the coastline, as much as possible at least, all the way down to Savannah, GA. I guess it would be aabout 600-700 miles, in six or seven days.


How did you get around Camp Lejune when you did your ACA tour? Apparently, they won't let you go through the base anymore, and going around it to the west looks like a: crappy, lengthy, non-bike friendly, detour, but going around it to the east, requires a boat.