mjoekingz28

Where do you ride when you plan a trip and how do you know which roads are bike friendly and/or legal to take your bike on.

I'm planning a trip west from Mississippi near I20 and for a while the only road west is I20 but it says a minimum speed of 40 is required and I never see bicyclists on it but alot of hitchikers out there on it.


Where do you pitch your tent when there are no state parks nearby? I've done some trip planning and some of the parks are a days trip off the main road which pretty much makes it useless.

Are there hydration bladders bigger than 2L. I was looking for at least a gallon, maybe two, but all I see at WalMart is 2L. They do have a really nice Coleman backpack with a 2L bladder inside it for $40. My plan was to keep water in the bladder and Gatorade in the water bottle.

markf

Most states east of the Mississippi do not allow bicycles on Interstates. A few western states allow cycling on rural Interstates, but I wouldn't do it unless absolutely necessary.

Get a more detailed map (DeLorme's Atlas & Gazetteer, www.delorme.com ) and look for dirt roads if you have to. Much more pleasant than major highways.

Pscyclepath

Nineteen states allow bicyclists to ride on the shoulders of the interstate highways. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana aren't any of them.

5 states explicitly permit bicycles on the shoulders of all parts of interstate highways: Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Another 9 states permit bicycles on the shoulder of selected portions of the Interstate highway system: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.


Oklahoma, Texas, and the District of Columbia have no official policy, but unofficially discourage riding bikes on interstates. In Texas, bicycles are tolerated on interstates outside of city limits, but cyclists are prohibited on interstates inside cities.


34 states prohibit bicycles from all interstate highways: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

As for camping outside of state parks and national forests, ask around. Most landowners will allow you a little space out in the back 40.

+1 on the recommendation of the DeLorme atlases. These cover most of the back and rural roads, and many even give you some idea of the elevation.

Cyclebum

Goggle maps now has a bicycle option that works pretty well. Will keep you off limited access highways. Drew a pretty straight line from Vicksburg to Dallas, mostly on hwy 80. I know 80 to have light traffic and generally smooth surface. I use Goggle for rough planning and then switch to state maps. Might print out detailed directions for navigating thru a city.

As for where to pitch the tent, you wild or stealth camp when no parks available. Lots of info on here and over at www.crazyguyonabike.com about that. Biggies are don't trespass, hide, and leave no trace.

As for water bladders, this discussion may help.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=#post10511849

Cyclist0094

Unless something has changed since the time I rode (1984) across the the southern US. US80 parallels I-20. Only snag might be crossing the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. I think I read somewhere the old US80 bridge is closed now.

Cyclebum

Pscyclepath, that is by far the best summary of interstate highway rules for cyclists I've seen anywhere. Ought to be a sticky. Thanks.

crazybikerchick

Aside from "wild" camping where you just pitch your tent somewhere (stealth when you do it invisibly, or you could ask a farmer etc.) - there are other campgrounds besides state parks. Private campgrounds, municipal sites etc. Sometimes maps have them marked on, or a guidebook for the area you are in. Otherwise its looking for signs as you go along the road. I like setting a goal for the day and having an idea which campground we might end up in. The nice thing about an actual campground vs wild camp is you (usually) get a picnic table and a shower. Two nice things at the end of a long day.

Usually bikes are allowed most places that aren't a limited access highway. Usually by looking at a map you can tell what roads are likely to be paved, but likely to be a secondary route so they will be calmer and less busy.

Wally world is not the best place to shop for bike stuffs. 3L hydration bladders are common, much more than that I would not want to be carrying the weight on my back. You can find places to hang extra bottles off your bike if you are worried about not finding a place to refill for a long stretch.

Obviously if you are planning to cook dinner but you aren't planning to hit a campground with potable water, you'll have to plan to carry more water as well.

crazybikerchick

PS where in Mississippi are you starting out from? From what I can see looking at Google maps there is *always* another route in close proximity to the I20.

crazybikerchick

Ah bummer, I see that near Vicksburg they closed the only cycling-friendly bridge across the Mississippi. Here's what another tourist did:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...id=127848&v=G6

Its always nice to go searching for other bike tourists that have done similar routes to what you are planning to see what potential pitfalls you may run into.

Recycle

If you use the Google Maps bicycling option, be sure to verify the route on a state bicycle map or one of the DeLorme maps. The Bicycling option picks routes by traffic volume, and it will often select gravel roads over perfectly good low traffic paved state or county roads. Selecting the Car option with no highways often gives a better route.

One of the most useful (to me) features of Google Maps is that it can display points of intrest along your route. For example, you could display all campgrounds, or convenience stores, or restaurants, hotels, whatever is of importance to you along the route.

mjoekingz28

From Pearl (Jackson area). 80 ends in Clinton (immediately west of Jackson) and doesn't pick back up until somewhere around the river.

So far I had planned to take (from Pearl) Hwy 80 to Clinton, then I20 to somewhere around the MS-LA border then back on 80 to just east of Dallas, then on city streets until west of Ft.Worth, then back on I20.

Thanks for the point about crossing the Mississippi River. I guess there is no room on the shoulder to cross!? That link said the guy paid a security guard $20 to carry him and his bike across. I see the RR just north of I20 but in the post they said it was closed due to 9-11 terrorism.



Thanks for all of the information. It will take me some time to go through it all, but a big thanks to what states allow and which don't.

I use Google maps alot and never knew there was a bicycle feature.

A gallon is only 6lbs, so I thought 10lbs or so on your back wouldn't be a big deal, but I'll take your word for it as I haven't attempted it.



Good point about using state parks, but in California they sometimes charge $30-40 just to pitch a tent for the night. I hate to sound like a villian or a cheapskate but I believe camping should be free and you could find a lake to soak in and shampoo your hair when a state park with showers is not viable. I always thought about just riding til night and finding a spot behind some trees to drop my 7X7 for several hours and leave no trace and disappear in the morning.


Ya'll have helped many of my worries, which above just having the energy to do this are:


Clean water
campsite
acceptable routes