Coming to the USA
 

Hey there good friends

I am a dutch man and mad about going on my 2 weels.
Now I am planning a trip to the USA - Midwest area (Misippi - Kentucky) for a long time next year august I thing.
Maybe there are people around you who have suggestions - road trips - overnight adresses etc.etc.

Info me....

Greets from Holland

Gerard

Great Smokey Mountains in Kentucky is beautiful. Look up "Cades Cove".

Mountains o no LOL we do not have them here in Holland. But I have been in France and had no problems with them.
Thanks for the tip

You don't make it clear if you're planning on bicycle touring or just some day riding. If touring, check out Adventure Cycling Association maps. The Transamerica Route goes through the area you'll be visiting. They are a great resource for touring cyclists. You can buy maps for short segments of a route. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the big scenic route through the area, with lots of steep climbs, so bring some low gears with you.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/

Hello Cyclebum. for sure I will spend a long time in the USA. I can be there for 90 days when I am right so I will stay as long as I can stay and afford it.
The trip to mention looks absolute great and a great adventure. Did you do the trip there?
I must be sometime close to Paducah (Kentucky) as I have friends there but there is no time date so when I can visit the Blue Ridge Parkway I will be more than pleased.
Thanks .

Gerard - Holland

Although that part of the country wouldn't be my first choice for a tour, there are a few areas and rides you might want to consider. One is the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 710 km route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi.

http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

Many states have organized rides each year. The oldest and one of the best is called RAGBRAI, which crosses the state of Iowa from west to east every year during the last week of July. There are thousands of riders each year and it is very well organized and very inexpensive.

I hope you are aware that the Mississippi valley and southeastern US are extremely hot and humid in the summer. It is very different from the weather you are accustomed to in the Netherlands.

By the way, the Great Smoky Mountains are in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, not in Kentucky as you were told above.

:eek: Blasphemy!!!!!!!

The smokies are in Tennessee and North Carolina.

I know that. Where in the heck did I get Kentucky********** Brain freeze or something. :)

Very different. A Dutch friend of mine still recoils in horror if a lot of ordinary American weather stuff comes up. It's not unusual to have summer high temperatures of 32C or higher, with 90% humidity. Kentucky and Mississippi are part of Tornado Alley, so thunderstorms occur often, and tornadoes are not at all unusual. As a side effect, power outages are not unusual, since most electrical equipment doesn't much like 70mph winds or having a tree dropped on it. It is really important to be prepared for overheating, driving rain, heavy winds and potentially large flying objects. (I really hope not large flying objects... but there are reasons why Midwesterners have tornado drills)

Large portions of Mississippi and Kentucky cover the Appalachian mountains, which are the low mountain chain along the East Coast of the US. They are not spectacular looking mountains. This is ok. They make up for it by being very steep... lots of the technology for putting rail lines through steep terrain was first developed for the Appalachians. 5% grades are common (so gains 5m of height for every 100m you travel), and steeper is not unusual.

Just a few notes of differences. The southern states, as noted above several times, are very hot in summer. While Torrilin quotes 32C or higher, certainly do expect to have high temperatures of 35C (95F) to 39C (102F). Humidity is nasty and it will be humid. If you sleep in a tent, expect to sweat and be uncomfortable. A hammock is cooler, but if not well designed mosquitoes will bite through bottom of hammock.

The Appalachian Mountains don't appear in Mississippi, but they do stretch from Alabama to Maine in the USA. The highest peaks in the southern US are located in North Carolina and Tennessee. Here's a map:

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/...hian-Mountains

In terms of appearance, they resemble the mountains around Baden Baden or Bavaria, Germany (minus the granite peaks of the Alps). Grades on the Blue Ridge Parkway range from 5% to 10% with most about 6% or 7%. Grades on access roads to the Parkway can be much steeper. The Blue Ridge Parkway will offer much cooler weather with temperatures ranging from 18C to 30C.

While I like the Blue Ridge Parkway for its scenery and cool weather during summer, I don't recommend it as a first or primary ride in the USA. You won't see much of the USA while on the Blue Ridge Parkway--you will bypass small towns, cities, people, and culture. However, maybe you want to miss all that, then the Natchez Trace or the Blue Ridge Parkway would be a good ride.

Touring in the Southern US in August is likely to be a miserable experience, especially for someone not use to hot, humid weather. Frankly, It's miserable even for someone who is. Pedaling up 6% grades at 4 mph when the temp is 35 C and the humidity is 90% is very much like being in a sauna.

I'd suggest you consider coming over here in October for touring in Kentucky or Mississippi. Be cooler and less chance for rain. Or if you can't delay your visit, plan on touring in the mountainous West. Without AC, the South in summer is pretty much unbearable, day and night.

Always good to be updated on the weather conditions. Back in March I met a fellow from Sweden (Bernd) who had started in SF and planned a cross country trip to New York. He was heading to Yosemite 1st. I told him he might run into some snow and pointed the way. I know there is still snow up there today.