Crazy_Swede

Hey everyone!

My name is Daniel. I am 27 years old and I come from Sweden. I am thinking about going from Washington D.C to Los Angeles.
I am aware of the current weather conditions in the USA, but I feel the need to get away from my atm boring life ^^ I am also aware that this might not be ideal for someone who has not done any touring before, but for me it's all or nothing, and I do like a challenge

* Looking for people who are interested in joining (soon) and are around my age
* Suggestions for bikes (I want to spend enough to get a good bike, but still not too much since I can't bring it home to Sweden)
* Tips on where one could stay, I guess I could bring a tent, but a friend told me that there is a website where people offer accomodation
* Any other helpful tips
* Was thinking about doing some type of charity event with this trip, but I really have no idea on how I would go about doing that

Extremely grateful for any answers!

/ Daniel

shibbyman23

I would suggest starting on the West coast, it's been warm and sunny for the past 5 days here - almost feels like Summer already, and apparently this Summer is going to be longer than the 2 previous Summers.

Are you going to be buying the bike in Sweden or in the US?

https://www.warmshowers.org/ and https://www.couchsurfing.com/ are the two websites that your friend was most likely talking about.
You could purchase a hammock instead of a tent, then be able to stay virtually anywhere. Just make sure you aren't knowingly staying on private property (Private property is usually fenced off or marked as such but that's not always the case) You could also ask someone who appears approachable if they know if there are any places to pitch a tent/hammock near by and they may offer their own backyard.

Make sure you are geared appropriately for all 3 seasons.
Check out this site for routes you may want to take America's Bicycle Travel Experts | Adventure Cycling Association
Relax and enjoy.

Research some charities and find the one that you are most passionate about, then contact them and tell them about your trip and that you want to raise awareness/funds for the charity through your trip and then they should be able to help you sort things out.

I'm cycling across Canada - West coast to East coast this year and hope you have a great time on your trip as well, Daniel!

Crazy_Swede

Thank you for answers!

My cousin is graduating in LA in mid May. This is why I want to go in that direction ^^ The route I layed out so far mostly runs in the south, so I think that the snow will only be a problem the first 1/3 of my journey

I will buy my bike in the US, I guess I could keep it there in case I want to go on another trip, but most likely I will try to sell it after ^^ I did find out that a lot of stores are selling last years models at really good prices. By the way, would you recommend getting a bike trailer or side-bags for my stuff?

Yor trip sound pretty awesome too! When are you going? I wish you the best of luck!

shibbyman23

No Problem

What size tires are you looking to get? You might consider getting at least 35c if you are going to be riding through snow at all.

Yes some REI stores are having clearance sales on bikes to get rid of last years models. The stock depends on store to store but I've heard that the Novara Randonee is a great stock touring bike. If you can find that on clearance for around $700 it would be golden! Also REI will have a great selection of camping gear for your touring kit if you don't already have everything you need, and if you buy a bike there and have problems along the way you can take it to the nearest REI to get fixed and/or tuned up for free. That's more of a personal preference so ask yourself this: Would you be more comfortable riding with all your gear on the bike that you ride, or as an extension of your bike that you pull behind it? Personally I've never tried a BOB trailer so I can't give you any insight to using it, sorry :/

If the weather stays the way it's been the past few weeks I'll probably be leaving at the start of May. I've been checking the mountain pass camera's online and watching the snow melting already!

Crazy_Swede

Sounds awesome, will def look into that bike By the way, I looked in to the route page and saw that some routes are layed on highways. Some websites say I can ride on highways and some say I can't, do you have any idea?

mev

You can ride on some highways and not on others . The routes listed on Adventure Cycling are all routes where bicycling is allowed, even those that might coincide with large highways. However, in general Adventure Cycling is going to pick routes away from largest highways unless there is no good alternative.

As for other highways not on Adventure Cycling route pages, it is going to vary by state, but a few generalizations:
- The US Interstate Highway system - east of 100th Meridian of longitude most likely no bicycling allowed (map: https://cozadchamber.com/customconten...with_Cozad.jpg)
- West of the 100th Meridian more likely allowed on interstate highways particularly when (a) there is no good alternative (b) outside urban areas
- Some roads not on Interstate Highway system are essentially equivalent in size and again will vary by area
- Most states have state bicycle maps. These are also good source to get information, often both # cars/trucks per day as well as shoulder widths

Crazy_Swede

I found out that google maps have taken this into account when laying out routes for biking. However, while Google is all-knowing, I doubt they actually did take everything in to account. I guess the best thing would be to follow the layed out bikes routes as best as I can and ask someone (police) before going on to the next destination just to make sure.

Again, thank you both for your input! I went throught my whole route today an divided it into 60-70 mile stages (checked elevation on some stages, so there are some that are a bit longer! )

shibbyman23

Google maps doesn't always take you on the best route, better to get route advice from people who have done those trips. Adventure Cycling has spent a lot of time and money making sure the routes they map out are the best for cyclists. Also I would suggest trying to ask a local cyclist about which route to take if you are not sure, before you ask the police because they are usually ill-informed on such things - hell I bet even the visitors centers would know better than them!

Awesome that's a decent daily pace to keep. You won't be missing everything and you should be able to relax and enjoy the ride at that pace

indyfabz

Google Maps can get you into trouble, especially out west. For example, I recently used it to plan a route in SD. Between two cities it used one road that is not really a road, at least not anymore. Part of it was visible on Street View and I was surprised that the Google Maps car even ventured down the road. It was more like an gravelly Jeep track with a big hump in the middle. Looked like miserable riding. I have seen other examples where it routes you on unpaved roads that you would probably rather avoid.

Crazy_Swede

I will follow the layed out bike routes for the most part, there are just some parts in the east where I would use google maps. I am however grateful for the inputs and will look closer in to this! I did get a pm from a guy in D.C who said that he could meet up and give me some tips! I am currently looking in to bikes, not really sure how much I should spend. Shibbyman23, I know you told me about a bike, but I cant find it for around that price, most bikes seem to be a lot more expensive. I found a few bikes (some on sale), would be awesome if someone could tell me wether or not they are good quality:

Schwinn Mens Elite Series Herald 28"/700c Road B... : Target

Forge Mens CTS 1000 19" Road Racing Bike - Graph... : Target

700c Schwinn Phocus 1600 Men's Road Bike, Silver - Walmart.com

2014 SE Bikes Royale 14 Speed Matte Black 50cm Road Bicycle Medium - Rakuten.com

This forum is amazing, thank you all for helping me!

hueyhoolihan

it might not be a bad idea to ask that guy that PM'd you to tell where the nearest bike co-op is in Washington and get a used touring type bike there. i wouldn't be surprised if you ended up with a bike of twice the quality of those listed for half the price.

side bags (panniers) are my preference.

BTW, i would suggest getting the ACA East Coast route (it goes right through Washington D.C, IIRC) and Southern Tier route maps and follow them to El Centro California, then, if you want to, go off the ACA Southern Tier route and go directly to L.A. through the Mohave desert, bypassing San Diego.

if starting around the first of April this should be doable, time wise, and preferable weather wise, although a bit longer. the only real climbing is in the brush country and Davis mountains of Texas, IIRC, especially so if bypassing San Diego. good luck.

Crazy_Swede

Hey! Thanks, will do that if I can get a hold of him, and I will check those routes! I can't PM unless I have 50 posts But just in case, are any of those bikes of good quality? Just so I would know what to look for ^^ The thing is that I would really like to check out nashville, otherwise I would def go with the ACA East Coast route. I will go on about 70-80% of the Southern Tier route tho

shibbyman23

I wouldn't suggest using any bikes from Walmart or Target, and especially not aluminum frame road bikes as they aren't designed to carry touring loads.

You can probably get a used steel frame road bike for cheaper and try to make sure that it has mid-fork eyelets (braze-on) so you can mount racks for your panniers unless you are using a trailer. Try to find at least a 18 gear bike or a one with a compact double crankset of around 26 Teeth inner chainring and 39 Teeth outer chainring.

rm -rf

It sounds difficult to fly in from Sweden and locate a reasonable bike from a bike co-op. Do they have many touring bikes? And what size? That's probably a good idea if you have months to wait for a workable bike to show up at the co-op, or see one on craigslist.


The OP wants to get to LA by May 15, for his cousin's graduation. Is 45 days enough travel time?

shibbyman23

If he averages 70 miles/day he could make it there in 45 days with 1-2 days for resting.

Crazy_Swede

May 15th is around 75 days away tho Will try to reach the guy who PM'ed me

Eds0123

You probably seen this but just in case here you can find a comptehensive list of touring bicycles on this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/71...ing-bikes.html

Also, bicycle trailer adds 10-20lbs extra weight, I'd use panniers and a Hennessy hammock instead of a tent.

I think You can travel on any road in the US as long as it is not posted explicitly that bicycles are not allowed. I might be wrong on this.

Good Luck

hueyhoolihan

looking at the OP's selection, that i took at face value to be suitable, price-wise, to the OP, i find it difficult to believe just about any co-op wouldn't have something of higher quality at a lower price. disagreement is good though.

size wise i can run anywhere between a 50cm and a 55cm frame with just stem and saddle setback modifications. i'm sure a co-op has a few stems of various lengths.

Crazy_Swede

Just booked my flight from Stockholm to New York, thank god for low price airlinines ($200). Decided to take the ACA Atlantic Coast route down to Jacksonville and then follow the Southern Tier route towards Los Angeles. I feel nervous, happy, excited and a lot of other things, but I hope everything will go ok and that this will be a trip of a lifetime

Will keep you updated on my plans! Would be awesome if there are some people that would like to join, even just for shorter distances. Really looking forward to biking on the road with music in my ears and hope that this trip will earn me some bragging rights at home ^.^

Again, thank you everyone for you help!

/ Daniel

shibbyman23

You can sign up for Warm Showers and post here looking for some companions to join you https://www.warmshowers.org/forums/g...ing-companions probably won't find many leaving that early in the year though

Crazy_Swede

Hey!

Thanks! I am already registered I know it is early now, but in a month or close to May maybe ^^

Cheers mate!

Crazy_Swede

Starting my tour tomorrow! Pretty excited! :-D @aswedeonabike on Twitter and instagram Hope I will meet some people from this forum!

indyfabz

Watch that weekday traffic in the N. Jersey area and coming towards Philadelphia from Lambertville, NJ.

Do you have places to stay lined up? Not much in the way of camping the first few days. You might also find places not yet open for the season. Rain predicted for Friday into Saturday, but it looks like the very cold temperatures we have been having are finally over with.

shibbyman23

Good luck Crazy Swedish dude!

hueyhoolihan

keep us posted.

when you make it to L.A. or San Diego, maybe i'll take a train down and ride back up to the East Bay with you. good luck.