This is my first post in Touring, after posting in Road Cycling some years ago.
I'm planning a trans-continent tour for the summer of '11 that will go from NC to a
TBD West Coast city (SF? Seattle?). I'm trying to get my head around what types of roads most people ride on when touring (and no, "the one that gets me to where I want to go" is not an acceptable answer here!).
Having searched within the forum, I see that opinions regarding route decisions range from sticking to major routes (such as the TransAmerica) to making it up as one goes along, from taking mostly major US/State highways to getting off the beaten path (county roads) as much as possible, from mapping everything out in advance to having a general, good-enough idea of how to get from A to B...
So, I'm wondering how people decide what roads to travel on. While I know there are printed and web guides and maps, I wanted to get some words of wisdom from those of you tour regularly. Issues at hand include ease of access, distance and "directness" considerations, car volume, etc. When I do riding around my place, I try to stay off many of the major state highways, both as a matter of safety and to take the more "scenic" route. Not sure if the same approach would work with touring...
Thoughts?