Hi all,
My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a cross-country trip next spring/summer. I'm wondering if the route below is reasonable. We can leave Vancouver as early as late April (if that works for the weather) and need to be in NYC by the end of August.
http://bit.ly/Q6HmRK (a simplification. I haven't researched the specific roads yet.)
We just got back from a 6-day ride from NYC to Baltimore, which was our first trip using racks and panniers. We stayed in hotels and b&b's. We rode about 50 miles/day, which seems like a comfortable distance for us. I'm hoping that we could increase the mileage a bit as we get comfortable being in the saddle. We are new to touring, but not to biking. I commute daily about 20 miles and have done a number of centuries. My wife is much less of a rider, but it is a yoga instructor and is in great shape. (She does experience a lot of discomfort being on the bike day after day and is looking for solutions.) We are planning to camp most of the trip, with a stay in a hotel once a week or so.
I have a million questions, but the first think I'm wondering is if this West-East route makes sense. Will we be able to make it across the country on this route? If we started in April, would the weather be okay in Vancouver-Seattle-Portland? Our plan is to spend 2-3 weeks on this leg, since we have friends to stay with in each city.
Thanks for the help,
Eric