Originally Posted by
Dramignophyte
So I have less and less time going to my north to south tour starting in upper Michigan and I have some general maps giving supposed bike routes but I can't figure them out from the graphic to google maps. I see all kinds of advice on which equipment to use, but I can't seem to find any good advice on figuring out a long distance route, besides that you need to have a good map. I was wondering if anyone knew of any detailed routes, or ways to figure them out.
A few possibilities...
- Use Adventure Cycling routes if you want a planned route and are frustrated with making your own.
- Just have a general idea of where you want to go and wing it.
- Bite the bullet and plan an exact route. Google maps can work well, but you may want to pick and choose rather than just letting it create the route. Street view helps a lot if you go this route. Car directions with "avoid highways" checked can sometimes work better than bike directions.
- Use some combination of items 1-3.
Originally Posted by
Dramignophyte
I want to camp the vast majority of my nights and it seems like massive areas are nothing but farm land for days without two sticks to rub together.
Not as true nearer the coasts but in the middle of the country very small towns tend to have parks or picnic areas that you will generally be left alone if you pitch a tent for the night. Getting permission to camp in other spots or finding places to camp where no one minds is usually possible as well. In that part of the country, I doubt that you will ever be more than 40 or 50 miles without seeing a small town. I always found that the more rural/small town it is the easier it is to camp unless you insist on camping in camp grounds (which are seldom my first choice if other options are available).