Originally Posted by
Wrestlefox
Thanks for the advice guys, *cough, cough* and ladies. lol. I appreciate it. I will definitely look into adventure cycling. I had planned on doing this during the summer because this way I could be doing it between my college semesters. I had slightly relied on the idea of the interstate, but now it's almost kinda sorta completely out of the question. What would I do about sleeping arrangements? Ask random houses to sleep in their yards? Hotels are too costly.
I would consider either a more northern route or a cooler time of year.
As far as camping...
I don't get the emphasis on stealth camping that seems to be prevalent on the forums. I am not against stealth camping when I need to, but on our cross country trip last summer we never felt the need. We stayed in city parks, churches, people yards, in peoples homes, and sometimes paid for a campsite. We always were able to get permission.
We met lots of nice folks that we wouldn't have met if we were stealth camping and for us the people were the best part of trip. We met other cyclists in camp. We made friends with local hosts. We met lots of other nice people in the parks.
The Adventure cycling maps for our route (the TransAmerica) listed most of the places we stayed. Others were the result of chance encounters where someone offered us a place to stay. Still others were the result of the advice of another bike tourist going the other way telling us about places to stay. When none of that worked we asked local folks for advice or permission. A church, church camp, city park, and fire house were all found this way. Asking the local police or sheriffs office is a good place to start (the numbers are on the AC maps). Clerks and wait staff are another source of info. Asking directly at a city park, camp, or church was another.
Stealth camping is a good tool to have in your repertoire, but I would recommend that it not be the standard mode of operation. On a trip across the US it will seldom be necessary and in my opinion the trip should be as much about the people you meet as anything else. Hiding in the woods minimizes human contact, if I want that I go backpacking or wilderness canoing or kayaking.