Originally Posted by
jamawani
Three things are needed to plan your own routes - and Google Maps isn't one of them.
1. Generally speaking, you want nice quiet roads.
Almost every state has AADT maps - statewide, some with county roads.
AADT - average annual daily traffic figures.
http://www.ksdot.org/burtransplan/ma...rafficDist.asp
Also, many states have bicycling maps on line that vary from good to so-so.
Shoulder width is tougher to find - however, shoulders are needed more on busy roads than quiet ones.
2. Camping - each state has a state park system, many counties in the Midwest have county parks with camping. National forests have websites listing campsites - plus there is random camping on public lands.
3. Supplies - don't count on remote little dots in the interior west to have anything. Aquick check on yellowpages.com will confirm if there is a store/cafe - which is all you really need. Can check for motels, too. Bike shops are rarer and can be found before you leave.
The problem with many of the online mapping programs is that they don't distinguish between highways, county roads, and dirt roads. I have seen more than one Bikely or Google route that included nonexistent roads in the West.
These tips work great west of the Mississippi and Kansas is probably the easiest state on the Union to route across. Compare the DOT map above to the one for Kentucky
http://kytcgis.ky.gov/trafficcounts/viewer.htm OMG, try using that map! Well the answer is that you can't, it's basically useless. The resource that I use in simply the AAA state maps, the scale used on these maps is very helpful. There are only 2 levels of roads shown (smaller than highways and interstates) they are a black line and a thinner dark grey line. The dark grey line roads are the ones to go for wherever possible. Sure, there are more rural roads available, but trying to link all these together for a long tour is really, really time consuming.
Next is lodging, more difficult, these maps have a campground symbol which generally just shows state parks and forests, I try to connect as many of these together as possible for the overall route. Then for the in between spaces I connect small size towns to pass through, these can be identified by the size and color of the text on the map.
Small black text = Town in name only, maybe a gas station or convenience store, and maybe not.
Slightly larger black text = Small town with grocery, fair chance at a motel or camping, for sure Churches. (These are the towns that I try to string together)
Medium red text = Large town / small city with all amenities, and maybe camping. (I avoid these for the most part, unless looking for a bike shop)
Large red text = Medium to large city, again with all amenities and maybe camping. (I avoid these, unless looking for a bike shop)
In those small in between towns, I try to google them ahead of time, or just ask around when I get there for camping first, then motels, then churches. I have yet to find a rural church that turned me away for camping, they usually make their restroom available to me.
Anyway, that's my method, and if there is an ACA route going my way, I take it!