meanderthal

Here are notes I took after my one-and-only crossing (east to west). Please forgive repetition of points others have already made....Lew

Reasons to go east-to-west

* sun at your back during "best" hours of the day (morning)

* 10 minutes more sunlight per day than riding eastward, since you recapture 5 minutes of the sun's progress every 60 miles of westward progress (approximated for latitude 42). [Yes, this is the equivalent of drilling your toothbrush handle to save weight. Not much, yet something.]

* you can begin much earlier in the year. By the time you reach the Rockies, they're passable. Also, less U.V. exposure (sun is lower, plus you can wear long clothes for a greater proportion of the (cooler) trip.

* starting on earlier date, you miss the hot summer & the mosquitoes

* (if you live in the east) things get progressively less familiar, and that's more fun. There's greater drama riding down your driveway into the beyond than there is in returning to your driveway. Also, if you must give up midway, the cost of transportation home may be less than if you began the trip with a coast-to-coast trip to the start point. Also, at the end of the "official" ride, you have another ride to public transportation--a cooldown ride--to help you ease out of your trip & back to the regular. A time to reflect. You still ride, but w/o the same pressure-of-goal; you still get to be alone for a while longer. Riding toward home, on the other hand, deposits you suddenly, jerks you from the self-sufficient existence, obligates you to an instant debriefing before you've debriefed to yourself at sufficient length.

* starting early a.m., you can quit mid-afternoon & have considerable daylight once encamped. Less risk of running out of light before reaching camp. Also, you can seek shelter midday & escape worst of the U.V.

* The western slopes of mountains get more rain & are "prettier". Better to coast down them & enjoy more fully than struggling up them.

* The great, east-to-west American movement is ingrained in many of us.

Advantages of west-to-east

* arguably, there are more tailwinds

* you can get up later (use p.m. more, sun at your back)

* starting later in the year, less cold-weather clothing is needed: lighter load

* Westerners bike into progressively unfamiliar territory (same argument as easterners' version above)