Originally Posted by lrzipris
I was thinking not about the comfort of your saddle or even the geometry of your road bike, but its suitability for panniers and racks. Although my knowledge is only from what I've read and spoken to people about, a cross-USA trip (especially out West) might take you a bit further away from amenities than a European trip would. Even if you travel light by staying at inns and motels (you might look into hostels for reasonable rooms), you may need to carry some bike-repair gear and a fair amount of clothing, particularly for climate changes. BTW, one friend did such a trip about three years ago, taking two or three months.
BTW, I did know one Dutch word, a term of endearment a Dutch girlfriend used to call me: dwergie. She was much taller than I am.
Well, for my trips in Europe I carry about 8 to 9 kg of gear. I put this gear in 2 bags: 1 rucksack of Deuter specially build for cylcing (with air-system) and with a small volume (14L). In the rucksack I put about 3kg of gear (mostly small stuff I could need underway).
The second bag is a saddlebag of Carradice which is mounted on the saddle pin. It hase a volume of 16L and here I put the rest of my gear (5-6 kg, but it can hold to 10kg). With 8 to 9 kg of gear I carry all the stuff I need: clothes, repair material, etc. Every 3 days I wash my bike-clothes in the bathroom of the hotel, so I need only clothes for 3-4 days.
Concerning places to sleep, I always try to plan them in advance for every night I will stay, and I put them in the GPS. Of course, sometimes I change plans underway, so I also take some kind of hotelguide with me that contains all the hotels of the country I travel in.
When I will travelling the US, I will carefully look at places which are very low populated. In these regions, I will plan not only the places to sleep in advance, but also the places to get some food. I even think to call the shops or motels in advance to be sure they are open the time I will visit them.
Normally I can manage to travel with my bike some 100km (65miles) without having to stop for food or other things (of course if I have loaded some water and food in my bags at the start of the trip).
It would suprise me not the find any place for drink/food in an area wider than 100km in the US... or am I too optimistic?