Tour plans :)
 

I'm planning on doing a transamerica ride of sorts that starts in Virginia Beach and goes west on the usual ACA transamerica route. Then I'm thinking I'll catch the Western Express route to the connector that goes past the Grand Canyon. I'll then take Route 66 West until I get to the Sierra Cascades route. I'll then follow it up until making a cutover to get to Ocean Shores, WA. (I have family there.)

My family is planning on flying out to CO and renting an RV there so that they can tour through all the awesome parks and meet up with me every few days. (I'm hoping I can get my daughter to ride with me some of the days although that's a bit up in the air since I'm sure her legs aren't going to be anywhere near in shape as mine by that time and she'll only be about 11.)

I was wondering what people here think about the route. Whether there are changes they'd make to the route such as possibly going Route 66 first and taking the connector to the western express route instead of the other way around.

Thanks,
Kevin

Combining the low desert route of 66 and the High Sierra within a short time is not a real good idea. Some years (not this one for sure) the highest passes aren't open until late June or even July, and you sure don't want to be on 66 in Needles in May or June. A higher latitude and elevation route through Nevada to 395 east of the Sierra would be a better bet.

I agree that it would be tough to work out timing for that route that makes sense. Even just doing the Sierra Cascades is a balancing act. We did the southern portion early enough that Yosemite still had all facilities outside the valley closed and still had some really oppressive heat (at least 110F and probably more). The route is exceedingly demanding and high heat makes it much harder.

I will also caution that having a motor vehicle in the mix fundamentally changes a tour. I think that if it was me I'd keep the bike tour as a bike tour and do the family trip as a separate family trip. On tour I find that I would be pretty poor company for family in a motor vehicle. It will be hard to stay focused on your tour. You will have a tough time staying in small towns parks and hiker biker sites with a motor vehicle in the mix. To keep a bike tour going you kind of need to stay focused on the tour. So either the tour suffers or you come off as a jerk to the folks in the RV and make them miserable.

I met a few folks on the TA that had a wife or some family in an RV. In most cases the folks in the RV were bored, a bit bitter, and generally not having much fun. One or two managed to pull it off, but it seemed like they were the exceptions. The two that were successful were a set of grand parents accompanying their grandsons. They were happy to just tag along. The other was a wife in the RV and she was a saint, still she was bored and a little bitter.

Just a suggestion, but... I'd consider doing the Trans America route the whole way. Then have family fly out to Washington to meet you. You could then take a rental car or RV and travel to the national parks with the family. The TA would probably be quicker allowing some time for the car/rv trip.