Acrossamerica8

Hi All,
My twenty-year-old son and I (55) are thinking of riding the TransAmerica route. I am curious if you have taken it? What is the deal with the headwinds? Does it make a difference in the amount of energy required if you start from the West Coast (headwinds at your back?) or the East Coast?

What type of bike do you suggest? I currently have a twenty-five year old Trek multitrack (730?) and a couple of others, but we are looking for good used Trek 720 or other touring bikes. I am in southern California. Are there any good resources around for good used touring bikes and equipment?

Thanks

redbagsrambler

I rode a transcontinental in the summer of 2021. I did not ride the TransAm per se, instead designing my own route. However, much of my route coincided with the TransAm. I elected to ride east to west as I live in coastal North Carolina and liked being able to start the journey right from my front door. Wind was not much of an issue from North Carolina to Kansas and I benefitted from good tailwinds most of the way across Nebraska. But literally on the very day I crossed into Wyoming was the worst day of headwinds of the trip, and I was riding against headwinds pretty much the rest of the way to the coast of Oregon. Based on my experience, I believe a west to east rider would enjoy a significant wind advantage which translates into energy savings.

I rode a fifteen year old Trek 520 which I bought new in 2006. Even having had extensive service in North America and Europe, the bike had not a single issue the entire journey. Nothing. Not even a hard to find squeak. I ran Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700X32 tires and had only one flat during the trip, which could have been easily avoided had been paying better attention to the road surface at the time. The only modification I made to the bike was to install a Suntour suspension seat post which proved very valuable to my comfort. Naturally I think a Trek 520 would be an excellent choice if you can find one. I haven't shopped for used bikes in ages so I'll leave that for someone much more knowledgeable than I to address.

Acrossamerica8

Thanks! That's very helpful!

mev

Headwinds are not high on my considerations for a Transamerica, e.g. they would be lower than time of year (Western Mountain passes, Eastern heat/humidity), personal preference and logistics. They are also lower for a Transamerica than for other cycling routes (e.g. go N->S on Pacific coast or S->N on Great Plains in summer).

I have cycled a northern route across the US (Astoria Oregon to Portland Maine), a route across Canada (Fairbanks to St Johns), a multi-year segment across US (San Jose to Pittsburgh) and the southern tier (San Jose to Jacksonville). While I was going W to E in these cases, I had a mix of winds including multiple days of headwinds on the Canadian Prairies and eastern Plains of the US. On average I did have slightly more tailwinds than headwinds overall but it wasn't significant.

staehpj1

I agree with all of that, but if I were to choose a preference for the TA based on wind it would be E-W. the winds for the Plains and even into Montana favor that direction in summer. They tend to be out of the SE there.

Two things that made me favor goung W-E was that the eastern mountains are more difficult on the TA. The climbs may be shorter, but they are crazy steep. It is nice to hit them when well road hardened. The other was that for us it also allowed getting air travel out of the way up front. It is easier to have a flexible schedule if you don't have to fly home at the end. So I prefer starting far from home and riding toward home. It also makes you really commited to the trip right from the start.

There can be a myriad of reasons for choosing one way or the other though.

rm -rf

In a lot of the USA, winds are more S-->N than W-->E.

This Wind History Map site is interesting. It's more useful to click the Jan-Dec tool to see one month's averages instead of the whole year.
Click a station to see frequency of winds by direction, and speeds of winds by direction.

For example: Beatrice, Kansas, in June:
Most often, south or southeast, and those are the strongest winds. And more east winds than west!





Weatherspark
For even more weather details, I like weatherspark.com. I look at seasonal averages, but also rain, wind, clouds charts. And looking at previous years actual charts gives a better idea of variability, instead of just seeing averages.
The chart of avg temperatures over the whole 24 hour day is useful, too: are the mornings very cold? what's the afternoon look like?

tcs

A minority opinion here, f'sure, but IF your Multitrack is in good mechanical condition, it would serve just fine.

rossiny

The Trek 730 probably will be good but I'd want comfort wrapping and a handle bar that offers different position to get aero, or upright. That's about all I can ad...

bikemig 

I did the northern tier in '97 on a 1983 Trek 720. Loved the bike but to do another ride like that, I plan on rebuilding a 1993 Trek 750 I just picked up for that reason. A vintage hybrid makes a fine touring machine and will fit a fatter tire than the 720 can. The 720 tops out around 32c; the hybrid should be able to take a 38c (or at least a 35c with fenders).

That said you will want to overhaul the bike and replace the consumables. It's a good project as that way you learn your bike. On a hybrid, you will have to think about hand positions. You can do a drop bar conversion but I plan on using trekking bars for my Trek 750. They're a cheap upgrade since your old parts (brake levers and shifters) will work just fine on the trekking bars. And they give you plenty of hand positions which is really important especially on a long trip.

If you want a resource for vintage touring bikes and gear, you should post what you are working on in the C&V forum. A lot of the posters have done touring and they certainly know old equipment as well. You can save some money by rebuilding your own bike to get it ready for the trip.

GamblerGORD53

Forget the MTB multi-track and anything with a straight handlebar. All my bikes have an old chrome comfort 80d swept bar.
One thing is for sure, W>E on the river in N Oregon. In 2018, I did a 3,900 mile loop from home to Banff, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Calgary, etc.
Only had a bad south wind the second and second last day. LOL. Had more off days for heat than rain.
Bonus points if you put a Rohloff14 on whatever bike. My bike is 120 lbs, but rolls along with the greatest of EASE.
The best bike thing I EVER bought is the SA XL-FDD dyno drum brake, 30,000 FLAWLESS miles and still going strong on it's 3rd bike. Lights always ON.
No camping gear, but I carry ALL the stuff I put in the suitcase I take on car trips.

irc

If I lived on the west coast I would ride E-W for the simple reason it removes a fixed deadline to get a flight home. Bonus point is you are tour fit by the time you hit the big climbs in the Rockies.

Not that there aren't nasty short climbs before then on the Transamerica. I avoided those by finishing in Boston going east and starting at DC and using the C and O canal going west.

Wind isn't a factor. I've crossed the Great Plains via Kansas and Colorado twice. Each direction and had a mix of good and bad winds

Bike. Any bike you are comfortable riding all day. I always start a long tour with a new or near new drivetrain. New cables, brake blocks etc. New tyres.

The most common failure as far as I hear is spokes. If you are using existing bikes replacing the wheels with good hand built wheels is worth thinking about

I weigh around 210-230 pounds and have never broken a spoke on tour.

I tour mainly with drop bars but have also done short 1 week tours with flat bars with bar ends fitted. Up to you

Thulsadoom

The only time a headwind is at your back is when your head is up your ass.

Seriously, though, having ridden coast to coast in both directions my opinion is it's a coin flip.

Can't imagine why your 730 wouldn't be a perfectly good bike for the trip.

indyfabz

I did the Northern Tier. I also did the Trans Am from Missoula to Fairplay, CO. I’ve also done the TA from Missoula over Big Hole Pass twice. All sorts of winds, including strong headwinds in WY and CO.

After the NT trip I continued down the Atlantic Coast to my home in Philadelphia. It was a thrill to ride to my front door. And as mentioned, travel was out of the way when the trip started.

Charles Lathe

I rode the TransAm last year east to west. Because I had to be at a wedding in July, I left too early in the year — April 11 — and I had a lot of bad weather and a lot of wind. I met a fellow in Kansas who was coming from Tucson, Arizona. The wind was in my favor that day and I said I felt a little guilty that he had a headwind and I had a tailwind. He said I shouldn’t feel bad; he’d been on the road for 21 days and had had 20 days of tailwinds.

pdlamb

Re: headwinds, I only had one day of Very Bad Headwinds* in 2009 trying to get from Rawlins to Lander, WY. OTOH, strong crosswinds feel like headwinds, and we had plenty of those days crossing Kansas. Finally figured out that if we left at sun-up, we could usually get some 6 hours of riding before the winds picked up. Stop and have lunch, and psychologically the next hour or two was usually easier, then we could relax, go swimming or hide out in the town (air-conditioned) library, and had a productive day.

This ties in with why I recommend E-W; you don't want drivers, on your side of the road, heading into sunrise having to notice you ahead of them.

*Don't think of this as a recommendation to go W-E; we met a couple who had their worst day of headwinds coming east to Rawlins and took a day off to recover from that.

indyfabz

I think this points up what some others have said about winds because I went in the opposite direction over two days (spent the night in Jeffrey City) and had very strong headwinds. I left Jeffrey City at sunrise to try to beat the wind. Saw some pronghorns at play.

mev

For what it is worth, I can tally both strong westward winds and strong eastward winds in Jeffrey City in September 2016:

On the first day, riding from Lander to Jeffrey City, my journal said, "...By now the wind had definitely picked up and it was mostly a tailwind....at 38 miles was a rest area. I ate my lunch items inside out of the wind...The last 20 miles were open riding with a good tailwind." and was occasion to get a photo of Wyoming flag strongly flying in the breeze

When describing the overnight, my journal said - "The wind howled through the night as the front passed through. I knew it was shifting from SW (tailwind) to NE (headwind for 1st 23 miles) so somewhat concerned of how difficult the day might become. Fortunately, by 7am the wind had lessened. I had a breakfast at the Split Rock cafe and then set out into the wind. It was much colder and there were some drops of rain. This made for slow steady slog."

I think this part of Wyoming has on average strong winds. It is close to a spot where there is a gap in the mountains and low mountain pass where the jet stream can push weather through and there isn't much in way of vegetation or terrain to stop things. Weatherspark does suggest winds with a westward component most often, south component next most often and east and north about equal. The road from Jeffrey City to Rawlins goes mostly east first and then south. So there is probably a likely headwind there (from south) and the other direction as well (from west) - https://weatherspark.com/y/3225/Aver...tes-Year-Round


...

indyfabz

Interesting place if you know the history. I stayed there in 2000 at the JC Motel, which only took cash. That evening I ended up taking to a woman at the Split Rock about antelope meat and the collapse of the uranium mining industry, which is how the town came to be. She and her husband had moved there after the husband had been promised a job for life. Some of the abandoned, army-style housing barracks were still standing back then.