scum1

So thought I would revive this thread if possible. I've set my goal for 2009 now which is the year I turn 45.

I've ordered 1 of the southern tier maps from adventure cycling https://www.adventurecycling.com/routes/southerntier.cfm

The Navasota to Louisiana section. I'm going to ride it later this year as a 2 day ride if anyone is interested let me know. Kind of a scouting ride. Now if I can just get someone to scout the El Paso to Del Rio section lol. I've been doing some research and found this
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...e_id=10350&v=a

If this guy go do the entire southern tier I should be able to do the Texas section

I've also started a thread at bikejournal to try and get some folks together for this ride. Sag is the one thing I cannot get at the moment. My wife can't spend 10 to 14 days away from the kids.

If anyone has rode the southern Tier route I'd love to hear from you as well.

MassLiberal

I rode across the entire state this past november, it was part of my 7,000 mile tour around the country. The ride from El Paso to St Francisville is fantastic!! Don't let anyone tell you different. You only have two days (we had 1 1/2) on I 10 if you play your cards right, and the pavement is the best you'll have for the entire trip (everything else is chips seal, which will eventually drive you insane, I recommend an ipod so the steady buzz doesn't ruin your peace of mind, also 700x35 or larger tires). The Davis Mountains offer great scenery, and beautiful back roads with forests, and US 90 offers up a few interesting towns such as Alpine, where you can rent a car and go to Big Bend (careful though, you have to reserve a car in advance, as they only have 2 available, we wound up having to rent a U Haul as the 90 F temps and remoteness of the area made us think twice about riding there, while this gave us an intereting story to tell, it got expensive, and we ot pulled over by border control a number of times). Also, you can camp out at the many picnic areas on the route, which helps, just make sure you carry water.

Once you get into Del Rio (awesome taco stands), the scenery changes again, more trees and the terrain gets a bit more hilly. Hill Country is gorgeous!! Great people and great food!! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me. I can't stress how much I loved Texas, which really surprised this Massachusetts born liberal. I found the people to be incredibly welcoming, and almost every day offered up an awesome surprise.

George

I'm going out that way next month and it really sounds nice. Are you allowed to ride the shoulders on
I-10, I thought that was against the law.

MassLiberal

In west texas it's all there is for a while, so yes, you are definitely allowed to ride on the shoulders. Adventure cycling has you, literally, run across the highway a number of times to ride on very poorly paved frontage roads. After doing this a couple of times, we decided to stick to the highway which was paved well.

David in PA

[QUOTE=scum1]Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. Sure the scenery would suck for a large part but it's the challenge!QUOTE]

Good for you! I know exactly where you're coming from.

Many people give similar warnings about Kansas, too, but that proved to be one of my favorite places during my last long tour. It was the coolest feeling, often being able to see all the way to every horizon. Talk about a feeling of freedom! And the Kansas people are some of the best in the US. Yes, it had its boring moments, too, so I had to entertain myself sometimes, like when I counted 100 telephone poles before I would look at my odometer.

I haven't ridden in Texas, but it sounds like something I'd like to try. Every state and locality has its "boring" moments, but everything else you will see and experience will make up for it a hundred-fold.

David in FL

MassLiberal

Joke a german told me about biking through Kansas:

If you bike through Kansas, it's best not to carry weapons.....





You might shoot yourself.


nyuk nyuk nyuk.

scum1

Please check back and let me know how it goes.

George

I just got off the phone with the BBNP and they are booked until the first week in may. The cabins are booked up for 2 years for this time of the year,and I called the motels just outside the entrance and they are booke as well.They have bicycle races, spring break and a motorcycle get together. Besides all of that the spring flowers and the people coming with the RV's, I guess it gets pretty crowded. That's not what I was really looking for.

centexwoody 

As I drove my son to school out in California in January, we drove I-10 from Junction to El Paso across west Texas. I had the Adventure Cycling route in my head as I watched the oddly-spaced sections of service roads appear & disappear parallel to I-10 in the stretch where you have to follow the Interstate. The service roads were all chipseal... and their inconsistent lengths seemed an unpleasant alternative to just riding the Interstate shoulder.

BTW, legal vehicular speeds are 75 & 80 MPH out there on I-10, 70+ for trucks so be prepared!

OBXBIKR

!
Adventure Cycling has a supported tour of the Texas hill country this year. Check their website.

deadly downtube

in a week or so i start my journey which crosses texas... san francisco down to san diego, then east on the southern tier route, across texas, then perhaps down into mexico, or to the east coast.

cyclezealot

Is not most of Texas relatively flat? Sort of like riding across Kansas? Not a big tourist spot.

MassLiberal

Considering that the rockies begin at the Chisos in Big Bend, I would say no, Texas is not flat. Eastern Texas is, but not central (hill country) or Western.

scum1

Here is someone going across texas right now! Will be interesting to follow along with him.


https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=2159&v=g4

cyclezealot

Not sure Tx is my natural choice, but I like the thought of cycling across chunks of land that are massive. a nine day tour. About right. What about services in West Texas. ?

MassLiberal

Services in W Texas are hard to come by, everything closes at 5pm, so make sure you have enough food for at least one extra day.

aroundoz

Even though I was born in Houston, I don't know anything about Texas since we left at an early age. I do know that there is something to be said for desert riding as long as the wind is tolerable and I guess that means no headwind. After about 10 months in Australia, I would have to say the desdert was my favorite partand I am not alone in that regard. There is even an organized ride from Cairns to Normanton, about 400 miles, and it goes through some fairly "bleak" country. Craggy peaks, rivers, rolling hills, are all great, but don't knock a good desert ride during the right time of the year.

Monoborracho

No, its not. Where do you think Lance Armstrong learned to climb hills? Also, Kansas isn't exactly flat.

jabowker

East Texas isn't flat either.

vosyer

Well 2 of us are starting the Southern route mid April and you guys have given us lots to think about. It was now or never this year for a coast to coast trip and our wives wanted us home for the rest of the summer so the TransAm trip got shut down. There appears to more disagrement whether this is a trip worth taking than any of the other routes I have seen!! I hope I won't regret doing it!!!

MassLiberal

No, it's pretty flat on the southern tier route, once you pass to the north of Houston, you don't climb another hill of any significance 'til Mississippi.

Ozona

That's not generally considered "East Texas". It's usually referred to as South East Texas. And, yes, that region is nothing but marshlands, flat pine forests, swamps, and rice/grain fields.

'True' East Texas (aka the Piney Woods) runs roughly east of I-45 and north of Highway 90 and is generally pretty hilly with few exceptions.

MassLiberal

I see, thanks for the geography lesson , as a m*******, I'm not that well versed in what the regions are considered.

yater

Yep...I'm in Tyler and ride/train here daily. There is not one stretch of road in any of my loops (30-75 mile loops) that is not up or down hill. There are NO flats on any of them. Also, anyone who thinks Tx is flat will be in for a rude awakening when they cross the Davis mountains and the hill country. The panhandle is FLAT...so is the gulf region (from beaumont all the way down to "the valley")

scum1

So I got a southern tier map and I'm looking at the Navasota to Merryville, La portion. The route takes you like this.

Their route

Here is how i want to go.

My route

Mine is not as scenic but it saves you 48 miles. 190 has more traffic but it's go a good shoulder most of the way.

I plan on doing the navasota to merryville section this september if anyone is interested. I'll try it as a 2 day ride. Let me know what you think of the route