ChiapasFixed

i would like to take 2 months for this trip, beginning sept 15
anybody done something like this route, or parts of it?
montana>s. dakota>nebraska>missouri, any advice on best roads is welcome
i have never gone this far before!

Norsman

It all depends on whether or not you want to go through parts of Canada or head straight down to the US. If you want to go through Canada I would take Highway 7 from Vancouver to Hope and then Highway 1 to Kamloops. You could then continue directly to the Rockies along Hwy 1 and either through Banff National Park to Alberta or take the Rocky Mountain trench south from Golden and cross into the US on either side of the Rockies.

An alternate route from Kamloops would be to go north on Highway 5 and east on Highway 16 to Jasper National Park. From Jasper go south through the Columbia Icefields to Banff. Then either go through Banff and eventually head south to the US or switch to the west side of the Rockies on Highway 93 and go south and again decide which side of the Rockies to cross into the US.

If you want to do most of your trip through the US you can go south past Bellingham and take Highway 20 - the North Cascade Highway. There are various routes to take south from Vancouver. Check with a local bike shop or Mountain Equipment Co-op for the best route. Highway 20 is a great route but has significant climbs.

Of the three routes I have listed the Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper route is probably the least difficult and the North Cascades the most challenging. All three routes have great scenery. Search through the following link if you want descriptions of all three routes.

https://www.vanc.igs.net/~roughley/bike_bc.html

Once you get past the Rockies you will have to get info from others because I don't know which would be the best route from there.

RCordone

Are you going to the "farm"?

jamawani 

Diga me, por favor -

Are you aware that your chance of snow in the Rockies is pretty high?
I did my first cross-country trip in 1987 on a diagonal -
From Astoria to North Carolina, but I left on September 1st.
Even so, I got caught in an early snowstorm.

With that said, autumn is a beautiful time for a tour -
And autumns in the East have been starting later.
But the West is another thing - especially this year.
Check out these two journals on Crazyguy about late Sept.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=63547&v=6a
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=63783&v=4k

Personally, I think it is a good idea to be out of the Rockies by Sept 22,
And even then, to be prepared to catch a quick snow in the first three weeks of the month.
(And I have lived and biked in Wyoming for more than 20 years.)

I'm not sure if you want to include Glacier NP or Yellowstone NP.
Both parks have passes that may be closed by late September.
The lower you are - the less chance of snow.

You will need to be doing a sharper diagonal than I did.
Diagonal options are limited in the Great Plains - most routes run N-S or E-W.
The few diagonal connectors tend to have heavy traffic.

You may want to consider part of the Katy Trail across Missouri.
And to get to Summertown, the Trace in Land Between the Lakes is a great option.

Best - J

wrk101

+1 Sept 15th start, you could/will see snow in the Rockies. I got snow at Yellowstone on Labor Day a few years back.

Now if you start at Denver or Rapid City, SD or similar, you should be fine.

ChiapasFixed

yes! i am going to the farm for my Gaia University 2nd year masters program

ChiapasFixed

thanks all for the advice, looks like i may not have time for the whole trip by bike,as i have been told i need to be in tennessee by oct 15, so i am considering taking a train or plane halfway, then biking one month, in which case i would probably avoid the snow....
anyway, i will post an update before i am ready to roll

wrk101

Good move, will take off a lot of the pressure!