I was wondering several things on roads and highways. I know in alot of cities(like mine), you have designated bike routes. My question for this one is, I am planning on a ride from Maryland to Daytona Beach Fla, is it a requirement(law) that bicyclist must follow all designated bike routes, or can you follow any route you choose?

This is going to be my first long haul on a bike(longest so far being about 84.5 miles on a flat, dirt trail). Are there any maps available to bicyclers of roads that are the best and safest? I am hoping to avoid any large cities and also hoping for at least alot of roads less traveled by vehicles.

I'm probably asking to much, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I think there are some maps available from bike touring groups. The touring forum would probably be your best source. Also make sure to do a search. Just doing a general search for touring maps got me this https://www.bikeforums.net/search.php?searchid=6149924

I would assume there are no sidepath laws anywhere on your route. You might get hassled if you are riding in the road instead of a visible bike path. I would ask this question in the touring forum.

You can legally ride on practically any highway, except for the Interstate Highways (and even in the West, you can ride them if there is no practical alternative).

An easy way to plan a long distance trip is to get one of the pre-planned routes from the Adventure Cycling Association. They have a route down the East Coast - you can buy their maps as a starter:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...anticcoast.cfm

The advantage of their maps is they've already thought through the best routes, and also marked places to stay, campgrounds, and bike shops along the route.

Sometimes the best touring route is a quiet back road...sometimes it's a busy highway with big broad shoulders. The ACA maps are an attempt to strike the right balance.

The other way to do is just get state highway maps, and look for the smallest paved route that's more-or-less direct to where you want to go.

You can also check each state's transportation department - many states of marked preferred bike routes, or bicycle coordinators who post preferred routes. Some states also maintain published traffic volume statistics so if you're planning a route you can choose a road based on observed traffic volume.

No ... as long as you stay off freeways that indicate no bicycles are allowed, you can go anywhere you want. When you're on a bicycle, you are a vehicle of the road.

And if you're looking for routes, get a basic road map, avoid the freeways, and just go explore!

if you haven't figured out that you can and probably should (in most cases) ride on the road... you might want to get some more experience before heading off on a long tour.

and check out the touring forum... where this post should be moved to.

I really like AAA maps for figuring out routes, in particular maps of urban areas. The scales and sizes are such that that they have a lot of detail to find the smaller roads, with presumably less traffic, but cover a lot of area if you want to skirt around a city. FWIW.

Welcome to the Touring Forum. That IS where you put your post, BTW.

Ride on any highway you want, except the interstates or where otherwise specifically prohibited by signage.

Use Googe Maps to preplan your route. The satellite views let you check details. State road maps for additional details and use on the way are all you need. More specific maps, like ACA, are bonuses.

As a touring newby, you might want to consider ordering the ACA maps that closest approximate your route. They are specific for bicycle touring and are very detailed.

it is now.

it was in LD and someone moved it... hence all of us in LD recommending that he check out the touring forum.

And I thank all of you who recommended me checking here, instead of over there! I guess being a newby to touring, I'm entitled to one mistake a day...???

Thanks for all the responses, and I have read and re-read, taking all the thoughts in. I have a road-atlas that I use when driving truck, I have been looking in there to see what I can come up with, but I asked here because maybe a cycling group or service may have had something better.

So thank you for the welcome, and you can look forward to more questions popping up as they arise.