Jared Thomas

I am planning to tour from Philadelphia, PA to San Francisco, CA. Can anyone help me with planning a route? Tips, websites, etc. would be very helpful. Anything you'd like to share. Thank you so much!

-Jared Thomas

neilfein

Google Maps is the first site I go to when planning a route, but for something this long, I'd head over to Adventure Cycling and order some of their maps. Their routes have an excellent reputation in the touring community, and their booklets are well worth the money; they're cycling-specific, and come with notes telling you about bike shops, bike-friendly businesses, trails, and so on. It looks like combining part of their Transamerica Trail with their Western Express route might work for you.

Once you have a rough route, you might want to learn from people who've cycled there before you. Crazy Guy on a Bike has tons of tour journals that went through San Francisco. (The ones around Pittsburgh are mostly tours from Pittsburgh to DC, a very popular route.)

Once you have a route... keep in mind that once you hit the road, be prepared to toss all your planning if you think of a better way to do the tour!

Have you toured before? If not, I highly recommend riding some shorter tours first to "shake down" any issues or gaps in your experience when you're close to home.

So Many Roads

Google maps is a good place to start.

However, carefully examine the route it gives you and alter it.

I just rode a 260-mile round trip in which Google tried to route me through an off-limits military reservation. I caught that before I left and changed the route--but the new route it gave me was over a major two-lane 70mph truck route with no shoulder. I had to create another new route on the fly. Also, things like construction (and closed roads/MUPs with lengthy detours) are beyond google's ken. Google is a good place to START, it should never be the last word.

Another Google problem: it won't print usable bike maps. For that, I download USGS quads from Libre map project, shrink them down to 8x11 size, print them off, and mark my route. This is nice because it helps when re-routing on the fly as I had to do a few times on a 260 mile trip. The quads also have better contour lines than google.

I agree that what Adventure Cycling puts out are the best, but they don't often go where I want to go. If you, like me, want to go your own way, start with google. But don't trust it. It's far from perfect.

B. Carfree

While many people will tell you how wonderful the ACA maps are, don't believe it. The ones I have looked at all seem to lack critical local knowledge and lead cyclists onto needlessly dangerous roads when much better routes are available. Try contacting local bike clubs along the way to get better routes through their areas. Also, beware Google maps. It likes to make up connections between roads; always double check the route with another unrelated site.

Dahon.Steve

I've had very good results using Garmin and there Streets and Trips software. It doesn't have to be expensive if you buy used off ebay. The old monochrome Garmin Legend is fine and works and sells for under 100 bucks on Ebay.

Creating your own routes is truly the best way to go. It takes quality time to create a route that avoids the worse highways but a good route is going to require lots of turns. Out west, I'm not so sure but in New Jesery, I'll average about 50-60 turns for 70 miles of road which isn't too bad. I prefer this than riding on one fast highway with no shoulder.

BigBlueToe

I've been very pleased with the ACA maps I've used. I think one of the biggest advantages is that they take you off the highways and onto peaceful, bucolic roads when they can. They also have lots of helpful information. No, they're not perfect, but they're so helpful that I'd consider following one of their routes so I could use the map. Having said that, I don't want to discount the fun of creating your own route, and making changes along the way. Of course, you can sort of do that with ACA maps by either choosing a different road for part of the ride, or deciding on stops as you go - not following a pre-planned itinerary.

I have not found that they lead you onto dangerous roads. My experience has been the opposite - the routes avoid them.

I used Google maps to plan a tour last spring. I ended up on a road which first turned to dirt and then vanished. All I can guess is that the road is on the drawing board and they've started constructing it but haven't finished. I had to backtrack and scramble to get back on track. I couldn't get to the campground I had planned on and had to stay in a motel. Not the worst thing, but I don't think it would have happened if I'd been following an ACA map, or a route that had been ridden and tested by someone else.

neilfein

Allow me to clarify -- Google Maps is a great tool for rough planning, because it's (a) easy to use and (b) has satellite imagery and streetview, that allow you to check the roads in advance. The pictures below - the first one is a good road to bike on (it used to be part of my commuting route), the second is lousy to ride on, particularly during rush hour. Where StreetView isn't available, you can use satellite imagery to look for shoulders.

This thread has links to more tools you can use, and gets into how to eke out altitude data from Google Maps.

lechatmort

Instead of printing out google maps you can also take pictures of it (handy on the road), or use an application that assembles bigger maps and put them on your cell phone/camera afterwards.

valygrl

I thing Google Maps is a horrible route planning tool.

www.AdventureCycling.org sells maps, if you want to use their routes.
www.crazyguyonabike.com has journals of other people's trips, you can see where they went.

State Departments of Transportation have resources for their state - PA has a good network of bike routes, signed on the road and with maps available for download for the DOT web site.

Cyclebum

Don't like surprises or research? Use the ACA maps. They'll very likely save you as much as they cost, keep you off most of the more dangerous roads, reveal needed service locations, and educate you about local interest spots and history. They now include elevation profiles.

Or for DIY, order states maps online. They're free, compact, and adequately detailed for a bicycle tour, with a bit of experience. Rough out your route with Google Maps, then transfer to the state maps. You can use satellite/street views to zero in on questionable sections. Better yet, contact Warmshowers hosts along the route for their advice about specific routes through their areas, and maybe a place to overnight. Great resource.

A couple of 3 day mini tours should get you ready for this expedition.

Cychologist

Contacting bike clubs and shops along your route is an excellent way to fine tune your route.

uciflylow

I have had good luck using Google along with state gazetters. I just returned form a 448 mile tour around parts of TN and this was invaluable. I encountered 4 roads that where closed that I had to work around to reach my destination. This could be a problem on multi state routes as you have to have one for each state. I have been know to tear out the pages I would need and just take them.
This is not a perfect plan. I did end up on two roads, for a short time, that where a nightmare to ride on. I use to street view and satalite views from Google to help me plan on roads to use.
I also like to do research on places to stop, see, and bike shops for repairs should this become nessary.

Bacciagalupe

For a route like that, I concur that ACA is your best bet.

For shorter routes, or for sections that don't fall into the ACA map, I highly recommend www.ridewithgps.com

It's a snap to use for planning rides; they use Google Maps as the base, but let you select the route step-by-step, include elevations, can create cue sheets, save routes and so forth.

staehpj1

Personally I find AC maps great if they have a route that goes where I want to go. They are well worth the money.

The OP doesn't say when he is going, but the Trans America combined with the Western Express would fit his start and finish choices pretty well. Personally I'd skip the WE and take the TA to the Pacific Northwest. Then either ride the Pacific Coast route down to SF or hop on a train depending on his schedule.

drmweaver2

The one disadvantage to ACA maps is that they are narrow "strip maps" - only about 5-10 miles wide along their routes. So, you can "lose track of the big picture" as far as your location goes - ex., I know I'm in Kansas, Dorothy. But how far am I from Auntie Em's/what direction is city X, both of which happen to be more than 5 miles off the ACA route.

This is not a "knock" on ACA maps. It's easy to work around, but requires carrying additional maps if that knowledge is desired.

EKW in DC

Cool resource. I didn't know if its existence. I'll have to check it out at home where Internet bandwidth usage is not an issue/monitored. :-\

Thanks for the lead.

staehpj1

Yes I have found that it is really easy to not get the big picture with them. As you say, not a huge problem, but something to be aware of. We generally just pick up a state maps at each state line and throw away the one from the state we are leaving unless we meet someone who can use it. Alternately if I am mailing anything home anyway I also send any map(s) I am done with home too.

nancy sv

We've found the easiest way to figure out where we're going is to simply get some basic AAA highway maps and then sit down with people in an area and ask them for the best route - they have always been more than happy to help us out.

We haven't used Google maps at all, but then we are notoriously bad at planning our route and like to leave it open til the last minute. If you like to plan things out in advance, it is probably a great tool.

As for the ACA maps - they are a mixed bag. Yes, they are great maps and have tons of wonderful info on them. They tell you everything you need to know. That's the problem with them too. In many ways, they tend to take the unexpected out of touring - and that's what we like best.

We've also found that it's harder to meet local people when we jump on to an ACA route for a while. It's like there are so many cyclists we just get jumbled up with all the rest and nobody really notices us or takes the time to talk with us. When we're not on the ACA route, we meet tons of people and that's one of hte best parts of touring for us. For that reason, we tend to stay away from the ACA routes.

BigBlueToe

The "big picture" thing is certainly true. However, I focus on the positive. When I'm riding a paritcular route I may be missing a spectacular sight that's right over the hill if I only knew. But I'm riding a bicycle through the countryside. Unless I've been there before, everything is new. I'm getting exercise and getting healthy in a fun, exciting way. So I miss something. On balance I'm far ahead.

My first "big" tour (longer than a week) was down the west coast from Seattle to Santa Cruz. I carried "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" by Kirkendall and Spring. The book told of lots of attractions along the way. I don't think I saw any of them - except the cheese factory in Tillamook - I went in there to escape a rainstorm. When I got to the campgrounds I often didn't even walk down to the beach. I was simply too tired and wanted to lie down and read or nap. But I was enjoying beautiful vistas from the saddle of my bike all day long. On balance, I don't think I short-changed myself.

drmweaver2

I prefer my own research to "pre-packaged" as with the ACA stuff because I don't know what they considered but left out or just didn't consider/know about. Planning a trip is almost as much fun as doing a trip.

I think for pre-trip "route planning", as opposed to being out on the road, large scale maps are definitely valuable - even atlas sized maps. With today's digital technology, I can "carry" a lot more maps and on/off-route information than ever before. Knowing I have information available before I leave for when/if I need it (like bailout points, plans, mail drop points, etc.) on-road means I don't have to worry about it while riding.

Once out on the road, weight and space come into play, which is where the pre-trip planning really should help out. I Xerox a regional map to cover my entire route on 1 8"x11" sheet of paper and annotated it with numbers showing the key off-route diversions/places that might be needed or of interest --- like nearest big city/town with a bike shop, car rental, bus station, etc. Numbers & dots with major city names on the map side, explanations of the numbers on the back side. Bailout points are something I feel should be researched at least minimally ahead of time, for example. I have another legend with interesting side trips/touristy sites on a 2nd sheet also covering the entire route. These are the only 2 maps that I feel I NEED to have plasticized and carry with me everywhere. Between these two sheets and the more detailed route sheets I've made, I don't think I carry more or less than is needed or useful but I don' thesitate to add a map while enroute if appropriate.

One thing I've been lucky with is I have been "into" map study of the continental US since at least elementary school (I remember a big ole National Geographics atlas I used to pour over in the early '60's). That and a love of American history really help researching a trip. Start with THE purpose - the most important thing/place to see and where I want to start/end - then pick an appropriate time/length for the trip, finally scrape the pennies together and begin to figure how much of the "dream trip" needs to be whittled away to be feasible within those constraints. During pre-trip planning, I add things/days for adventures along the main route for the purpose of breaking any sense of riding monotony or for the purpose of having reached at least some goal should the trip need to be cut short for some reason after actually getting out on the road.

Most of this "method" and perspective was developed as a backpacker/hiker and proved very useful when I did the Appalachian Trail and parts of the Pacific Crest Trail and also while car-touring the American Southwest. The transferables from those experiences include: emergencies are emergencies - they must be dealt with as they happen; there's never enough time to do or see "everything"; enroute surprises & discoveries are opportunities to change one's best laid plans; weather can be planned for but Mother Nature should never be underestimated. Finally, locals always know how to get to the next town; if they can get there, I can get there.

jamawani 

I must agree with Valygrl. Google Maps can really get you into trouble.
Heck - it even dumps drivers off into the middle of nowhere at times.
If you do you Google maps - the operative phrase is - "Beware!"

Why? Because - -
(1) It is designed primarily for drivers - Point A to Point B.
(2) It will often put you on busy highways unsuited for cycling.
(3) Especially in the West - it may route you on private ranch roads.

There are two major factors that impact route suitability -
First, the volume of traffic - nearly all of us would prefer delightful country roads with hardly any traffic. Second, shoulders - if there is any traffic, it's nice to have the safety of a good shoulder.
Generally speaking, less than 500 vehicles per day is extremely low traffic, up to 1000 is low, up to 2000 is fair, 2000 to 4000 gets busy, more than 4000 is very busy. There probably will not be shoulders on roads with low traffic - less than 1000 - but you hardly need them anyway. In the mid range it is nice to have them. On busy roads they are essential.

So, how then do you find this stuff out? First stop - traffic volume maps from state departments of transportation. Google "State Name" and "DOT". Nearly all states have traffic volume maps on their DOT websites but they are in different places. Also many states have cycling maps - but they vary from good to pretty colors. Lastly, many states have county road maps on their state DOT websites - these are good to help find back roads - although not many states have traffic volume data for these back roads. (Generally, not always, you can assume light traffic.)

So here is a traffic volume map from Kansas -
(It doesn't hurt to have a state map/atlas out so you can cross reference.)
https://www.ksdot.org/burtransplan/ma...alFlowMaps.asp
Note that in west Kansas - Hwy 18, Hwy 96, and Hwy 4 have the least traffic.
(The ACA Transam route follows Hyw 96 and Hwy 4.)
US 24 and US 36 are fair, but busier.
US 50 and US 56 have the heaviest traffic and would be the worst choices.

Once you select low traffic routes, you will probably have some sections where you simply must choose roads that have heavier than ideal traffic volumes. Here is where Google come in handy. You can use Google streetview to verify if the busier highways have shoulders or not. By now, most of these highway sections should have streetview. If not, you can try calling the district offices for the state DOT - since they are the ones who will have the detailed knowledge of shouder conditions.

Hope this helps. - - J

CHAS

Do you put the maps in plastic covers? In plastic map pockets on the front bag?

neilfein

I put maps or cue sheets in the map cover on my Ortlieb handlebar bag. If you don't have such a thing, you can easily make a map cover out of office supplies. Report covers, duct tape, and strips of velcro to secure it all to your handlebars will do the trick very well.

Something I learned on my second-ever tour: Don't use an inkjet printer to print your cue sheet. The ink runs like crazy at the first decent rainstorm, even with a map cover.