Weetbix

Hi all,

I'm looking for ideas for a short tour somewhere in the USA of around 2 weeks around early August. I have done the TransAm in 2008, and been down part of the Pacific Coast in 2009, so looking for somewhere different this time.

I am keen to hear of peoples favorite places to do a short tour. Currently I'm looking at Yosemite or Glacier national parks as two options, but would love to hear any ideas. On the TransAm I was particularly fond of the wide open spaces of the plains, that big-sky scenery.

Thank you for your time.

fietsbob

well Montana , North Idaho to
Eastern Washington and Oregon. down to Mt Shasta in NE California.
any fortnight portion of that , perhaps..

Cyclebum

I ran this route last summer and had a great ride. As you've already done the TransAm, for a 2 week tour, consider Billings, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota via the Battle of Litte Big Horn, the Black Hills, the Mickleson Trail, Crazy Horse Monument, and Mt. Rushmore. Of course, Portland to Missoula, via the Columbia River Gorge, SE Washington, and Lolo Pass is spectacular.

There is so much to pick from and most of it is good to amazing.

downtube42

Take a look at Adventure Cycling's Underground Railroad route

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

Five segments covering a total of 2008 miles. In August you might want to skip the southermost segments due to heat; maybe go north to south.

tacomee

I second the Billings MT. to Rapid City SD and maybe on to Minn. even. Really big country, not a lot of cyclists even think about this area. Heat and wind can be tricky, however, in the High Plains. Central/Eastern Oregon is nice as well. (start/end in Eugene). Oregon has the most different landscapes in the smallest area in the USA.... and cycling is easy there.

indyfabz

One option to consider:

https://www.selkirkloop.org/

Adventure Cycling has run tours on part of it, so it's not suited only for cars.

Agree that Oregon is a fantastic place to ride, especially if you can incorporate places like Crater Lake and the Aufderhide Memorial Drive. However, it can be cripsy critter hot in eastern and central Oregon in August.

BigBlueToe

I'm planning on the Selkirk Loop myself this summer. I love that country and haven't been north of Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. I've got to get a passport first, though.

I did the Northern Tier from Seattle (not on the Northern Tier but my brother lives there. I added a few days to ride up Whidbey Island before joining the route proper. Beautiful!) to Glacier National Park. It was wonderful. I'd suggest starting with the idea of Glacier as an endpoint, and work your way backwards, based on your preferred miles-per-day, to find your starting point. Are you flexible about the 2 weeks or is that pretty much set? You could fly into Seattle and start there. You could also fly into Spokane. It's an easy jog up to join the Northern Tier route.

If you should take this suggestion, I'd further suggest that you don't do what I did, which was stop at Apgar and not ride over the Going-To-The-Sun Road. I took the shuttle to the top on a rest day and wished I'd done it. Now I'm going to have to go back at some point.

gorshkov

A circuit of the Olympic Peninsula is about 600 miles. To make it two weeks, you could also throw in Whidby Island and the San Juans.

Weetbix

Hi all,

thank you for the suggestions. I really like the look of the ride you took cyclebum, Montana was one of my favorite states to ride in, as well as Oregon, I enjoy the wide open spaces and don't really mind the heat & wind as much as some might. The 2 weeks is a guesstimate at this stage, I have much more time owing in leave so could take longer, it all depends on whether my employers would allow that. Basically if all goes well it would be a paid trip to the states for a conference, with as much time off as possible before it for riding!

tacomee

Lucky You! Keep us informed about your trip plans.

Cyclebum

That looks to be a real winner for a short loop tour through two countries. There's even a cycling guide with several side trip options. Spokane's within a days ride for arrival/departure convenience. So many places to ride, so little time left to get it done.

Weetbix

Yeah I've been looking into the Selkirk loop and it looks like it might be a winner. Enough side trips & so on to fill up 2 weeks, also easily accessible via Spokane for an international traveller. Having cycling maps for the route is always a bonus, and it looks like there are plenty of places to see and things to do on the loop.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has done the selkirk loop, and I will continue researching it, cheers!

kayakdiver

Adventure Cycling's Washington Parks loop is hard to beat for experiencing just about every kind of view and weather. From rain forest to desert and mountains. Throw in a whole bunch of Ocean views for good measure. 869 miles fits perfect into two weeks. Should be a little extra time for side excursions as well.

Best part is that it's a loop.... so either fly in or ride the train and start touring.

eofelis 

We have a favorite two week tour in southwestern Colorado. It's not as glamourous as some of the others mentioned, but very beautiful.

Left Grand Junction, CO and make a loop south to Durango, CO, over 3 huge mountain passes. Then swing to the northwest through some rugged and desolate places like Disappointment Valley and the Canyon of the Dolores River, and on back to Grand Junction.

Weetbix

Hi eofelis, do you have any photographs or journals of that particular tour? When you say it is not as glamarous, what are you referring to, just the lack of "officiality" ?

Weetbix

Looking into it, the area around Durango, Silverton, Gunnison in Colorado looks like a really nice place to do a tour in, big decisions to make!

eofelis 

Here are photos from our tour of southwestern Colorado:
https://sports.webshots.com/album/553...I?vhost=sports

Not glamourous meaning, no big national parks.

jojama

Weetbix. You gave me great advice on the NZ thread. Thank you. Just so happens to be I'm from Fort Collins, Colorado. I lived in Grand Junction for many years. I'm going to recommend an unforgettable hidden jewel to you. Colorado National Monument. It's worth it, and it loops back to either side of the valley where Grand Junction / Fruita is. I have pictures of it on one of my most recent blog posts at https://www.banquetforthesenses.blogspot.com

The national monument is big sky canyon land. I also recommend the San Juans or anywhere near Moab, Utah.

Beautiful:

eofelis 

Yes, the Colorado National Monument is a fantastic ride!
Grand Junction has lots of great day rides all around.

TOLOCOMan

I'll throw in a suggestion for Southern Utah. Lots of National Parks to hit (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyounlands, Arches etc), and good roads with great scenery and little traffic, especially Route 12.

Those Colorado suggestions would also be good.

Weetbix

Looks like I'm going to have to try & get more time off work to do a 3 week tour (or dare I say 4 week) those canyons look awesome, thanks everyone!

kdiehl

Southern Utah is great, but not in August...way too hot!

Weetbix

The colorado national monument will definitely have to be on my list, those maps for day trips are very cool, and the loop of the monument would be a nice day trip. the more I plan this the longer I need to leave to keep everything in.

At this stage I'm looking at two high-level options, either starting in Grand Junction, or starting in Boulder.

If starting from Boulder I'm thinking heading north to Estes Park, then thru Granby and up to Walden. The portion from Granby to Walden I did on the TransAm and really enjoyed it so wouldn't mind doing it again.

Now, from Walden the next major destination would be Grand Junction, and from what I can identify there are a number of different roads to take to get there, which of the following would you recommend as having the most to offer:

1. South on route 14 to US route 40, south on 131 @ Hayden, take county route 30 @ McCoy to Dotsero. From there somehow get to Grand Junction Does the Interstate have frontage roads or is it just Interstate? I see a CO Rd 342 on google maps which goes from near Glenwood Springs to near Grand Junction, but google maps doesn't have anything much other than that, and old US highway 6 which runs along the interstate, so cannot imagine it would be a good route. There are some roads when zoomed way in but it's impossible to tell if they're actually paved.

2. From Walden, south on route 14 to US 40 then take 40 west all the way to Dinosaur then south on route 139 to Grand Junction - is there much out that far west?

3. south on route 14 to US 40 then west on 40 until Craig, then south on route 13, then west on route 64 to Rangley, then south on 139.

4. South on route 14 then south on US 40 to Kremmling, taking the road south to Walcott, then west on old US highway 6 along the interstate. There appears to be a section here - quite a big one - where it is just interstate and no other road...


Thoughts? I'm just using google maps and was zoomed out a little ways so probably just saw the larger yellow routes & highways on the map, would be interested in any suggestions, smaller roads etc... cheers.

valygrl

Weetbix, I can help you with colorado planning, and give you a 3 week loop from boulder I did last year, similar to your boulder idea. It could be shortened. Some of the roads you mention are not that great, but there are great substitutes.

There is one short section of mandatory freeway riding on I70 east of Loveland pass, but much of what looks like you have to ride the freeway actually has bike path, both near frisco and glenwood springs.

I'm in an airport right now, so I'll get it together later. If you want, PM me for my Skype ID and we can chat.

I cycled nz a few years ago and loved it.

jamawani 

Bix -

Actually, you can do a fabulous tour of Glacier and Yellowstone in two weeks and August is a very pleasant time to do so. It's well past wildflower season, but the Northern Rockies are lovely. Did you have a loop or a one-way trip in mind? You can do a road loop in two weeks with little spare time for hiking or back roads. If you do a one-way trip, you would have lots of additional time for dirt roads (if you mountain bike) or hiking.

Getting to your starting point and getting back can be a problem in Montana and Wyoming since travel options are limited. If you fly into Seattle, there is direct air service to a number of points in Montana from SeaTac (Kalispell, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, Bozeman) or you can take Amtrak overnight to Whitefish near Glacier. All of those Montana cities have bike shops. If you fly into Salt Lake City, you can make connections to many Montana cities as well as to West Yellowstone and Jackson, Wyoming.

The Great Parks Route by Adventure Cycling has you going west of the Continental Divide in Montana. It's an O.K. ride, but some of the roads are narrow, without shoulders, and you have pretty dense forest. The east side of the divide - US 89 - is wide open with spectacular views of the Front Range. Prevailing winds make it a little easier to ride southeasterly, but Going to the Sun Road in Glacier is better east to west. Personally, I think you should save Going to the Sun for last. The proverbial icing on the cake.

Possible itinerary -
Start in Whitefish Kalispell and follow the west side of the divide. Since you did the TransAm already, I would route you slightly differently than the ACA route. South on MT 83, then east on MT 200, then over Flescher Pass to Helena via MT 279 and Birdseye Road. It is way better to loop east of Canyon Ferry Reservoir than to take US 287. Then I would head over to Bozeman and follow US 191 via the Gallatin Canyon into Yellowstone. US 191 can be moderately busy - I've ridden it many times without any problems. Lots of places to camp - developed or random. Start early - quit if it gets to busy - ride in the evening, too.

If you ride all the way to Grand Teton National Park (and you should) then you can do both sides of the "Figure 8" in Yellowstone. Then head back north on US 89 via Livingston and Great Falls to Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation. From Browning, I would suggest continuing north on IR 464 to Babb and heading into Many Glacier - superb. Then finish your trip by riding Going to the Sun Road. BTW - Rising Sun is a far nicer place to camp on the east side than St Mary. And Avalanche is quieter than Sprague Creek and has a great trail to Avalanche Lake.

Part of one of my journals -
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=26429&v=OF