Ron Fancy

I'm taking my custom Circle-A bicycle (of science!) coast to coast with just me, a one person tent, a sleeping bag, and some basic supplies. I have the basic route planned out, but I don't know how much I should trust the google maps bicycle suggestions going from city to city, and because it's such a mega-long trip, I'd like to stay as flat as possible and take the more direct bike-friendly routes.

SO. Rather than asking y'all for a way to get from here to Cali, I'll just list the major cities I'm passing through, and if anyone knows the best way through those parts, or knows of a good online route map or journal, let me know :O).

If any of yas would like to follow my trip. Check out my tumblr page: Bike Fancy.

I'm cheating a bit and starting in Woonsocket, RI, and heading to Albany, NY.

Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY.

Buffalo to Toronto.

Toronto to Detroit.

Detroit to Chicago.

Chicago to Davenport, IA.

Davenport to Omaha, NE.

Omaha to Cheyenne, WY.

Cheyenne to Salt Lake City, UT.

Salt Lake City to Delta, UT.

Delta to Reno, NV.

Reno to Sacramento, CA.

Sacramento to San Francisco.

Any ideas?

mev

Unless you have strong motivation to go through Cheyenne, I'd probably follow the South Platte and then come across via Fort Collins, Walden, etc. I've done many parts of this including:

Reno to Salt Lake via Delta: https://www.mvermeulen.com/nevada/index.htm
Salt Lake to Fort Collins: https://www.mvermeulen.com/saltlake/index.htm
Cheyenne to Cedar Rapids: https://www.mvermeulen.com/lincoln/index.html
Reno to SF Bay Area: https://www.mvermeulen.com/reno/index.htm

Ron Fancy

Awesome! And I actually have family in Cheyenne, and miigghhhtt be able to hitch a ride over the Rockies. Even if I can't, I'll have a place to spend a few days to rest up, shower, and eat well before I take them on.

fishtoes2000

Unfortunately we won't have USBRS 36 ready for you by summer. That route connects Detroit and Chicago.

There is no crossing for bicyclists between Windsor and Detroit though you can probably sweet talk a Transit Windsor bus driver to let you bring your ride on board if the bus isn't too full.

The other option is to cross the St. Mary's river by ferry near Marine City, Michigan. Routes between Marine City and Detroit aren't bad except for the portion in Macomb County.

Ron Fancy

Aw son of a gun. It can't be walked across anywhere on the side of the bridge either?

Do ye know how much that Ferry costs?

OldZephyr

Hi, have you checked out the set of free Illinois Bicycling Maps and the free Iowa Bicycle Map?

Iowa DOT was fast in sending their map to me, here's the website: https://www.iowadot.gov/maps//msp/pdf/bikemappdf.html

Illinois DOT has a set of free maps that cover the state. You can look at them county by county here: https://www.dot.state.il.us/bikemap/state3.html, or you can contact Illinois DOT (I just called them at 217-782-7820) and they'll send you the full maps that you want. They took a few weeks to get to me, however.

Both Illinois and Iowa have so many paved township and county roads that you can find a good route quite easily with a hard surface and little traffic. You generally don't have to go on state or US highways. There's also some east west bike trails that might serve your purposes, although some aren't asphalt (they might have limestone screenings and the like, but that works for a touring setup).

Aaron