digibud

I'm an Alaskan considering taking a winter break and coming south to do a tour. I've toured a bit before. I did a two week tour down Hwy1 starting up at Port Angeles but most of my other touring has been in Alaska where I can simply pull over, walk into the woods and put up my tent. I don't care much for established camp grounds but I can live with that. I'm familiar with the concept of "stealth" camping and have no real issue with that either.
I've noted the Arizona thread and that looks like an interesting possibility. I'll probably do roughly 50-60mi a day but not much more. I'm 62. I like camping and if I do this it will be fully loaded. I've never had to deal with creepy crawling things or a lack of water so touring in desert areas would be a very new thing for me. I don't want to deal with anything approaching snow or real cold temps.
My initial questions are about some basic route ideas for about 500-750mi, roughly and some recommendation for a good time frame anywhere from late Oct through Feb.
I have a mtn bike that I might use for this, or I may buy a touring bike. I sold my old Trek 720 some time ago when I "knew" I would never be able to use it again .
I'm going to post a separate question with generic desert touring questions.


Oh yeah...the question....any winter routes with camping along the way in the SW that are rideable in the winter?

hybridbkrdr

I don't see the question in your post but I'll add this for fun and entertainment.

I once rode in the middle of the snow where no plowing had been done. And I found 26x1.95 tires weren't quite wide enough to "float" on the snow. I figured wider tires could have done better. So, here is a link for fat tire frames. lol
https://www.bikeman.com/store/merchan...e-asc&show=500

This includes the Surly Moonlander, Pugsley, Krampus,
Salsa Beargrease, Mukluk,
Carver Bikes Ti Snow, Trans-Fat,
and Kona Wo.

stevepusser

Along with the Arizona low desert, that time of year is the best for the Anza-Borrego desert in far southern California. It's an interesting area with badlands, palm groves, jagged mountains, some hot springs, hike and bike sites at the big campground in Borrego springs, and free, legal, open camping in most of the rest of the park. Between that area and more interesting desert in Arizona lies the Salton Trough, which is basically flat and boring, though there's an artesian hot well under the I-8 freeway just east of Holtville.

Don't worry too much about creepy-crawlies; sure, if you run around turning over rocks, you may find some scorpions and snakes, but cool winter nights will make those much less active. The same goes for ants and other bugs that you want to keep out of your sleeping bag. The worst pests may be cute little rodents, such as kangaroo mice and rats, that will chew holes into your gear in search of that marvelously-smelling trail mix.

Machka 

If you're going to be flying somewhere to tour between late October and February, and if you don't want to deal with anything approaching snow or cold temps ... you might consider Australia or New Zealand. It's summer here then.

Cyclebum

Route? Anywhere rural in southern California and Arizona. Consider a round of the Salton Sea for quirky fun. With your experience, overnighting won't be much of an issue.

Heading for SE AZ in January myself. Just because.

valygrl

That's just what I was thinking too.

fietsbob

There's Argentina and Chile too .. India?

Barrettscv 

If you stay close to the coast, the Mediterranean Island of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia are mild, (40-50f) scenic, and mostly free of tourists.

stevepusser

You can also consider adding the Southern California coast to that trip, which is never going to have snow. If you head to the desert through Banning Pass, that only reaches 2500 ft, that can be pretty much be counted on to be snow-free. Any of the other Socal passes (4000'-4500') won't get any snow until the very late fall or winter, and they get clear in a day or so. Routes can start in San Diego, L.A., or Santa Barbara, go up or down the coast a bit, then head inland to Banning Pass, the Palm Springs area, then south to the Anza-Borrego desert, then east to Arizona. There are a few hike and bike sites in CA state parks along this route, such as the coast, Lake Perris, Anza Borrego SP, etc.

valygrl

Banning Pass.... is that the I-10 frontage road? Ick. Going over Hwy 74 (?) is much nicer - if the weather is good.

stevepusser

Yes, it's more scenic, but with considerably more climbing. It's up to the OP as whether he wants that. I do get the impression he doesn't want to camp anywhere along that route at the higher altitudes.