captaincarrot

Okay so this summer me and my best friend are planning a bike tour starting in Central Texas, headed west through NM and AZ towards California,continue to head north through Oregon and Washington, head west into Idaho and up to Glacier National Park then head south towards Yellowstone, Utah and then finally Colorado. We have May-August to do this so I'm hoping we can squeeze everything in. So far I've been doing as much research/prepartion as I can from reading touring forums and the bicycle traveler's blueprint to get as much information as I can.

Right now my main concern is biking through the desert safely in the summer heat. Is this possible or totally ill-advised and foolish? We want to first go to Carlsbad caverns, bike through the national park into Lincoln National park/Ruidoso, head west towards I-85 and take it north towards Albuquerque. From there we plan to continue west towards Flagstaff/The grand canyon, head towards Las Vegas and then finally through Death Valley into California.

I know this sounds ambitious but we plan to train extensively for the next 5 months to be as best prepared physically as we possibly can. We are carefully planning a route so we can stop in a town/park and refill on water and food every 1-2 days. Still, mother nature is not to be taken lightly and I want to know if anyone else has done anything like this before or let me know if we are completely over our head. Also, the other issue is that in order to finish the trip in time we are looking at an average of 80-90 miles a day. We have never done a bike tour before and I'm not sure the difficulty level in doing this in extreme heat. Any advice on this trip would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

B. Carfree

I think I'd be inclined to go north from NM and then turn west at the appropriate time in order to do the coastline in a southerly direction. In the summer, the south winds are pretty unrelenting along the coast and if you head northbound from SoCal to WA, you're in for a world of hurt. Also, the best view is from the southbound lane/shoulder, so that should be considered. Of course, you're going to find headwinds no matter where you go north, so it's not like you get a free ride.

raybo

Riding through the desert in the summer seems like a bad idea to me. Also, planning a ride that requires multiple 80-90 miles days doesn't sound much fun either.

Washington down to San Diego is a fabulous ride, as is Washington to Glacier and then Yellowstone. Lower distance per day gives you more time to explore and soak in.

I'd suggest planning a shorter ride in a beautiful place or places. Save the desert for the fall or spring.

indyfabz

+1. You are probably going to be miserable. As Raybo suggests, give yourself time to explore and take things in.

stevepusser

No to Death Valley in late May-June. Just no. It's not named Death Valley on some whim.

zonatandem

Too many miles day-after-day especially for novices or first time tourers.
Do not over-plan as the unexpected usually happens; be adaptable.
Try a few weekend tours first before you even think of starting on that trip!
Have ridden in temps as high as 117 degrees here in Tucson and hundreds of times in 100+ degrees.
Stopping for water once a day or every other day? Stopping at city parks in the desert?
You are in for a rude awakening . . .

10 Wheels

You can do it by starting before daylight (using lights) reaching your destination by 12-1 PM

Did this in the heat. NY to LA June 25 to Aug 22

13 days in Texas.



4:30 AM Start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNL16...eature=related

mev

One suggestion: try doing this loop in opposite direction and then taking Amtrak back from Los Angeles to at least El Paso, perhaps San Antonio depending on how much time you have left...

Thulsadoom

The biggest mistake you're making is asking on-line whether or not you might be making a mistake. People love to discourage others from undertaking a journey that might be more than they themselves might want to try. You want to go, go. And don't listen to people who likely spend a lot more time on their computers than they spend riding their bikes tell you it's too much for you.

Your plan sounds great to me. May and June should be good months to travel through the southwest. Sure, headwinds are probable in some areas, but that's true almost anywhere. Heat may or may not be a factor. That early in the year you might have high temps or you may not. You may end up with more heat farther north in July and August than you have in Arizona and So. Cal in May/June.

Just do it. If you're in good shape and keep a positive attitude you'll be fine and should have the time of your lives.

polishmadman

Just to start....May and June, temps WILL be in the 100's. March and April are better times to travel. It can be anywhere from 60's to 80's then.

Plus, I would plan my water stops carefully. Don't push it. carry lots of water. The towns are pretty far apart. Just to give an idea how far the towns are from each other in the southwest. It's 60 miles from Las Vegas to Primm, nv. And I wouldn't go that route anyways. Its a deathtrap. I drink about 80oz of water on a 13 mile commute from May to Aug. But I sweat like a pig.

I'm not trying to discourage the trip. It sounds like an awesome adventure. Just be careful. We hear about people disappearing in the desert all the time.

So again, plan carefully

fietsbob

Once you ride to California, take Amtrak to the Canadian Border, then ride down the coast, south.

prevailing wind will be out of the north, at your back, rather than always battling a Headwind.



or as mev suggests , modifying it, .. start in the northwest, then ride towards home.

BLYTZPK

I drive N-S-N in a GT Ford van, bicycle training in Flat Florida with road temps @ 120. I'm above Yuma mid April..110. People ride DV in late April its not that hot WINDY DIRT ,,,see Weather underground hehehhe for climate history down the page.

Road out of DV...190/136 to Lone Pine is EPIC. Great riding up 395...there's an MTB tour book Eastern Sierra.

Going over the Sierra is carefully chosen and done. I would get local advice say from an SF club. See Utube video for motorcycles and bikes for routes over up near Tahoe

The coast highway is dangerous. We are fast and skilled. That said, I am passed by ranchers pulling horses who know the road. Itsa beast. You wanna see arroyo ? Try Google Earth.

IMHO, the coast road is a negative. Bad weather, bad drivers, bad food. The scenery thru Oregon is ok but the road dangerous.

The negatives are so caws Cal One from SF to Big Sur is sooo good. Still extremely dangerous in short stretches...this is California but the road, scenery, people and food are good. With drugs, crazy Cals, and gawking at the ocean....

You can climb Booney Doone !

Hearst Castle to Reyes National Seashore then into SF is AAA

Super place. OR and Wa are dumps. Check out Touring The San Andreas if you plan on Monterey. There's a ride out to San Juan Battista.

The Cascade Highway is excellent with 'remote' routing up thru Idaho.

GL !

BLYTZPK

There's a post at rec.bicycles.tech: RALLY TO WORK. The post lists UTUBE video for crossing the Sierra and Coast Ranges.

Ukiah to Booneville to (backroad turn left only) Manchester is a treat !!

blauger

As others have pointed out, 80-90 mi per day is a lot and IMO, might not be sustainable for 3-4 months. A lot depends upon your age, fitness and determination but fully loaded, that's probably pushing it especially for first time tourers.

As far as desert is concerned, I've toured in N. Calif. in temps of 100+ but there's shade here and water is never more than a few miles away.

captaincarrot

Thank you everyone for all the responses. Y'alls advice has made us rethink a few key points in our trip. We're basically doing the same route but in reverse, so going up north first through colorado, utah, wyoming, go further west then head south to california. I had no idea about those summer headwinds, and that sounds pretty awful. As for the desert part, we're probably going to take a bus through death valley and into Vegas then bike from the grand canyon to there, end up in Flagstaff and finally fly back to Texas.

As for the physical fitness part to do 70, 80 or even 100 miles aday, we are both training pretty extensively already so I'm not to worried about that. I'm on the rowing team here at school and he's on the triathlon team here so we're both getting our bodies hammered on top of our bike training.

Finally, If anyone has some cool spots we should check out on the trip please let me know! We are hitting all the big national parks already but I know there are a ton of obscure beautiful spots everywhere. Once again, Thanks for the input!

Steve B.

OK, Chiming in late. Some thoughts.

1) May in NM and northern Arizona is not going to see temp's in the 100's. It's not actually that common in August at the higher elevations in NM. Possibly in northern AZ, which is a bit lower (except the Grand Canyon region).

2) Heading north thru Colorado and into Wyoming in May may be problematic as that's still early to head over any high passes with a reasonable assurance that there won't be snow. Maybe heading thru NM and over into Utah then north, would avoid the snow. Or if you time it right, NM up to Durango, then over Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mt passes to Ouray. That's the bulk of the San Juan's, unless you choose to head due north from the Santa Fe area to Taos then thru the heart of the Rocky's. May ?, maybe, may be not.

3) The I25/US85 corridor along the Rio Grande is an awful bike route. In many places the ONLY route is I25, which I would hate to have to travel by bike. That area is also known as the Jornado del Muerto - Journey of Death, all low altitude desert, heat, etc...From Ruidoso best to head due north to Lincoln, then west to Carrizozo, then north on US54 and Rt 42 to Mountainair, then up to SF via 41 and 285, or west to Rt 14 and north that way. A lot more remote but a bit higher up in elevation, so less heat. It's 83 miles from Carrizozo to Mountainair, doable but carry water.

4 You cannot, as far as I know, cycle directly north in Carlsbad NP to anywhere. You have to head back down the hill, exiting the park at US 180, to go anyplace. Then to go direct to Ruidoso you would be on graded and gravel forest service roads for part of the time, county back roads of indeterminate quality for part of the time. That's to get from US180 NW towards the village of Pinon then Rt 24 north to Weed. Pretty country as BTW, but I'd be researching this route carefully, acquiring the appropriate county maps. Or just take pavement to Carlsbad, then 285/82/244/70 to Ruidoso.

5) Then you find yourself in Santa Fe or Taos and then what ?. The "coolest" route in terms of temperatures is west on Rt 64, then over to Page, up to Kanab, maybe see Zion NP, then ?. Or north to Moab ?. At some point you need to cross the Nevada desert to get to California and now it's June, late June/early July and the heat is on. Or head north thru Utah and west on Rt 50 to Reno. I'd also be researching that route carefully, as not many stops/towns on Rt 50.

Or start in April. Then you might have more time to get to Nevada and across the desert.