# East to West across America?



## Lutarious (May 10, 2004)

I am old and fat and regretting not taking all of the great adventures I wanted to take when I was young and stupid. (Row across the Atlantic, Raft the Mississippi, Hop Trains, Trekking Mongolia, etc...)

Next summer I will have a chance to break away for three or four months, and I was thinking about recruiting my daughter and my Nephew for a serious adventure somewhere between the Bay Area, San Luis Obisbo, Santa Fe, NM and New Haven Conn. Here are some options.

1. Road/Dirt tour from SF to SF. Could include a lot of the Colorado trail, or lots of seriously beautiful back roads - paved and other...

2. Single track ride from somewhere in Colorado or Utah to Santa Fe. Mountain bikes, BOB trailer, fly fishing, days off to rip single track...

3. Car supported road ride from New Haven to any of the western desinations: I can imagine norther route over the great lakes, MaDaHey trail in SoDak, black hills maybe, Great Divide Route south then cross the great deserts to California.....

I find the least information about crossing East to West on roads. Why is it that most people ride West to East? Could the addition of car support relieve the kinds of problems people face going against the wind and weather?

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome, Thanks.


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## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

Lutarious said:


> Why is it that most people ride West to East? Could the addition of car support relieve the kinds of problems people face going against the wind and weather?
> 
> Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome, Thanks.


It sounds like you get it, most people ride West to East because of the prevailing winds. Bear in mind that's what they are "prevailing", not constant or consistent winds from the West. It's certainly possible that in the time window you choose for the prevailing winds to not contribute to the difficulty of your journey. The odds are in favor of the house, but there are winners every day at Casinos. 

As far as routes, a sutiable route for a West to East ride is a suitable route for East to West ride. Get the Adventure Cycling maps you like the most and follow them West. They are written without a travel direction in mind. 

When you say you will have vehicle support, is that because amongst the riders someone will drive every few days? Or, do you plan to have full time driver? If so, they are a saint and you should be clear about the job they are agreeing to take on. A 30-70 day cross country automobile trip would be pretty hard on my patience. 

You should also do a shakedown trip if possible. Just to confirm that everybody is compatible and get along under these circumstances. This is completely optional, just a thought. 

Scot


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## Lutarious (May 10, 2004)

*More...*

Thanks Scott. As far as shake down adn compatibility go. Yea, we'll ride adn train together as much as we can. My daughter is one of the riders, remember. The nephew is a student at Cal Poly, and his car is at home in New Haven. That's where the vehicle support comes in. We are not committed to riding every mile, so maybe the parts we want to ride, like the great lakes, the black hills, etc, we could do with a driver every day and the others riding. When we get to parts like Eastern Montana we could all pilei n the car and cover some miles, then get back on the bikes at the GRT. If we decide to do something more MTB oriented, it would be great to have the car support so we can do more fun riding and cover more milessince the majority of our gear could stay in the car. It also makes it easier when and if someone breaks a part on their bike or their person.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Choosing the path*



Lutarious said:


> IHere are some options.
> 
> 1. Road/Dirt tour from SF to SF. Could include a lot of the Colorado trail, or lots of seriously beautiful back roads - paved and other...
> 
> ...


1. At least some of the CO trail is, as I understand it, hiker & equestrian only. Some of the parts that allow cyclists are still pretty rough trail.

2. The Great Divide route (www.adventurecycling.org) is mountain bikes only, but fits the bill. It enters CO north of Steamboat Springs and enters NM north and a bit west of Santa Fe.

3. From CT on road bikes you could pick up the NY state bike routes and connect with the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route at Rochester or Buffalo. From there, you could continue through Ohio or cut through Ontario on the Adventure Cycling Lake Erie Connector route and either cross Lake Michigan by Ferry or cut through Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If you stayed on the Northern Tier, you could cut south on the Great Rivers route and connect with the TransAm route south of St. Louis, going west through the Ozarks, across KS, CO, and UT (Western Express route from Pueblo CO) and then take the Grand Canyon Connector route south to the Southern Tier route into LA or stay on the Western Express into San Francisco.

As noted by Scot Gore, winds are GENERALLY west to east, but you can get headwinds in either direction.


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## RoadRules (Feb 27, 2006)

*Check This Blog*

Check the attached Blog, I've been following this guys blog since he started and he seems to be very helpful nad friendy. He may be able to provide some insight.

http://tampatoseattle.blogspot.com/

rar


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## longhaultrucker (Feb 19, 2007)

Lutarious said:


> I am old and fat and regretting not taking all of the great adventures I wanted to take when I was young and stupid. (Row across the Atlantic, Raft the Mississippi, Hop Trains, Trekking Mongolia, etc...)



I'm sorry I don't have anything in the way of advice or tips,because when I read the 1st sentance,I thought (to you) "I'm starting to feel ya,Bro!",even at only 35 years old.

While I don't have any _real_ help to contribute,I will offer all the moral support and prayers for a safe journey:thumbsup: 

Please do a write-up on your trip forto whet the appetites of the rest of us:idea: :thumbsup:


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