Tag Team Cross Country Bike Trip

L

Les Izmore

Junior Ranger
There are still a lot of stars that need to align for this planned trip, but Alea, Lana (our dog) and I are hoping to tag-team across country by bicycle from San Diego to Saint Augustine, probably starting after Labor Day and before mid-September. The plan is that one of us will bicycle to each day's destination, while the other drives the trailer, does chores and keeps the dog entertained. Exactly how we'll do this will vary depending upon weather conditions, terrain and other factors. Most days one of us will ride the entire segment, but there might be days where one of us rides in the morning and we rendezvous mid-point for the other to ride the remainder of that day's mileage. The total trip is around 3,000 miles. Right now we're contemplating averaging somewhere around 50 mile days (not always possible, due to spacing of campgrounds, etc), making it about a two month trip. With luck we'll get to northern FL while the weather is still pleasant most days. Since we'll be alternating days on and off the bicycle and not traveling far most days, we aren't contemplating a lot of days off along the way. How many days off we take will be mainly weather dependent, or if we start covering too much ground too fast.

We've purchased the full Adventure Cycling Southern Tier map set, so that it is clear where there is camping available and where food and bicycle supplies can be found along the route (more useful for the cyclist than the trailer driver). So the bicycle route should be mostly on roads that are low traffic and that avoid many congested urban areas. Here's a link to Adventure Cycling's route network, with the Southern Tier being the orange route that transects Texas:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/ro...ycling-route-network/interactive-network-map/

So if there is anyone that might be interested in joining us for a leisurely cross country trip for all or part of the route (bicycling is optional), we thought we'd put the word out. We're contemplating maintaining a blog while on the road, so that if anyone is interested they could join up with us along the way. Even just having folks tag along for a day or two should be fun.
 
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If you need a driveway to pull into overnight and a shower always keep us in mind. We're in bettendorf iowa. Just PM if needed. Might also ride a day...R
 
We are so excited for you and wish you an awesome experience and safe travels! We've used Adventure Cycling maps, too, and they are really helpful. Wish we could join you! Will be excited to hear of your ride and adventures!
 
Thanks for the invite. On this trip we'll be WAY south of Iowa, but our long range plan is to do a lot of this. We need to snowbird for a couple of years to save on taxes for a rental property that we own. Then we'll be free to plan things where we can leave at a time of year where it makes sense to ride through the upper midwest. Leaving early in September we'd be lucky to make Iowa by mid-October and it's likely to be way colder than I like (yes, I am a Goldilocks).

BTW, I like the TR: I lusted over them in the early '70s. Someone should do a retro convertible styled after them, ala the Mini.
 
That's quite an adventure you have planned. I wish you fair days and full tiers. A blog would be fantastic, so please do.

Camp on,

Sue
 
Our first choice of Adventure Cycling routes to try is the Northern Tier, but having to make our rental house our primary residence for a couple of years makes that unfeasible until we sell. When we do (in 2-3 years) we'll ride that route, which appears to pass through or near Bettendorf. And I have ancestors who were early settlers in Keokuk when it was still Iowa Territory, so at some point we'll pass through the area to do research, perhaps on a driving-only return trip to Boise for the summer.
 
Sounds as though your route is pretty well fixed already. However, if you have any flexibility, I can highly recommend the Biking Across Kansas ("BAK") tour that takes place annually in June, and might coincide with your schedule.

It's a well-organized, but very laid back ride from Colorado to Missouri borders. Average daily mileage is 65 or so. This year's dates are June 6-13. They will be unveiling the route on Jan. 29. We have done it in various configurations for the last five years. This year will be our first with the TD. Interestingly, we first saw a CI trailer the first year we did the ride, in 2010, and thought it would be the perfect way to do bike touring. Finally, this year, we'll be doing it with our 550.

Each year, there are usually one or two cross-country bikers that join BAK for their trip across the Sunflower State.

The BAK website is here: www.bak.org

There's also a Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/bikingkansas

It would be awesome to have TWO CI teardrops on the route this year!
 
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Very cool. The 2006 and 2009 routes approximate the route I took riding solo across Kansas in 1985 (coming through Colorado Springs). My mother's family are scattered around Independence, Parson, Thayer, etc, and I've told them to expect to see me riding by on bicycle again at some point (I blew their minds when I showed up unannounced in '85). But it will probably be at least a few years before our travels might put us there in June. But I agree, if we could do it, our two CIs would be showstoppers.

So how will you handle it with your trailer? Are you thinking of tag teaming it, or will one person be the rider and the other the driver? Or is there someone else in the group that can tow your trailer for you?

We've only done one organized group tour (Ride Idaho, I think around 2005 or 2006). I think I would have enjoyed that far more if we had the CI back then, but it was a lot of fun. Once we're not tied down to snowbirding we might contemplate planning trips that correspond with organized group rides.

One of my memories of Kansas was riding halfway across the state on a concrete road that had just been chip-sealed. Every few seconds I would get the jolt from hitting the seams in the concrete. That plus the constant buzz from the chip seal made the three outboard fingers on each hand go numb. I recall while at my uncle's house how difficult it was to cut through a steak, only being able to grip the knife with my thumb and index finger. Luckily the feeling came back not long after that.
 
What routes have you done?

I purchased the TransAmerica Trail mapset back in 1985 when Adventure Cycling was called BikeCentennial. But I only followed the maps as far as Central Oregon, as there were too many other dots (friends and family) that I wanted to connect. I did the Pacific Coast route in 1984, I think before Adventure Cycling published a mapset. And I've ridden down the east coast from the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec to Saint Petersburg, along a route that pretty closely approximates the Atlantic Coast route (at least as far as Daytona Beach).

I'd prefer to not follow a set route, but knowing where to find the road less traveled is far better than white knuckling it through an area overrun by kamakaze coal truck drivers that get paid by the load...

One thing that solo touring taught me is that if you have sufficient water, a jar of peanut butter, a half a loaf of bread and some money, you have nothing to worry about. You can always find a place to sleep, and you've got enough supplies to get to a store in even the most remote places (at least in the lower 48). Touring is an awesome way to find peace of mind...
 
Hi! We did the east coast route (NJ to FL) and the southern tier (FL to CA). Our goal was to do the entire perimeter of the US, but we had to head home unexpectedly due to illness in the family. We were pretty happy with the maps, but also did deviate once in awhile! There were so many highlights for us! It was a terrific experience.

I am excited about your ride and can't wait to see posts about it!
 
That was pretty ambitious. If you were going clockwise the Pacific Coast would have been brutal, except in stormy weather. Everyone heading south in '84 was smiling ear-to-ear. Those heading north were only happy if they didn't have a set schedule to adhere to or when a storm pushed them up the coast. The ones that needed to be home by a certain time were stressed out and unhappy.

As we are starting to pare down our belongings I've finally come to the conclusion that it's time for me to toss out the photo albums and journals from our travels, but not before scanning them. The albums in particular are falling apart, as the glue has completely dried out.

It'll be later in the spring before I set my sights on the blog, but I'll probably start by posting some links to the albums, journals, etc. It would be pretty awesome if a few of the folks that I traveled with or met along the way would stumble upon them and want to reconnect.

Here's a link to the photo album of my travels in 1985:
https://archive.org/details/1985TranscontinentalEastCoastBikeTripCOMPRESSED

There are lots of gaps, as I rarely took pictures when it rained or when the mornings starting getting fairly cold. You'd need the journals to get a complete picture, but it is hard to synchronize between the two.

If you want to read it, it would be best to download a copy, as it is designed to be read in landscape format with the binding along the long edge. The above link reads as though it was bound along the short edge, so it can be hard to make sense of the photo descriptions.
 
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