North Nevada & Utah in summer

[CarmignanoCaponord]

Hi guys,


I'm Andrea and I'm writing from Italy. In summer 2013 (july and august) I will be in US to do the TransAmerica Trail, a wonderful trip supported and sponsor by a great global brand. Respect to the original trail that starts in Florence Oregon I would like to do, for the first part of the trip, a different route. I'll start in San Francisco e I would meet the TransAmerica Trail after Nevada and Utah. I have to study the route but before to imagine to go through Nevada and Utah in summer I would like to know some informaztions about temperature. I already visited Las Vegas in august and if even in North Nevada would be so hot...would be better to starts from Oregon. The route I identified in Nevada is about 500 km up to Vegas, is possibile to find a human temperature?? Somebody can help me with data about medium degrees in Nevada and Utah??

This is an image of the route I thought to do..




Thank you for every help you can give me!

[jamawani]

Andrea -

Scusi ma - - the route you have selected is terrible.
You will be almost completely on the autostrada with that route.
(In the West there are often no back roads exccept the autostrada.)

Here is a website with maps of U.S. average temperatures.
http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/products/matrix.phtml?vartype=tmax&view=maps
(Remember that in the U.S. they use degrees F, not C - also miles, not km.)

I am not sure why you chose this route - particularly in July/August.
If you are flying into San Francisco, you can take Amtrak up to Oregon.
Oregon would be a much better start to your trip.
If you need a shorter route - you can cut thru central Idaho via Stanley to Yellowstone.

[cgarch]

Agreed. Traveling along Interstate 80, while possible, is not the preferred choice. But let's not forget that eastern Oregon can be mighty hot too at that time of year.

[CarmignanoCaponord]

Hi Jama & jgarch!

I'm just trying to understand which is the best route, also in consideration of mileage, for my coast to coast. TransAmerica trail for me would be perfect but in only 2 months I think that 4.200 miles are really too much, I want to rest in NYC for the last 5-6 days of august. So, start from SF and meet the TransAmerica in Wyoming would allow me to have a shorter trip. I thought to Nevada and Utah because I love desert and desolated landscapes. I haven't booked my flights, the idea is to fly to NYC for the intercontinental and take an internal flight to go to Pacific coast.

With start in Oregon I can go through Idaho for a shorter mileage yes, but I should trace a new route for pass Wyoming and Nebraska, would meet the northern tier just at Muscatine, Iowa, to go to the east coast.

I haven't more time to organize this American trip, some suggestions?

[tsteven4]

Ciao Andrea,

sf, ca to pueblo co, western express, pueblo,co to yorktown, va trans am.  this will be a bit shorter, but you can hit extreme heat.  On this route in Utah in July we hit 115 degrees F = 46 degrees C.  Our strategy on the western express was to leave between 2am and 5am, and try to finish by noon or 1pm.  At times we had to carry 8 liters of water per person.  The western express is a beautiful route, but you need to be prepared to enjoy it.

you can see all the ACA routes here http://tsteven4.qwestoffice.net/maps/ACARoutes.html
western express, with waypoints here http://tsteven4.qwestoffice.net/maps/WesternExpressRoute.html
trans am, with waypoints here http://tsteven4.qwestoffice.net/maps/TransAmericaRoute.html

Steve

[jamawani]

Given that you are riding in the hottest months -
And given that you have fewer than 60 riding days.
A direct route from Oregon to NYC would seem best.

If you are flying into SF, you can take Amtrak to Eugene, Oregon and connect to the coast.
Or you can fly into Portland, Oregon and connect to the coast from there.

A direct route would start on the TransAm - plus you would have benefit of bike route services.
Then a route across Idaho thru the Sawtooth Mountains and Stanley - beautiful!
Then on to Yellowstone NP, the Grand Tetons and across Wyoming.
(Most two-lane highways in the rural West have low traffic - especially Wyoming.)

If you follow the state line between South Dakota and Nebraska you will reach part of the Lewis & Clark Route.
Then you should cut across Iowa to Muscatine and pice up the Northern Tier.
(Personally, I think you should take another route so you can see Lake Michigan.)

If you cut off of the Northern Tier in eastern Ohio, you can pick up a route across northern Pennsylvania.
And then you can come down the Delaware Gap into New Jersey and New York.

It WILL require some planning to do all you want in the time you have to do it.

[JasmineReeseII]

I am taking the ACA route from Pueblo, CO to SanFrancisco, CA around June, July. Will I also run into crazy heat?

[John Nelson]

I am taking the ACA route from Pueblo, CO to San Francisco, CA around June, July. Will I also run into crazy heat?

Yes, you'll run into some pretty hot weather. But it's manageable if you carry enough water. Ride early in the day. Pay attention to where the services are ahead of you.

[mathieu]

Hi Andrea! I am from The Netherlands. I have done several bike trips in the US, including the TransAm. From your question I guess that you are new to biking in the US.
Here is some advice.
1. In any case, take an ACA mapped route. This will save you a lot of time in navigation and keep you away from awful, busy roads, e.g. Interstates. The maps also provide information on services ahead, which are vital in sparsely populated areas. You will also meet other bikers going the same way.
2. If you want to start in San Francisco, the only ACA route to the east is the Western Express. It connects to the TransAm at Pueblo-CO. As others have commented, it is exceedingly hot in summer. Compared to the full TransAm, it saves about 500 miles, but your riding hours will be less too because of the afternoon heat. Buy the ACA maps asap to make up your mind. They give you an idea about the distances you should cover each day to get to required services. Maps also have information on Climate, e.g. temperature statistics.
3. The full TransAm took me 60 days, including rest days, in May/July. This amounts to 80 miles/day. With your time plan, you need to cover 80-90 miles/day. To get a more relaxed scheme, you may consider to start your bike trip in Denver-CO.
4. Think well how you want to travel with your bike to New York. When you follow the TransAm to the east, you get to Richmond-VA from where you can take a train to Washington and New York. However, Amtrak requires to box the bike. A boxed bike is nice for air travel, where ground personnel does the handling, but it is a millstone around the neck for rail travel, as you have several other bags to care for. It is easier to send the bike home by mail, but this is a lot more expensive than the charges of airlines for bike transport  (I got quotes of about $600).       

[RussSeaton]

Not sure it applies.  But it was mentioned cycling across Iowa.  Iowa has a Bicycle map for the state.  Shows county roads suitable for bicycling.  Its pretty easy to get across the state without riding on busy roads.  See the links below to request a map.  Not sure it will work if you are overseas.

http://www.iowadot.gov/maps//msp/index.html

http://www.iowadot.gov/maps//msp/state.html

http://www.bikeiowa.com/Trail/MapsÂ

[cgarch]

3. ...This amounts to 80 miles/day. With your time plan, you need to cover 80-90 miles/day.       

Atozzi, you haven't spec'd whether you're camping or moteling . . If you take Western Express and expect to land at a town, your choices though Nevada and part of Utah are either 60-70 miles/day or 120 miles/day. Most of the towns across NV on US50 are just about 60 miles apart with nothing (I repeat Nothing) in between - no water, no shade, nada (and I-80 is actually not much different).

As for wide-open spaces, the Western Express can't be beat, but you will find plenty of similar wide-open terrain in Eastern Oregon. Don't be fooled into thinking E. Oregon is like the coast - not even close.

cg

[CarmignanoCaponord]

Hi guys!!

Thank you so much for your suggestions and ideas!! I usually study very well my bike travel (for Australia I studied for 7 months and TransEurope, from Firenze to Nordkapp almost 1 year!), this year, as I said, I have a brand that supported me but the bad aspect is that this partnership has change my plans without more time in programing...I had to go to Iceland not in US on 2013 So..I'm very very happy to do coast to coast but this kind of travel needs a good organization.

@Cgarch
For the night I have a tent and a sleepingbag so is not so important for me, camping or Hotel/B&B is always ok.

@Mathieu
Hi! I have decided to do coast to coast so..I think Denver is not the right place to start my travel Nevada 50 was in my mind but I hate extreme hot and is not a good idea.. about NYC and the way to go there, if I start from Oregon I use the first section of TransAm, Yellowstone and Grand Teton and after, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa until Muscatine. From Muscatine a part of Northern Tier until Ashtabula, leave NT and Pennsylvania until NYC. What do you think?

In case of north starting I would like to start from Florence Oregon, (same name of my city!). I will looking for flights from NYC to Portland..

So..do you know some good routes in Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa?? Same height of Yellowstone and GTeton of course..

[jamawani]

Andrea -

If you have toured Firenze-Nordkapp and across Australia, then you don't have to stick with ACA maps.
They are good and provide reassurance for novice cyclists - but you are experienced.
Given the number of days you have and the time of year - you should pick what works best for you.

Starting in Florence on the Oregon coast would be nice - but the coast is not very interesting there.
The amazing part of the Oregon coast is just to the north - between Newport and Florence.
(It's easier making connections from Portland to Newport than to Florence, too.)
Oregon has special hiker/biker campsites for $5 and is very bike friendly.

From the coast you can follow the TransAm almost all the way across Oregon.
That would be a nice way to bump into other cyclists and get started comfortably.
The cut-off towards Idaho is in eastern Oregon - staying on US 26 to Ontario.

Here is a map of traffic volume for Oregon -
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/tsm/docs/2010_Flow_Map_GIS.pdf
As you can see, there is very little traffic on the section of US 26.

Going through central Idaho is beautiful - Sawtooth Mountains - with snowy peaks and hot springs.
Also, there's lots of free camping on public lands - (NOT in National Parks).
I'll go over details of the Idaho section to Yellowstone in another post.

Photo - Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains

[John Nelson]

You could do the Northern Tier, and thus avoid some of the heat. Officially the route is 4288, but there are a number of mapped shortcuts available. You can skip Alberta and save 87 miles. There's a 125-mile mapped shortcut in Minnesota. Taking the ferry across Lake Michigan saves 215 miles. And a number of people end in Portland Maine (not mapped by the ACA), which saves quite a few miles over going to Bar Harbor. I think you can get the NT mileage down to about 3700 miles, which will get you there in 55 days with an average of 68 miles a day.

The NT misses Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but it picks up the spectacular Glacier National Park and the pretty-cool Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

[mathieu]

Andrea, sorry I misjudged your cycling prowess. I can understand that you want to see magnificent Yellowstone and Tetons, although in summer the narrow Yellowstone roads filled with traffic jams of huge recreational vehicles and distracted drivers are dangerous to cyclists. I admit that I am running out of my area of competence, but it seems that after continuing the TransAm towards Lander-WY, you could turn east to Riverton, Casper and into Nebraska to pick up the Lewis and Clark route near Bonesteel. I still believe that a mapped route offers a lot of benefits.
See http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/RouteNetwork.pdf .
Others might have better suggestions to get you as straight as possible to NY.