Messages

1

Gear Talk / GPS recommendations?

« on: August 12, 2025, 07:53:06 pm »

Hey y’all!

I’m getting all my gear together for my first tour. I’m wanting to have a bike gps for navigation as I don’t trust myself to not miss turns while using a paper map. I found a Garmin Edge Touring ($100) and Garmin Edge 520 with Mount ($125) on Facebook Marketplace. I’m gonna be buying the ACA routes that I’ll be using and I was wondering if anybody has experience with either of these GPS and could make a recommendation.
Thanks!

2

Connecting ACA Routes / Missoula to Minneapolis

« on: August 08, 2025, 12:07:01 am »

Hey ya'll! I am currently planning my first cross country tour.

We will be taking Amtrak from St. Paul, MN to Portland, OR, then heading out to Astoria to start in mid-May. The currently plan is to take the Lewis and Clark or TransAm to Missoula. We will be on road bikes, loaded up with food and gear (as we hope to camp as much as possible) so we want to stay on pavement.

After Missoula we will head to Minneapolis, taking the TransAm down to the PPP or connecting to the Northern Tier. My concern with the latter is that the Lewis and Clark trail east of Missoula seems to be a lot of gravel so we'd need to find an alternative route to connect with the NT. Additionally, I've read that biking through Montana on the NT can be really brutal with traffic. I'm hoping to see lots of natural beauty on this trip. I've read that Glacier NP is a highlight of the NT in that regard but we will have recently visited it so that holds less sway.

My top priority is safety, second is the opportunity for wild camping or free small-town park camping.

Do you recommend the PPP or the Northern Tier, east of Missoula? Which will feel safer to bike? Is there a paved and safe route connecting Missoula to the NT? Is the PPP fully paved?

Once we get to Minneapolis, we will take a detour to Duluth. Then I will head back down to Minneapolis, take the NT out to Maine to complete a Portland-to-Portland/Coast-to-Coast trip.