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« on: November 08, 2019, 09:49:10 am »
I am new to the ACA and this forum. I am 70 and recently returned to cycling after many years away. I am retired and riding around 100 miles a week.
I began with a road bike, which I loved, but local traffic and road conditions led to so many close calls, despite my best efforts to ride defensively, that I traded it in for a Mountain Bike. I do not do what young folks do, nothing technical or dangerous, just ride hard pack, dirt and gravel roads and trails, which I enjoy very much.
I have always been fascinated by touring but never tried it and my current attitude toward cycling on the roads makes it unlikely I ever will. Still, I joined ACA so I could enjoy reading about touring.
Then I read about the Great Divide Trail. I am just learning about it at this point but what I have read so far suggests that I could find sections where I could ride for an extended distance, away from traffic, and even do so on a credit card touring basis. I have a great deal of hiking and backpacking experience, but at this age, bikepacking is not my interest.
I will continue to research the Great Divide with a view toward doing a portion of it next summer. I would like, however, to get in some shorter dirt tour riding before then that may be closer to my home in South Carolina. I am researching possible dirt/gravel/etc. roads long enough to allow a 2-3 day trip but I have found nothing yet. It occurs to me that only the Rocky Mountain Range or the west coast ranges might have long stretches of low or no traffic trails/roads of any significant length. Certainly, I have found nothing yet like that in the Appalachians.
But I thought you folks might know of something. I do not actually dislike pavement in and of itself, just the heavy traffic that it attracts in the East. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks.