Messages

1

Routes / Re: Southern Tier starting in April

« on: April 16, 2014, 11:58:59 pm »

Hey, sorry for my late reply. Thank you again very much for all the info! I am now already in Buckhorn, New Mexico. The Tour went very well so far, the dessert was no problem, besides the fact that I had strong headwinds, started late and didn't make it through it in one day. But it was easy to spend a night in the dessert, only the cojotes scarred the shit out of me. I carried 2 gallons of water with me, but had nearly a complete gallon left after I left the dessert the following day. btw: the cola dispenser at the closed glamis store stole 1,50 dollars from me by attracting me with fresh cola, but it was empty and the coin dispenser didn't give the money back I threw in.

There was one very unpleasant surprise on the tour so far: the campground in San Diego. They wanted 71 Dollars for one night in a tent, 71 dollars! I know the ACA says that they don't guarantee cheap prices for the campgrounds listed on their maps, but hey, that is insane and they should take this campground off the maps. I was lucky: a local cyclist picked me up and brought me to a cheap hostel where I could stay for 28 bucks a night.

Also, the climb to Alpine is not as bad as many seem to say. The climbs after Superior and Safford to Threeway are way steeper and way more dangerous, because there are no shoulders on many parts.

Los Angeles to San Diego was very beautiful, a lot of neighbourhoods on the coast are insanely rich. The route is easy to find. Only the industrial Irving was a bit nasty and chaotic. By the way: the soldiers at camp peddleton didn't let me through because I am no US-citizen. So no foreigners are allowed to drive through the camp. I was pissed off at first but saw then that it is allowed to use the freeway to get on the other side of the military area.

2

Routes / Re: Southern Tier starting in April

« on: March 28, 2014, 07:54:50 am »

Thank you very much for your responses! I also read some stuff in the past time about the route and feel way less insecure about it now. I'm still thinking about the best way from LA to the Southern Tier Route. I think of two options: leaving LA to the South/East and meet the Route in Brawley or going South to Start the Route in San Diego. What do you think?

3

Routes / Southern Tier starting in April

« on: March 12, 2014, 05:44:16 pm »

I'm a traveller from germany and want to make the Southern Tier from the West to the East. Because my work here didn't let me take the needed time for the trip earlier I will start the trip at 1st of April with a road bike equipped with panniers and follow the ACA route. As usual I'll travel alone, use my tent a lot and take a room once or twice a week. I know that already march is said to be late to do the trip. For me it is a dream since several years to do it and I only have the time now. The flight is already booked.

So what I wanna ask is: are there any really problematic parts of the route? As far as I am informed the temparture will be quite high already, in general I didn't have any problems on my past tours in Europe at 80 to 90 °F (I am 29 years now and quite sporty). Also I may cross parts of the country on the second half of the trip with a high possibility of tornadoes and thunderstorms. What is also bothering me: I don't have experience with snakes and scorpions, but already read a lot about them. Is it really a big deal on the trip?

I read several journals and other ressources until now, but it would be great to hear some thoughts from this great board here. As you can see, I just have some ideas what will await me in the US and expanding my knowledge would be really great. What I'm also interested in: because of the sweating in the heat it would be perfect to get a shower each or every second day, how is the "shower-situation" in the us? is it usual for example to find showers or bathrooms at petrol stations like in many other countries?

looking forward to your responses!