Steamboat Springs, CO to Kentucky

[gclinton504]

First cross-country tour. Thinking about riding back to KY for a wedding I have about 26-28 days to get to KY from CO, leaving Nov. 1st. I could get a ride to Ft. Collins and begin there to get the mtn passes out of the way. Would this be possible? I am in fairly good mtn bike condition and recently purchased a Salsa Fargo and a bob trailer. I am guessing from reading a few forums that the transamerican route would be what I would be taking.
Does anyone have any experience doing this tour in November. Is cold weather going to be a major issue? I enjoy riding and camping in cold weather but I don't want to be miserable the whole time either.
Thanks

[Pat Lamb]

What part of Kentucky?  It took us about a week to ride across the state.  FWIW, it took us a bit over a month to get from western Kentucky to the middle of Colorado.

From Steamboat Springs, you have a short jog to Kremmling to pick up the TransAm.  Note it goes south past Breckenridge to cross Hoosier Pass, then a long-ish day to get down to Canon City.  If you're in Steamboat, you should have a better idea of weather and snow on the passes in early November than I do.  From there, you're on the high plains in late autumn / early winter.

FWIW, the Missouri Ozarks were the second hardest part of the TA for me, only behind eastern Kentucky.  If you catch that ride to Fort Collins, you might consider making your own route east to pick up the Katy Trail, then cut south to pick up the TransAm near Kaskaskia.

[akt42]

I find this of interest because i plan to do this exact ride next sept/oct. i also live in the boat and grew up near Loiuisville. I will be riding a surly ogre and will ride the gdr south to the intersection w the trans am. 26-28 days will be cutting it close, if that was my deadline i would try to get east of denver to start. I would like to hear about the trip when you get back or let me know if you would be interested in joining me for a 2014 ride. Email me at aaronkt@msn.com.

[John Nelson]

You're in the "iffy" weather season here. You could get lucky and be fine, or you could get unlucky and get frozen and snowed out.

Depending on whether you plan to go to western Kentucky or eastern Kentucky, the time window might be long enough if you get all good weather. You'll also have fairly short days, so you'll have to plan to ride from sunrise to sunset, and it could be pretty cold at sunrise. Unless you're really lucky, you're probably going to need some extra days to wait out bad weather. I say go for it, but have a backup plan to bail out and take alternative transportation if the weather doesn't cooperate.

[indyfabz]

Is cold weather going to be a major issue? I enjoy riding and camping in cold weather but I don't want to be miserable the whole time either.
Thanks

How cold? There are simple Google searches you can run to get average monthly temperatures. For example, a quick search revealed an average daily high for Salina, KS in Nov. of 55. Average nightly low around 33.

Keep in mind that some/many campground may be closed for the season. It's been reported that many KS city parks on the Trans Am do not allow camping once school starts.