Myrtle Beach SC to Palm Springs CA

[Chad Addington]

I am from the desert in California and well used to the heat.  I have been staying in South Carolina and would like to bike back from Myrtle Beach, SC to Palm Springs, CA in May.  Does anybody have an idea of a route for this?

[Pat Lamb]

Ordinarily for this route, the suggestion would be to go down to the Southern Tier and head west.  However, that's a route most frequently ridden in winter.  The summer heat would be somewhere between miserable and a killer.  So...

Adventure Cycling has mapped out a few routes you could patch together.  These routes are pretty well planned for scenery, low traffic and road safety as much as possible, and include information on services, including camping options, food and water sources.  Perhaps you could head northwest and pick up the Trans Am route, either around Damascus, VA, Mammoth Cave or western Kentucky.  Take the TA west (Missouri and Kansas can be hot, but not as bad as southern Texas!) to Pueblo, then take the Western Express.  If you've got a few weeks extra time, I'd go all the way to the coast and south on the Pacific Coast, and then backtrack from the coast to Palm Springs.  The other option, going south on the Sierra Cascades, would take you through a lot more (hot southern) desert.

Are you sure you don't want to wait until Octoer?

[aggie]

Since you say you are ok with the heat the most direct route would be to take the ACA Atlantic Coast route south till it meets up with the Southern Tier.  Take the Southern Tier until Blythe.  You could then take the I-10 to Indio.  It would have more services available than going through Paker, AZ and Twenty nine Palms.  It will be hot when you get to the desert so carry plenty of water and sunscreen.