Please help.....planning a cross country ride starting June 1st withmybestfriend

[SteveDennet]

We are planning a ride from Long Island,NY to San Diego,CA starting on June 1st.I was looking through the maps that Adventure Cycling has to offer. I notice alot of regions are divided, are there any maps that include all of North America in one package or do I have to buy them all piece by piece? I am planning on bringing a GPS with me but would also like to purchase some maps because they seem to be useful for things the GPS cannot pick up on. Any help on this would be great , this is our first major tour and we are trying to prepare accordingly.

[John Nettles]

You can buy what ever individual segments you want.  I "think" you just get a price break if you buy the entire set, i.e. all of the TransAm, not just Section 10.  If you are not an ACA member, you should join as a lot of times the the map discount pays for the membership on longer trips.

I highly encourage you to have maps, even if just a AAA map in case the GPS runs out of batteries, craps out, etc.  The ACA maps are wonderful.

Hope you have a great ride!

[John Nelson]

I think you might have some misconceptions about how the ACA maps work.

ACA maps will generally keep you safer by helping you avoid dangerous roads. But they certainly don't go everywhere, and they certainly don't take the shortest way there. ACA maps are better for people trying to enjoy the experience rather than get somewhere specific.

To get from NYC to San Diego, you can take the ACA Atlantic Coast route to the TransAm route to the Western Express route to the Pacific Coast route. Or Atlantic Coast to TransAm to Western Express to Grand Canyon Connector to Southern Tier. Those routes might take you as much as 50% longer to get there than if you took the most direct route, but it will be safer and more enjoyable.

[PeteJack]

ACA maps are better for people trying to enjoy the experience rather than get somewhere specific.

I'll second that, on the Northern Tier near Glendive MT a bunch of people I'd made friends with took the quickest way at one stage which meant about 12 miles of noisy freeway. I took the ACA wiggly waggly route, about 13 miles, and saw one (1!) car the whole way.

[staehpj1]

Excuse me if I am wrong, but...  John touched on this but I am not sure it is clear to you what AC maps are.  They are not maps of an area, but rather strip maps of a specific route.  There isn't much shown that isn't very close to the specific route.  They are not very useful unless you want to mostly follow the specific AC route.

I really like AC maps.  They have a wealth of text info and lots of info about the area including a pretty complete list of services along the route.  On most trips I also pick up the (usually free) state road maps for states as I enter them.   That way I have maps of a wider area if I want to wander from the route.

[Patco]

A number of states have maps that are bicycle specific (size of shoulder; traffic counts; elevation gains and losses, etc.). On one of my trips I decided the route then I contacted the transportation department or bicycle coordinator of the states I would be crossing and obtained the applicable bicycle map. As already noted, while the ACA maps are good, they are 'strip' maps. As long as you are on the route, they are very good. Want to change your route? Having a state bicycle map will provide greater flexibility.

[JHamelman]

As Patco mentioned, states often have at least some information available in bike-centered maps. You can find a list of these contacts and websites compiled here:

http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/state.cfm

Best,
.Jennifer.

[SteveDennet]

thank you everyone, this has been helpful

[indyfabz]

Here is the link for the signed bike routes in PA:

http://www.pahighways.com/other/bicyclepa.html

Last year I rode Route V between Catawissa and Emlenton, PA. Not bad in most places, but be prepared for some days with of lots of shorter, steep ups and downs as well as a few longer climbs, especially heading west out of Clearfield, PA.

Two years ago I rode much of Route S east from Bedford to Philly. Easier than Route V but not as nice the further east you get. From Bedford west you can stay on Route S and pick up the GAP trail at Rockwood, PA to Pittsburgh.(Route S uses the GAP but goes off it before PGH.) Or you can take U.S. 220 (Business) and then U.S. 220 south from Bedford to Cumberland, MD and pick up the GAP there.

A caution about Route Y: Some friends of mine rode part of it a few years ago and said truck traffic from fracking activity made part of it unpleasant.