USA Coast to Coast

[hondated]

Hi everyone this week I met a couple over here in the Uk that intends to cycle this route to raise money for a charity in 2016 so I was wondering given its almost 3000 miles how long this would this take.
They have cycled many of the big climbs in Europe but have not actually began any sort of training to achieve this yet.

Would you say 50 miles a day was reasonable with days added in to rest. Do you think that they could complete it in 12 weeks or less.

To raise their profile in the States and hopefully acquire funding would it be worth them contacting television and radio stations to publicise what they intend to do or are the States awash with cyclists trying to raise money for charities.

[John Nelson]

Anywhere from two to four months is typical. Depending on the route, it also could be anywhere from 3000 to 5000 miles. 50 miles a day is easily doable by most cyclotourists. I think 60 miles a day is more typical, and 70 miles a day is not uncommon. Some people take a lot of rest days. Some people (including me) take none.

Fundraising rides are quite common. As long as 100% of the donated money goes directly to the charity, they are moderately, but not usually wildly, successful. There are many web sites that will act as a contribution conduit and provide security and trust to the donors. It is, however, difficult to get contributions from complete strangers, so family, friends, friends of friends, business associates, etc. are usually the biggest contributors. If any of the money is diverted to trip expenses, however, then the donations will go way, way down. It usually pays to have some sort of unique angle, especially if you want media attention. Most media won't touch the story unless there is a local connection of some kind, or unless there is a heartwarming story to go with it.

[hondated]

Thanks John a lot of great information there that I will pass on. Ted

[Stringcat]

Hi. I'm from the UK and I'm setting off coast to coast from San Francisco in a week and a half. If you want to get in touch afterwards I'd be happy to talk about it. Reply to this thread and I'll get an email alert.

I'm planning about 80 miles a day with a rest day once a week. I'm sure that will change as and when I'm in the mountains or get a tailwind. Going to finish about 10 September.

I've done Lands End to John O'Groats for charity twice and John's right: most contributions were from friends, family and colleagues. So your friends start needing to build a big network. Use Facebook and keep reposting.

Best wishes,
Andrew.

[chippedtooth]

Hi there,

Myself and a friend just finished the TransAmerica trail which is 4200 from Virginia to Oregon.
We did it in 82 days with probably 6 rest days in there.

If they didn't have too much time, there is the Western Express route which takes you straight into San Francisco instead of heading north towards Oregon, I am not 100% on the distance but i'd assume it would be around the 3000 mark... It does miss what I consider to be the most beautiful park of the transam, but if time is an issue then that's an option.

We were passed by a fellow Brit who was cycling for charity, New York to San Francisco in two months. He was regularly putting out 100 mile days and seemed to be doing 80 on an average day throughout. Pretty crazy but it is doable!

Could put them in touch with him if that'd be useful.

Tom