TransAmerica and Cincinnati

[Nyimbo]

I'm planning to leave from Oregon coast on the TA in May.  I would also like to pass through Southwest Ohio to see my Grandparents birthplace as I've never been there.  Does anyone have a suggestion to get there staying for the most part on the ACA routes

I could move NE from Cave-in-Rock and after my visit in Ohio continue north to the Northern Tier or somehow return back to TA. I also see on the big map I could continue north from Montana on the N. Tier but probably not, I think I'm looking forward to going through Colorado.  Where I end up on the East Coast doesn't matter too much.  I have very little East Coast experience except for Virgina so I don't mind going North and missing VA.

Thanks for any ideas!

[Pat Lamb]

Coming from the west, you could jump on the underground railroad route (UGRRR?) just after you cross into Kentucky and go up to Cincinnati.  Just looking at the route overview for that section, I might be tempted to stay north of the Ohio in Indiana and see how good the vaunted off-road bike path system is near there into Cincy. 

Going east from there (especially if you haven't circled back per the official route), you might recross into northern KY and work your way back down to Berea.  Other options would be to pick up the Northern Tier, or cross to Pittsburgh and take the GAP/C&O Canal over to D.C.

One note is that by the time you ride nine sections of the TA, you'll be fairly comfortable both with riding on the roads and with figuring out from a map what roads are likely to be good to ride on.  In other words, you'll be able to pick out your route and it'll be fine.

[Nyimbo]

That's a good point.  A little nervous about staying on a mapped route for my first crossing but by that time I should have enough experience to figure it out on the go.


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[indyfabz]

Another option would be the GAP from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD then heading north to Bedford, PA (original home of Cannondale) and picking up signed PA Bike Route S (with a modification here or there, including incorporating an abandoned stretch of PA Turnpike) to the Schuylkill River Trail into Philadelphia. I did that two years ago. Except for the day from Bedford to Cowan's Gap S.P. it's not that arduous hill-wise.

[Nyimbo]

I wasn't familiar with the GAP Great Alleghany Passage.  Thanks! I just googled it and read a bit about the trail.  It looks like great. 

Really after reading my question again the main question is regarding suggestions for great route from Cincinnati to to the East Coast. I need to check out the PA Bike route next and also try to find out about the off road bike path into Cincy.  Thanks

[indyfabz]

I wasn't familiar with the GAP Great Alleghany Passage.  Thanks! I just googled it and read a bit about the trail.  It looks like great. 

Really after reading my question again the main question is regarding suggestions for great route from Cincinnati to to the East Coast. I need to check out the PA Bike route next and also try to find out about the off road bike path into Cincy.  Thanks

Here is route S:

ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/bikes/state_mapS.pdf

Click on the individually numbered sections to see detail. Heading east, Route S combines with the GAP but then leaves it at Rockwood, PA. I stayed on the GAP until its end in Cumberland, MD and then took a few local roads north from town to U.S. 220 and took that and U.S. 220 (Business) into the center of Bedford. (Map No. 13.) IMO, some fot the most interesting parts of the GAP and between Rockwood and Cumberland, and U.S. 220 was not bad riding. Nice shoulder all the way, and there is a campground just west of the center of Bedford.

If you decide on this option I can give you route details, including various diversions off Route S that make it a better ride. The abandoned PA turnpike section is a neat ride. There are two unlit tunnels. One is about 3,900' long. The other is more than a mile long. Very post-apocalyptic back there. So much so that the portal area of one of the tunnels was a shooting location for the film "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen. Also, going that way avoids a monster climb out of Betzwood, PA. The western end of the trail is right along Route S. At the end of the 8.5 mile rideable section, it's easy to get back on Route S. You just need a decent light and a jacket as it is completely dark inside the tunnels and the ambient temperature is usually quite cool even on warm days.