Texas to DC

[hcrv754@yahoo.com]

I turn 74 in a couple of weeks and would like to ride from Sulphur Springs TX to DC to honor 74
 shipmates lost in Vietnam.
I am willing to take the entire summer to complete if necessary. I am new to cross country cycling
and would appreciate any assistance in route choice. I pulled up Google Bike and it suggests going
into PA and back down.

[texbiker]

That is a great idea and goal. You can read how other people ride long distances at this website www.crazyguyonabike.com

[John Nettles]

Since this is your first time touring, you might want to ride north to Kansas (I can help you with a route) then connect with the TransAm route in Girard, KS, and head east on it until the Blue Ridge Parkway.  From there, go north on the Skyline Road to Front Royal, over to Purcellville, VA, and take the bike path into DC.

The TransAm is the original route and probably a couple of thousand ride across it.  Since you are not overly experienced, you should avoid doing Route 66 to save a few miles as parts of it are a bit heavy traffic and/or no-shoulders.

Are you mostly camping, staying in motels, eating out, cooking your own food, traveling solo or with other buddies, etc.?  These answers can help with route suggestions.  Believe it or not, 74 is not uncommon when it comes to bike touring.  I regularly do tours with people in their mid to late 70s.  As long as you are in fair shape (but great shape helps!) and more importantly know your limits, you will do fine.

Best, John

[BikePacker]

Hello TX2DC - If you go John's suggested route via The Skyline Drive expect to find the beauty breathtaking.  I hope you do conclude to include that in your itinerary.
Here is a text offered by Adventure Cycling that is wonderfully complete and clearly written on multi-day bike touring .... it was very, very helpful to me .... I even re-read it every few years to see how much I have forgotten :- ): 
https://www.adventurecycling.org/cyclosource-store/everything-else/sp/essential-touring-cyclist/
~ Wishing you a great tour.

[CMajernik]

To plan your own routing, you can get in touch with the bicycle coordinators for the states in which you will be traveling through and need routing. Many have online resources as well as printed materials. Nearly every state publishes a bicycle map of some sort that they will send out for free and the coordinators often have more information they can distribute for no charge as well. And while the maps aren't as detailed as ours, they generally offer suggested roads for cycling through their state. Here is a link to the contact information for all of the bicycle coordinators:

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

For more tips and ideas on how to create your own route, see this blog post on the topic:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/blog/how-to-create-your-own-route/