Hi Everyone! First Timer Cross Country Rider - ROUTES NEEDED

[bbarrettx]

As for routes, I've toured much of S Utah from St George to Moab. I've also driven those roads around Lake Powell and it's pretty desolate. I'd avoid the Wasatch to make things easy early on. Looks like 28 to 89. Great time of year to visit Bryce and Zion and then head over to Page as the N Rim of the Grand Canyon will still be closed. As a semi loop option 24 to 12 will give you some awesome scenery if you have some time to spare but that climb out of Boulder will be a real grind. You probably want to check out the S Rim and Sedona on your way to Phoenix as well. Not a lot of different options in terms of roads. Good luck and enjoy!

[Slowroll]

Yeah man, there's really not a lot of choices with the roads, especially as you get closer to Panguitch area. I'm plotting and planning, and it's coming together, but I have to say I'm nervous about getting caught at elevation if the weather gets crappy - some of the climbs take me over 7k' and if a storm rolls in, that could easily see snow and pretty serious wind. The other thing I'm worried about is being early in the season, most of the campgrounds and many of the stores / motels might be closed... But I don't want to go much later than April 1 as the Southern Tier will be a humid sordid ordeal once June rolls around... I'm hoping to get past the Florida panhandle before June and start climbing up into the Smokeys and then start grinding out to hook up with the Northern Tier during the heat of the Summer. By that time I should be able to handle the heat and whatnot anyway I'm hoping... if I get that far my physical conditioning should be starting to be pretty good. It's amazing to think just how tough of a thing it is just to get out of Utah!

[etsisk]

As far as where to stop when you need to quit for the day, I use four options, for free camping:
1. Fire stations, volunteer or otherwise. They are my main camping choice, and about half the time I can stay inside. They are willing to let me shower and use their laundry area. Heck, sometimes they feed me!
2. Stop at a country store and ask if there's "somewhere I can put my tent up for the night" (as opposed to "camping" which sounds... more so) Often folks will let you camp on their property. Or behind the store.
3. Knock on the front door of a house with a large yard and ask them. This is hard to do at first, but folks are often quite willing to let you.
4. Stealth or "bandit" camping somewhere out of the way.

I had the heart attack, which got me going. Good on you for starting before that! Do get a thorough physical!!

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[Slowroll]

etsisk, thanks so much for your info! To be honest, I hadn't even considered fire departments, that's a really great idea. If I can put up a tent in back and use a shower, that would be so awesome. Thank you for sharing about your heart attack and I'm so happy for you that you were able to recover to the point of being able to cycle! I personally know a couple of older guys who had them and it completely changed their lives due to the lasting loss of function. That's the thing you never seem to hear about, is that surviving a heart attack doesn't mean you passed a test or something - for many people they lose a huge amount of quality of life. This is my main motivation, in a nutshell. I don't want to work, work, work and then suddenly I keel over and die or end up barely living. I make a good living for an idiot like me, and everyone I know just keeps telling me to "go on a diet", "don't eat after 6 pm", "go for a walk after dinner" and just blah blah blah. They just don't get it. I have no real vices like gambling, drinking, smoking, drugs, womanizing, or whatever. But I DO have both an eating disorder (obviously) and I also have a WORK disorder! I work so hard all the time, and put work ahead of almost everything. I will get a call from my boss that he needs me to go to (name a place) and I'm on a plane. Or I will be gone for a week to attend a training, or I'll drive 5 hours to (name a place) to have a 2 hour meeting and then drive back home and end up eating dinner at 8PM right before passing out for the night. I need to break the mold and start fresh. And I'm not even getting into the relationship issues or into some of the reasons why RIGHT NOW is the sign from God (or if you choose to believe, Spaghetti Monster In The Sky  ) that this is my moment, my chance to finally be FREE.
I was talking to a friend about this trip and he used the analogy of a dog getting free from his leash, and what that must feel like to truly be free to run anywhere you want....I have to say, that is EXACTLY what this is beginning to feel like. That bicycle and trailer are not just a mode of transportation, or a new althletic lifestyle, or a chance to meet new people with a similar outlook on being healthy... but it's all of that AND the opportunity to truly be free for the first time since I was home from school for summer break a million years ago.

I think this trip will make me cry, laugh, swear, and dance - but I also think (and hope) it's going to allow me to actually be a human being and not just a "resource".

[etsisk]

I expect it'll be "swear, cry, laugh, and dance", but when yer in the swear/cry phase, remember that laugh and dance is on its way!


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[Bclayden]

Good for you Slowroll. Cycling adventures are full of challenges and rewards. For me, the best rewards are the memories and the feeling of accomplishment which never gets old. You will see.

I spend a lot of my time zipping back and forth from coast-to-coast at 37,000 feet but now when I look down on those "fly over states" I see them a lot differently than I ever had before. It's a nice feeling.

Good luck to you.

[Slowroll]

Thanks so much for the kind words BC! I'm really looking forward to this experience, although definitely scared of how the first few weeks will go. Just getting out of Utah is going to be a pretty massive achievement for me considering the amount of climbing and the distances between shelter and rest stops. Slow and steady wins the race man! 

Hope I see you out there sometime!