Hello Tourists!
On 6/18/17, my husband and I are starting our "Ride C2C" (coast to coast, corner to corner) from Bellingham, WA to Key West, FL. We both work, so we will approach this route in 4-week chunks: this summer we will start in Bellingham and ride east as far as we get, then return next summer to where we left off for another 4-week segment, and so on every summer until we dip our tires in the Atlantic in Key West.
I have this strange desire to visit Mt. Rushmore as part of our trip. We are following the Adventure Cycle Northern Tier route (they really should start that in Bellingham, not Anacortes - just sayin') through to the east end of the "Going to the Sun" highway at Glacier National Park, MO. Ultimately we want to see Mt. Rushmore and the Mickelson Trail or Centennial Trail in the Black Hills sounds cool if either will fit in. Does anyone have suggestions for a route? Do we stay on the Northern Tier route and head south once we hit ND? Or do we go south right away and stay in Montana, or drop south all the way to Yellowstone National Park and then head east (best route?) in Wyoming? We'd love your advice.
We are riding fully loaded for cooking and camping and plan to start with 50 miles per day. We think we can go 70 - but that will be up to my very arthritic knees and how multiple days of rides treat me. We've cycle toured before (spent 10 months around the world in 1990 - plus a few smaller tours since), so we know what we are getting into, we're just a little older (55). We are not opposed to free camping or motels when needed. We will be equipped to ride road or gravel, even trails if needed.
Cheers! Thanks for any advice you can give. ~Robin R
