Westinghouse,
Your observations are interesting about the lack of meeting other bike riders. I and 3 others) just rode a short section of BR66 from Amarillo to Tulsa. Not including the supported westbound ACA?? group (maybe 12-15 riders), we passed 11 fully loaded cyclotourists going westbound (really wrong direction due to wind!) in this short stretch over 8 days. These were ones we actually saw but were told of 2 other westbounders. All but 2 were international (non-North America). From my experience hosting primarily cyclists on BR66 (I live in Tulsa), I would say that only 50%, if that, of the riders use ACA maps. We were also told that 2 others were a day ahead of us but our paths never crossed (we are somewhat slow).
My point is there were at least 19 loaded cyclotourists in a 375 mile stretch of BR66 NOT including ACA (they rode by in small groups and didn't stop to talk :-( ). Granted, this is end of prime season for BR66 so the numbers may be high but I can easily believe 200 people ride all or a major part (otherwise why be fully loaded out in the middle of the Texas panhandle) of BR66 a year. And BR66 is not one of ACA's "Top Routes" by map sales I would guess.
Of course, on a specific bike route like 66 at high season or shoulder season, you will see others. I do not follow all of ACA's route. The 2 I did see on my last E to W on the ST were on the ACA route east of Pensacola and Fort Morgan that goes to Dauphin Island. After Dauphin Island I go to 90 while ACA goes father north into Louisiana. From El Paso north to Las Cruces on the ACA route I never saw anybody on three crossings. From Las Cruces west I take I-10 while ACA goes up to Silver City. I get I-10 at San Antonio and stay on interstates except where I have to get off temporarily. On 5 crossings from FL to CA, four times using interstates extensively, I did not see one long distance cyclist anywhere on any interstate. I also found out there are reasons for that. I cross into CA at Yuma, AZ. I get to 78 and through Glamis and such by going north on Ogilbie Rd. I have done that part of the ACA route 4 times--Plaster City, Ocotillo, 80, Jucumba, Pine Valley etc. I met only two others going transcontinental on that stretch. I did those tours in the dead of winter. I encountered extremes like 10 F and 7 F, but that was unusual. However, freezing and below were normal. I cycled from Stuart, FL south to Key West and back three times. Not the first cyclist did I see. I met loaded touring cyclists very frequently in the UK and Germany. I saw 4 total in Czech, Poland, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. There were racing cyclists in Italy. On that trip from NYC to south Florida I saw nobody at all obviously loaded and touring. I used 90 east to west in north Florida three times on crossings where I met a total of 7 people touring, and they were in the same group. I may have met one other and that was all. I did 90 through TX and followed ACA to Van Horn and El Paso, and saw nobody long distance bike touring. From Van Horn to El Paso to Las Cruces I do not recall ever seeing anyone touring. Of the several I met on the PCBR in 1993, all were north of San Francisco. From SF south I did not see any at all and I did not meet any in hostels or camp grounds. Of course, in populated areas they might be seeing sites or eating in restaurants or in motels when you go by, so not seeing them does not mean they are not there. I know I have cycled about 40,000 miles through 19 countries. Rarely do I see other long distance cyclists. I have done many shorter jaunts around south Florida and have never seen anyone else doing it. These days, however, one does occasionally see loaded cycling tourists passing through Stuart in the ACBR. I wonder if ACA knows about the excellent bike path from Hobe Sound, FL to Port Salerno just after leaving Jupiter Island on Bridge Road. We see tourists using US 1 when the bike path is 100 times nicer with zero noise and pollution.
