Hi,
in 2020 we want riding the L&C Trail. What time is the best time to start the trail in Hartford. Our idea is to start end of May. We will plan to ride our bicycle a little bit more than 2 month.
This could be ok timing but you should be prepared to detour occasionally in the Midwest. In recent years there has been more flooding in this part of the US closing and damaging roads and services. This year we sent out an alert to riders about the flooding:
https://mautic.adventurecycling.org/email/view/5cd98f1a71b4b237540781We have two section with gravel road ; one ist only 2 miles (map2 sec. 26) the other in Map 3 section 39 start at Akaska and has 9,5 miles gravel. We have touring bikes with 25 mm tires (Schwalbe Durano Plus ROAD 25-622; we used this tires on our TransAm und NT without any puncture 
. The questions is: is there smooth gravel or big gravel; can we ride this part? is there a alternative route?
Sec 2, Map 26: The first section of unpaved route is packed dirt and gravel. I know of no way to avoid this. The roads in this area all have sections that are unpaved.
Sec 3, Map 39: This route was designed to closely follow the travels of Lewis & Clark which means staying near rivers. At this point, specifically the Missouri River. You could probably stay on highways US 83 and US 12 between Akaska and Mobridge to avoid the gravel if you are concerned about it.
I would say your 25 mm tires may be a bit narrow for doing a lot of gravel. The extra cushion of wider tires makes it more comfortable and doable on a fully loaded touring bike.
Best,
Jennifer
