Advice route southern USA march

[Baskov]

Hi there,
As I have some spare weeks from half March till half April I am thinking of a nice scenic cycle trip. As most of Europe is still a bit cold/rainy this time of the year I was thinking about cycling in the USA. Can you guys help me with a nice itinerary - route? I want to pedal 1200-1900 miles depending on the amount of altitude meters. I travel alone and want to camp or to 'warmshower.org' along the way. Preferably I need a airport on the starting en finishing town to fly up there and get myself away from there. Any advise regarding navigation, campsites, safety, etc is appreciated!
Thanks for your help!
Rien from Holland.

[Baskov]

Update. I have two options I am thinking of:

1. Starting in LA and pedaling up to Seattle. Pro- perfect scenery. Con. Weather? Wind?

2. Doing a part of the Southern Tier. Which part has the best scenery? Which direction is weather wise the best?

[jamawani]

#1 - Definitely, no.
Cold, rainy, headwinds.

#2 - Best option.

Southeast - Spring flower and flowering trees. Warm. Wet.
South Central - Pleasant, warm, dryer. Wildflowers moving into desert.
Southwest - Warm, dry, possibly still some desert wildflowers.

If you fly into L.A. you can cycle to El Paso and take the train back.

[Baskov]

Thanks Jamawani.

So you consider the western part of the Southern Tier the most interesting?

Somehow I was thinking of Houston to Jacksonville, FL.

[Baskov]

Another idea: Do the Texas Hill Country bike tour. Must be very nice this time of the year. Problem: I'm not coming across the Atlantic for a 300 miles ride. With what kind of trip can I extend this idea?

[jamawani]

B -

Actually -

Parts of Route 66 in the West would be far superior.
Plus you could take in the Grand Canyon.
Might have to deal with a little cold.

Start either in L.A. or Ventura -
(Ventura lets you hit Antelope Valley and is more scenic.)
Then the past parts of Historic Route 66 in the Mojave Desert and Arizona.
Then north from Williams Jct. to the Grand Canyon -
Then east across the Hopi and Navajo reservations to Gallup.
Then back on Route 66 to Albuquerque.

Overnight return to LA on Amtrak train or Southwest airlines flight.
If you are behind, you can head back to LA from Gallup.

Don't know how many miles you do on average.
The route outlined above is about 1000 miles - 1600 km - 400 km per week.
Easy.

Jama

[TCS]

Don't know how this might fit your personal goals/desires/loves, but 2000 miles will get you across the USA, America's west coast to America's third coast.

Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier eastbound to Kerrville, Texas.  From there to Corpus Christi, Texas:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29360687

Your travel window is probably about the optimum time to ride this route.  This starts by crossing California's Peninsular Range, goes across the Sonoran Desert, crosses the Rocky Mountains and North America's Continental Divide at their lowest altitude, transverses the Chihuahuan Desert, touches the south end of the Great Plains, visits the US/Mexico border and the Rio Grande.  It finishes in the Texas Hill Country and Coastal Plains.  It includes the American cities of San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.

It would certainly be different from Holland!

Oh, yeah, and there's an airport at either end. 

Tom in Texas

[Baskov]

Thanks TCS! Although meanwhile - since I posted - my thoughts were going out to go to Memphis. Cycle to Little Rock and explore Arkansas from there.

I have maximum 4 weeks to spend. Including my travels, dus nett 25 days to cycle. I can do 75 miles a day on the flat, but whits hills and mountains I'd rather keep it around 50 miles. I'm afraid this route is a bit too much for me. Are there any chances to shortcut of maybe to skip a little (boring) part?

Phoenix - Austin is for sure doable but am I missing out the best part?

[Baskov]

Just hoping for some more replies.
I don't think I want to go to California. Have been there already some years ago. Besides I guess too much mountains over there.
In my Phoenix - Austin idea I'm affraid for long, boring, dessert roads.
Can anyone advise about Arkansas? Or maybe do the Texas Hill country loop and then cycle to Arkansas?
Do I 'need' to follow the dedicated routes in order to meet some other cyclers, campsites, etc?
Does anyone have recent experience with Warmshowers?
Thanks!

[dpaulc]

Hello!

You didn't specify the types of things/sites you like most. If you love incredible geology, I quickly did a route in Google maps.  I assumed you would want to fly into a starting city and fly out of the ending city.

Here's the list of the major points:

Fly into Las Vegas, Nevada
1.  Zion National Park in Utah
2.  Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
3.  Meteor Crater in Arizona
4.  Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona
5.  Canyon de Chelly Nationals Monument in Arizona
6.  Monument Valley in Arizona/Utah
7.  Chaco Canyon in New Mexico
Fly out of Albuquerque, New Mexico

This totals just over 1600 km with 13,000 meters of climbing and 12,000 meters of descents.

Here is a Google Maps URL for the route.  This is very rough route right now and would require some tweaking... Just wanted to throw it out.

A trip like this is definitely on my bucket list (being a native Arizonan .

 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Las+Vegas,+NV/Zion+National+Park/Grand+Canyon+National+Park,+Arizona/Meteor+Crater+Natural+Landmark/Petrified+Forest+National+Park,+AZ/Canyon+de+Chelly+National+Monument,+Chinle,+AZ/Monument+Valley,+AZ/Chaco+Canyon,+New+Mexico/Albuquerque/@36.0176402,-115.3511495,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m56!4m55!1m5!1m1!1s0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3!2m2!1d-115.1398296!2d36.1699412!1m5!1m1!1s0x80caead08844f8d9:0x7c2e3a15aa3656f5!2m2!1d-113.0263005!2d37.2982022!1m5!1m1!1s0x873312ae759b4d15:0x1f38a9bec9912029!2m2!1d-112.1129972!2d36.1069652!1m5!1m1!1s0x872e745d7f38512f:0xe0c334a29e78fd9e!2m2!1d-111.0221934!2d35.0277544!1m5!1m1!1s0x872f9b3e3ba72d9b:0xf026f23d8c8c2ecd!2m2!1d-109.78204!2d35.065931!1m5!1m1!1s0x873a90dcf0211a9d:0xaef3400a982d88df!2m2!1d-109.4694444!2d36.1336111!1m5!1m1!1s0x87372e841bdd86a5:0x3eaaa99ad33bd890!2m2!1d-110.1938672!2d36.9913715!1m5!1m1!1s0x873ca8da58ec928b:0xe9f1727039c6bed6!2m2!1d-107.967008!2d36.060293!1m5!1m1!1s0x87220addd309837b:0xc0d3f8ceb8d9f6fd!2m2!1d-106.650422!2d35.0843859!3e1

[John Nettles]

I would avoid Arkansas in March as it can be quite chilly, windy, and wet in March.  If you would tell us what your preferred criteria is (culture, scenery, warm weather, etc.), we could probably give you a much better response. 

Tailwinds, John

[TCS]

Hmm  How about Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier: New Orleans, Louisiana to Del Rio, Texas (or the other direction)?  Around 800 miles (1300km).

Warm(ish), relatively dry in March.  Significant cultural, cuisine, climate & geographic variation in this slice of America: immense forests to the east, Texas Hill Country to the west; French flavor in Louisiana, German, Czech and Polish influence in east-central Texas, Hispanic flavor the further west you go in Texas.  New Orleans is served by major airlines and AmTrak (the USA's passenger rail service).  Del Rio is served by AmTrak as well.

https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard

HMPH!!!  Reading conflicting info on trains+bikes in Del Rio.  Anyone have actual, current information (rather than just an opinion or what the situation was there seven years ago)?

[John Nettles]

Del Rio is served by AmTrak as well.

https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard

While Del Rio is served by Amtrak, checked baggage and bicycle service is not available in Del Rio.  The rider would need to either stop in San Antonio (but could do the TX Hill Country Loop) or continue to El Paso.
Tailwinds, John

[TCS]

Well, phthphth.  Anyway, San Antonio has a major airport and is a wonderful place to visit in itself, with the old Spanish missions and, oh, I can't seem to remember the name of their famous fort.   

See my ridewithgps link above for one reasonable way to from the Southern Tier (Kerrville, TX) to San Antonio.  A way to go from Austin to San Antonio:  https://bicycleaustin.info/getaround/route-sanantonio.html