Route from Santa Monica to VA

[jodi]

I am wondering if anyone has done or plans on doing route 66 Santa Monica to VA. if so, looking to find the quickest route ending up on the Trans Am with the shortest mileage point to point.  TIA

[John Nettles]

Hello Jodi,

Welcome to the ACA Forums.  If I understand your question correctly, you would like to ride from Santa Monica to Virginia using both BR66 and the TransAm (TA).  While I am not doing that ride this summer, I can almost guarantee someone has.  The reason I say this is that I live in Tulsa and have had several WarmShower guests who have done something very similiar, i.e. started in NYC, dropped down to the TA near Richmond, VA, then dropped to the BR66 in Springfield, MO.

However, you mention Pueblo and the Western Express (WE).  Do you want to connect to the WE from BR66?  If so, approximately where do you want to connect and what do you want to do accomplish, i.e. avoid mountains, go to a specific town, shortest/fastest connector route, etc.?  Also, what time of year? Again, this has been done, i.e. connect to the Grand Canyon Connector (GCC)  in Williams, AZ, then the WE in Cedar City, UT, and then the TA in Pueblo.  However, this is a fairly mountainous route, though scenic.  Others have just broken off the GCC near Tuba City and reconnected to the WE at Blanding, UT, or in Delores, CO, though this is a lot of remote and unpopulated areas so may require stealth camping so plan accordingly. Finally, some have broken off BR66 at Gallup to head north to Delores.  This too is isolated but for only for about 2 days. Also, most of these routes may have closed sections from late Fall to late Spring due to snow.

However, if all you want to do is connect to the TA, I would just ride BR66 to Springfield and connect to the TA there.

Tailwinds, John

P.S. It is best if you post your question only in one place as the answers can get scattered and the post can be hard to follow.

[Pat Lamb]

Just guessing, Jodi, are you looking to ride Bike Route 66 to outside Flagstaff, pick up the Grand Canyon connector, hit the Western Express in Cedar City and ride that to Canon City, and then take the Trans Am to Yorktown?

For mileage, the easy way is to check the details for each segment of the route and add all those up.  I think the Flagstaff connection is in the middle of a BR66 segment, but you can get a good guess using google maps (or similar) to generate a route from town to town, using the details.

Sounds like a fun trip!

[John Nelson]

Take Bike Route 66 from Santa Monica to Marshfield, Missouri, and then the TransAm from there to Yorktown. I’ve done it. The BR66 part is close to as direct as you can get. The TA part wanders around a bit more. TA is good for safe, good for fun, not so good for fast or for flat. Fast and flat take all the fun out of touring. If you need fast, the bus is better.

[Pat Lamb]

Jodi,

Adventure Cycling's maps, whether paper (which I've uses) or phone app (which I haven't used), are exceptionally good products well worth your consideration.  I recommend them to all but the most experienced bike tourists. 

Yes, they cost money.  No, you rarely have to be able to follow a map.  They include clear directions.  If you can follow directions like start here, ride 1.6 miles, turn left on county road 35, you can follow their routes.  The routes themselves are usually well thought out to give you a good combination of scenery, low traffic roads, and services.  And speaking of services, their listings of places to eat, sleep, and get your bike fixed are priceless.  If you camp for free 10 miles outside a town where the only place to stay is a $125/night motel, you just saved the price of a full set of maps.  Had a flat and noticed your tire's wearing out?  Bike shop two days ahead (happened to me just like that, and I made it without any more flats).  How much water do you need to carry today?  Services available every 20-30 miles, or no services for 60 miles -- it's on the maps.

Can you do all that with your phone or tablet and a general route?  Sure, for some of it.  Except for the free camping spots and playing Russian roulette on routing.  But would you rather spend your time riding and enjoying the countryside you're passing through, or looking for a cell signal and doing web searches?  I can do the latter sitting at my desk or in my living room.

Different topic.  One more note on the routing.  John and John suggested taking BR66 until it runs into the Trans Am.  I've never been to the Grand Canyon or the southern Utah parks, so I'd rather ride the Grand Canyon connector to the Western Express.  YMMV.