Anyone doing the ACA Van Supported TransAM this spring?

[HikeBikeCook]

A group of us will be trailing a few days behind and would love to follow the journals of riders ahead of us in order to get insight from the advanced "scouts".

[John Nettles]

Now that is a brilliant idea.  Only downside is you lose some of the "discovery". 

[HikeBikeCook]

I won't mind discovering a bridge is out a few days in advance versus the moment I learn that I have to backtrack 10 miles to a detour

[Pat Lamb]

You could try the old-fashioned way.  Hail approaching cyclists and ask them if there's anything unusual up ahead (and warn them of anything behind you!).

[HikeBikeCook]

Good theory but we will be riding the Eastern Express Route, which the ACA uses on their van supported tour. There is much less traffic than the traditional route, and most folks ride it East to West.

[staehpj1]

Good theory but we will be riding the Eastern Express Route, which the ACA uses on their van supported tour. There is much less traffic than the traditional route, and most folks ride it East to West.

I'd have thought the Eastern Express was getting fairly popular these days.  Maybe not as much traffic as the TA, but I'd expect some.  But I don't claim to know.  Is there a reason why the traffic would be E-W with much less W-E?  It would seem like any of the advantages would apply either direction.  I know that the directions are currently for a WE direction, but I wouldn't think folks would let that deter them.

[staehpj1]

You could try the old-fashioned way.  Hail approaching cyclists and ask them if there's anything unusual up ahead (and warn them of anything behind you!).

One of the joys of riding the TA.  It is always fun to meet folks going the other way for a preview.  We scribbled notes about stuff on our maps in some cases, usually about interesting things to see/do.

[John Nelson]

If you start at the "normal" time, it's unlikely that you'll meet very many riders going the other way until well into the trip. If you're going westbound, it'll take even longer because the eastbound riders usually start later.

I hadn't thought about following the journal of riders going the same direction who are ahead of you. It sounds like a pretty good idea. A lot of the "discovery" I had was closed roads with no way of knowing if you could get through or not. It would also be useful to learn that somebody ahead of you had found a really cool place to eat or sleep, or a cool roadside attraction. Sometimes I would discover a cool attraction just off route that was 10 or 20 miles behind me, too far to go back.

That said, once you do start encountering riders going the other way, they are the best and most fun sources of information. It seems to be some kind of unwritten rule (or should be) that everybody stops and chats with touring cyclists going the other way.

[staehpj1]

If you start at the "normal" time, it's unlikely that you'll meet very many riders going the other way until well into the trip. If you're going westbound, it'll take even longer because the eastbound riders usually start later.

Very true.  I was surprised how early we (going east) met some fast early west bound riders though.  You are undoubtedly right that it would be much later before a west bound rider would start meeting eastbound riders.  I hadn't really thought of that since I rode W-E on the TA and none of my other rides had the same scheduling issues.

[HikeBikeCook]

I think the traffic on the TransAm Express is picking up quite a bit since I received lots of inquires from other riders after I had posted a companions wanted listing. Everyone I spoke with was heading E=>W. I have read one or two journals that did go W=>E.

If I was riding solo, which I considered, I would have probably opted for the traditional route, which sounds more like the AT - you can travel solo and never be alone

[j1of1]

HikeBikeCook, When you leaving?

[canalligators]

You were going to check the route updates and closures on the main AC site, right?

[staehpj1]

Do search for journals on cgoab and cycleblaze before you go.  I'd think there is a pretty good chance there will be some ahead of you.  You might even email them and correspond a bit with folks starting both before and after you.  You may even wind up meeting some of them on the road.  I know that it was fun when we met folks we knew from during our planning stages pre trip.  Some we crossed paths with quite a bit and got to know fairly well.

[HikeBikeCook]

We plan on leaving on 5/15 which is right around the same time the ACA group rides out. They are van supported and we are self supported so they will be doing longer days then us and should pull away in short order.

I regularly search CGOAB but figured it would be nice to get intros in advance.