Author Topic: Recommandation for 1 month ride in august in low traffic places ?  (Read 6242 times)

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Offline nasdak

Hy guys !
4 years ago we cycled the west part of the transam (from boise to the tetons) and man it was awesome... Only concern was the traffic, sometimes to heavy and noisy :/ But i'll always remember the nez pierce region, yellowstone, chief joseph pass, lolo pass... People were so nice too!

This year we'd like to do another trip, we have 1 month in august, we like to do some climbing, we like remote places, about 50 miles per day.
I fear we already cycled the best part of the transam? Maybe someone has an idea for another route ?
thanks !
pierre

Offline Iowagriz

Re: Recommandation for 1 month ride in august in low traffic places ?
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2023, 03:51:32 pm »
Tour Divide

30 x 50 a day should get you from Banff to mid-Colorado and an easy transfer to Denver for an easy flight out.

If you thought those roads and pavement were nice views, you'll be blown away with the scenes along the TD route.

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Online John Nelson

Re: Recommandation for 1 month ride in august in low traffic places ?
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2023, 04:05:00 pm »
The problem with any long-distance route is that it is bound to include both low-traffic roads and high-traffic roads. It's simply hard to get from A to B when A and B are far apart without going on some busy roads. One solution to this is to find a base area and do day rides or small loop routes from there. Then you can pick only the quiet roads in that area. In a month, however, you might run out of good places to ride in one area. So you could pick several bases, and use a vehicle to get from base to base.

I do have a question. Do you want low-traffic roads primarily for safety or for peace and quiet? I assume both, but compromises always need to be made. There are some roads that are fairly low-traffic roads that are a bit dangerous, and some high-traffic road that are pretty safe. One reason is that most low-traffic roads have little to no shoulder, which means that you are at risk from the small amount of traffic that there may be. And many high-traffic roads have very wide shoulders (e.g., interstate highways).

If it's peace and quiet that you're after, pick some place with low populations. That description applies to most of the West except for Southern California. But you also said that you were interested in climbing. In many areas of the West that have a lot of climbing (i.e., mountainous), it's also very difficult to build roads so they don't build too many of them.

There are many rural areas of the West in farming and ranching country that have low traffic and lots of roads, but they don't offer too much climbing. I'm thinking of places in Kansas, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Oklahoma.

One other idea is places like Appalachia and the Ozarks. There is plenty of climbing there, and not too many people, so not too much traffic.

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Recommandation for 1 month ride in august in low traffic places ?
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2023, 05:23:05 pm »
There are many rural areas of the West in farming and ranching country that have low traffic and lots of roads, but they don't offer too much climbing. I'm thinking of places in Kansas, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Oklahoma.

One other idea is places like Appalachia and the Ozarks. There is plenty of climbing there, and not too many people, so not too much traffic.
I am from Tulsa and gotta say, I usually try to leave Oklahoma in August as it can be toasty, day and night.  The average high mid-August is 94*F for the high and the average low is 73* along with high humidity (this endorsement is not paid for by Oklahoma Tourism).  If you are camping, it can be a bit sweaty. 

I personally enjoy high temps in the low 80s so that is what I look for when I seek to escape the dog days of August.  I would suggest Alaska (but buggy), and pretty much anywhere north of the Kansas/Nebraska line or higher than 6,000' feet.  However, as John says, over that long of a period of time, you will most likely get some higher traffic somewhere. 

Maybe a route doing the PPP Route, connecting with the NT Route to LaCrosse then across Wisconsin almost entirely on rail trails, ferry over to Michigan, south along the NL Route to the CYNC route to Pittsburgh to the GAP/C&O. Anywhere in the NW is good too but you have been there. 

Tailwinds, John



Offline jamawani

Re: Recommandation for 1 month ride in august in low traffic places ?
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2023, 08:27:55 pm »
Do you want remote?
Then the Chilcotin Highway in British Columbia might be for you.
95% paved, very little traffic, spectacular scenery, serious grizzly country.

Ferries and coast highway from North Vancouver to Port Hardy.
Then ferry from Port Hardy to Bella Coola. Center of Nuxalk culture.
The Chilcotin Highway runs from Bella Coola to Williams Lake.
It's so worth it, but challenging - not impossible.

Heckman Pass is straight up - the other way is straight down and can burn out brakes.
There are plenty of provincial campgrounds and lodges along the way - - but - -
you need to be alsolutely bear conscious at all times.

From Williams Lake I suggest Hwy 97 south to 100 Mile House (kinda busy)
Then Hwy 24 east to Clearwater and Hwy 5 north to Valemount.
From there, head east on the Yellowhead Hwy (Hwy 16) to Jasper.
At Mount Robson Prov. Park you can bike into a backcountry wilderness campsite.

If you have additional time, you can always ride south a bit on the Icefields Parkway and back.
Jasper National Park also has bikeable rough fire roads to backcountry campsites.
From Jasper, catch VIA Rail back to Vancouver.

Pic - Kinney Lake Backcountry Campsite at Mount Robson