3-4 month USA 2024

[dkoloko]

Having done a cross-country tour across the United States, my first consideration planning a route would be crossing the Rockies when the passes are open and cleared of snow.

[RealRedHair]

Thanks for all replies! A lot to read and digest
Correct I had red hairs long time ago.

* Visa: B2 visa is complicated and quite expensive I found out so I stick to ESTA 90 days for the moment
* Period: still May, June, July seems good slot for the moment
* Do not want to spend much time in cities; I like nature and landscapes. Stay some days in Yellowstone is a good idea!
* Coast to coast is not needed; I start and end in a city with good flight connections to Europe/Holland (Seattle, Portland, Calgary, Vancouver)
* C&O / GAP Trails from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh -> https://gaptrail.org seems nice start of the ride.
* Great American Rail-Trail - why use this trail? Quit roads, I guess.  -> https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/route/ -> where to download the gpx tracks then I add them to my possible tracks
* I will camp, use Warmshowers or budget B&B
* I thought since TransAm and Great Divide are quite close I could decide once I’m there depending on conditions on the ground; my bike is not a mountain bike but still able to drive off-road partly with fat tires
* Do I need a water filter or is good water more or less available?
* Where can I download the GPX tracks of all the different sections I want to use. Maybe contact me with direct message.

Thanks. Raoul

[John Nelson]

May through July sounds perfect. In three months, you'll see every possible weather. There is no such thing as avoiding weather. But in May through July, you'll probably avoid snow.

The Great American Rail-Trail is still more of a vision than a thing.

TransAm runs east-west. Great Divide runs north-south. I don't see them as alternatives.

A water filter is not needed, unless you plan to take a route that will have you not passing through any towns for days in a row.

If you want GPX tracks, I suggest you create your own. It's pretty easy.

My suggestion would be to just follow the TransAmerica Trail all the way. It's a great route and you can purchase GPX files for it. It is very suitable for an east-to-west crossing in May through July. It does not spend much time in cities. It passes through Yellowstone. It has lots of camping available, and other cyclotouring support. I think it ticks all your boxes, and the planning would be trivial.

[BikeliciousBabe]

My suggestion would be to just follow the TransAmerica Trail all the way. It's a great route and you can purchase GPX files for it. It is very suitable for an east-to-west crossing in May through July. It does not spend much time in cities. It passes through Yellowstone. It has lots of camping available, and other cyclotouring support. I think it ticks all your boxes, and the planning would be trivial.

+1. And with 4 months, you could probably take some deviations, like the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, which is one of my favorites.  Leave the TransAm after Badger Pass out of Dillon, Montana, ride the Byway, and hook back up with the Trans Am in Wisdom, Montana. Another possible detour would be to head north from Missoula up to Glacier National Park, ride up and pack down the west slope of Going to the Sun and then follow the Northern Tier route to Mount Vernon, Washington then south to end in Seattle for easy transportation home.

[Ty0604]

+1. And with 4 months, you could probably take some deviations, like the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, which is one of my favorites.  Leave the TransAm after Badger Pass out of Dillon, Montana, ride the Byway, and hook back up with the Trans Am in Wisdom, Montana. Another possible detour would be to head north from Missoula up to Glacier National Park, ride up and pack down the west slope of Going to the Sun and then follow the Northern Tier route to Mount Vernon, Washington then south to end in Seattle for easy transportation home.

+1 for the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway. We did this in 2021 as a short loop from Darby over Gibbons Pass (before the fire luckily) to Wisdom, to Bannack State Park (creates a slight backtrack but not far) to Wise River to Anaconda to Phillipsburg back to Darby over Shalkaho Pass.

I will say that the skeeters in the Big Hole Valley, especially in Wisdom, and in Wise River, are rhe worst I’ve ever seen in the contiguous 48 states. They were so bad in Wise River we packed up and headed out to Anaconda. They were swarming all day and all night. It was gnarly.

As for the winds, I’ve ridden east to west twice and I’ll never do it again on a longer trip. Headwinds were miserable at times and definitely had more headwinds than tailwinds going east to west. That’s just been my experience though so take it for what it’s worth.

You could start as early as February if you wanted to hit something like the Southern Tier out of San Diego and ride east to St. Augustine. The passes of Arizona and New Mexico should be clear by the time you reach them. If you start in April and are determined to ride easy to west, I can’t say anymore than the recommendations already made above.

[RealRedHair]

Thanks for all the advices. Actually I will have a 90 day visa and not 4 months (May/June/July). So I decided maybe it is better to fly in more to the West and start in Chicago. In that way I have some time to do some extra loops or stay a bit longer in Yosemite NP. Below a rough sketch.

[RealRedHair]

Recently I came across the Pony Express trail. https://bikepackingroots.org/project/the-pony-express/

This might be interesting for me to take some of the first sections/divisions in the East.

[jamawani]

First - weather.

In general, May is a wet month, June fairly wet, July drier, and August even drier.
In the East, the difference is smaller - but the C&O and Gap Trails can be pretty muddy in May.
The Great Plains get almost half their precipitation in May & June. Big, big storms. (See "Dorothy")
High roads in the Rockies often do not melt out until early to mid June depending on snowpack.
In the Northwest, July & August are quite dry. June is cool & wet some years, Hot & dry others.

I think May 15 to Aug 15 is better than May-June-July - -
But you may have already set your dates.

Jama

PS - Guessing you are 50+ from your comments.
PPS - Serious election you had there in the NL.

[jamawani]

I would be very careful about routes like the Pony Express.
Did my doctoral work in Kansas, have ridden almost every county in Nebraska.
Unpaved roads in Kansas and Nebraska often have very deep sand
and can quickly turn into mud holes when wet.

The soil in the Great Plains is magnificent for agriculture -
But there is very little rock - so minimum maintenance roads have no roadbed.
The Cowboy Trail in Nebraska usually disappoints riders - even though it is an old railroad bed.
It has many sections which are basically sand traps.

It's one thing to have a full mountain bike and ride ultralight.
It's another thing to to have a loaded touring bike.

[RealRedHair]

...
I think May 15 to Aug 15 is better than May-June-July - -
But you may have already set your dates.

PS - Guessing you are 50+ from your comments.
PPS - Serious election you had there in the NL.

I fly in Chicago 11th of May so that should be fine.

PS2 Yes, but in Holland you always need a coalition. So in this case the PVV will have to work with three other parties to get a majority if they manage to work out things. So all more extreme points will be weakened by the other parties. And I belief it will not be a very durable/strong coalition in the long term. But anyhow we will need to try to listen beter to the real needs of the people who voted on PVV. Why did they feel the need to do so and how can we improve there situation and make our society more inclusive also for them.