Author Topic: Help for ideas wanted  (Read 6442 times)

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Offline horses60

Help for ideas wanted
« on: February 08, 2024, 04:15:48 pm »
Hello,
For 2024 We are stuck at home and we have only one month (+/-) available. We have no ideas to go in a WOW place  :-\ without changing continents. We have already done the Pacific Coast, the Southern Tier, Quebec-New Brunswic provinces, Atlantic Province of Canada, road biking in Moab (UT) and a few passes in Colorado.

What do you suggest? I think Baja California is too hot.

Living in Canada, no biking in winter, we would like to leave April 1st, so very little training.
The only idea I have is to fly to Denver (CO), direction Salt Lake City along IS-80 and back to Denver from the South US. Google Maps suggests this as the basic idea.
Variants along the way.

Others good ideas? I don't like snakes, so nothing in Florida. Carolina and neighboring states are too similar to Quebec. 
The bicycle is my drugs

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2024, 05:34:58 pm »
I think Baja California is too hot.
At what temperature does it become too hot for you?

Tailwinds, John

Offline horses60

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2024, 05:41:55 pm »
The best is between 65F and 85F, but last year I rode the Souther Tier and the Carretera Austral with some day over 100F
The bicycle is my drugs

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2024, 06:37:57 pm »
Couple of things based on your updated temps. 
IF you want to do Baja, the temps are in range with what you want if you head South to North.  Check out WeatherSpark.com to see what I mean. 

You could ride from say Oklahoma City to Charleston (I have the route and GPS data) but it still early spring leaving April 1st so the temps may dip and/or have some severe weather but the temps are definitely in range with what you want.  You might catch a lot of the budding dogwood trees, especially on the eastern side of the route. Relatively flat route though hotels are needed in places.

The central highlands of Mexico is good too temp wise. 

Whatever you decide, have a great tour.

Tailwinds, John



Offline horses60

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2024, 06:45:15 pm »
And what do you think about El paso - Calgary? The great divide South - North but only paved.
The bicycle is my drugs

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2024, 09:08:14 pm »
While I have not ridden that route, I have ridden from Brownsville to Winnipeg on a route I call the Tailwind Express back in maybe 2008.  While the riding would be nice in Texas in early April, to me personally, riding in north of Oklahoma in April would be too cool (I like 70+*F temps). I did the ride starting I think in early May and it was fine. It takes about 6 weeks to cross the country this way.

Tailwinds, John



Offline John Nelson

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2024, 12:59:00 am »
April is Colorado’s second snowiest month.

Offline horses60

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2024, 09:16:58 am »
@John Nettles
 :-[

Last night my wife suggested: Flight to Miami, to ride until Key West, ferry to Fort Meyers then North until home. A bike photo in Washington DC and NYC would be cool. From NY to Montreal there is the Empire State Trail.
What do you say to that? Do you know the route?
The bicycle is my drugs

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2024, 09:55:55 am »
I have ridden from Miami to the Keys (nice but the traffic can be a pain in places), taken the ferry then ridden up along the Gulf Coast (inland sometime) to Galveston.  Flat route, not much traffic (though a few places have a lot), and it takes you through New Orleans and a spur to Houston.  While scenic, not wow scenic and you definitely will need to stay in hotels many nights as most of the CGs do not allow tents or cost almost as much as an inexpensive motel.
If you rode along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the temps would be on the low end (if not below) of your range most days.  Plus a good chance of rain.  Big plus is a generally low traffic but very hilly (north of Georgia) all the way to DC. I have routes than can mostly get you from Ft. Myers to the start of the BRP though some have not been updated in over a decade. 

If you road up toward Gainesville, FL, (using the same routes as above) you could swing over to ACA's Atlantic Coast Route (rode that way back in 87 so can't comment on it well now) but whatever you do do not use the East Coast Greenway as it occasionally routes onto very dangerous roads.

Tailwinds, John

Offline davidbonn

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #9 on: February 09, 2024, 10:29:37 am »
A lot of the west is having a very low snow year.  This can work for and against you but if you play it right it can make for some interesting possibilities:

The big one is that a lot of back roads, especially in the intermountain interior between the Rockies and Cascades, will likely melt out and be passable by bicycle much sooner.  A lot might depend on how the weather plays out in the next six or seven weeks (but the long-range forecasts call for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation). 

The downside of a dry year is that water sources might well be limited, so you'll need to carefully time things so that roads are open but the situation is not so dry that water is unavailable.

One suggestion would be to start very far south, perhaps in Las Vegas or even San Diego and ride north into British Columbia, keeping E of the Sierras and Cascades.  Especially in northern Nevada and SE Oregon you'd be going through some fascinating and very empty country.  So basically you'd be riding into Spring the whole way.

Offline horses60

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2024, 10:41:46 am »
@John

I think that for us is the better choice, only one flight, start with flat roads and we can go back home by bicycle.
If you want to send me your routes, it's perfect. Do you want my email in private?

@davidbonn
Good suggestion (and I prefer the West coast to the East coast), but if we stay in the East the logistics is easier for us.

@John
In your first answer, you wrote: The central highlands of Mexico is good too temp wise.
What do you Americans think about safety in Mexico outside Baja California?
The bicycle is my drugs

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #11 on: February 09, 2024, 10:56:55 am »
We love Mexico.  We just got back from 2 weeks in San Miguel de Allende (SMA).  We have traveled to Mexico 2-3 times a year for 20+ years and have never had an issue.  Granted, we have not hung out in the border towns nor gone partying after 10pm nor wear flashy clothes, jewelry, etc. To us, the Mexican people are a very friendly, honest, and open people.  When using the USD, Mexico can be fairly cheap outside of the more popular tourist areas like SMA where it is about the same as the USA. 

If going to Mexico, you could do a few things.  Ride Baja S>N and end up in say Yuma, AZ.  It is mostly paved now though you would have to stealth camp occasionally (or just ask someone to camp in their yard) on the beach or in the "woods" and carry plenty of water and food as there are lots of tiendas (small CS that carry beverages and snacks but not much real food) and not that many restaurants outside towns.

You could around the Yucatan peninsula and maybe even take the new Maya train up to Palenque (don't know about bikes though).     

If you do the highlands, a bike with wider tires 50mm+ would be better as you most likely would be riding on gravel in places.

Send me a private message re: the routes you want.

Tailwinds, John

Offline David W Pratt

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Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2024, 04:02:56 pm »
Take the train to Albany, NY and follow the Erie Canal Towpath to Buffalo, NY.  From Buffalo, ride down the shore of Lake Erie to Erie PA, or into Ohio, then to Pittsburgh, PA where you can pick up the GAP/C&O trail to Washington DC.  AMTRAK up to NY City and then the NY Bike trail back to Albany.  That would be about 1800 km of riding with some interesting cities, DC has tons of free museums, NYC is pretty interesting as well.  There will be a little route planning to get from Erie PA to Pittsburgh.  Adventure Cycling has a route, the Pittsburgh Spur of the Underground Railroad, which I do not recommend. It is hilly and has stretches with few services and the entrance to Pittsburgh is on high traffic roads.  I have heard that there are better ways, however.   The GAP/C&O combination is the terrific opposite, car free, numerous services, lodging from stealth camping, to hiker biker dies to hotels, a great experience.
Good luck.

Offline horses60

Re: Help for ideas wanted
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2024, 06:20:48 pm »
Thank you David
The bicycle is my drugs