Author Topic: beaten paths?...  (Read 14230 times)

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Offline residentdreamer

beaten paths?...
« on: April 03, 2004, 07:46:02 pm »
I'm gearing up for my first major tour later this month.  First off I'd like to quickly express how excited I am to find so much information out here as well as such a great community of cyclists willing to share their experiences.  While ebay and mp3's are great and all I have to believe communities like this are the greatest benefit of the internet.

Anyways, I'm planning on taking a bus out to Carlsbad, NM and riding back to my home in Long Creek, SC.  I planned my trip based on campgrounds, secondary roads, and most of all places I wanted to see and experience such as Austin, New Orleans, and as much of the Gulf Coast as possible.

Since my initial planning I have discovered this online community and planned routes such as the "Southern Tier".  Which almost strategically misses every place I would like to see.

So the question I'd like to throw out there is this, how does everyone feel about the 'Southern Tier' as well as other routes compared to simply finding your own way?  I'd like to know if the roads and conditions are better on these routes for cyclists, are the towns they pass through more bicycle friendly, is more than an average amount of campgrounds and facilities on these routes then other possible routes?  Basically what makes these 'beaten paths' better, if they are?

Any thoughts about these random meanderings would be greatly appreciated, and thanks all for your time! Text


Offline pmspirito

beaten paths?...
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2004, 03:20:48 am »
Great question.  Are the routes based on getting from point A to point B as fast and safe as possible or are they based on a truely scenic "vacation" tour.

Peter Spirito

best wishes from the back of the pack,  Peter & Judy Spirito

Offline residentdreamer

beaten paths?...
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2004, 06:43:22 am »
It's my first tour and I have a lot of goals, but mostly it's just to do the mileage.  No matter what places I see I have no doubt it'll be a new experience being from the saddle of a bike.  So I suppose the conditions are somewhat more important, meaning more bicycle friendly roads and cities.  I guess my biggest fear of death is traffic, I'd like to be on the most desolate and shortest path available.


Offline TRobertson

beaten paths?...
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2004, 07:17:06 pm »
I have had the pleasure of riding the Southern Tier a couple
of times....as well as working on the maps and updates to the
maps. The question that you pose, or some variant of that
question, is one that we hear almost daily here at Adventure
Cycling.

When we choose routes, the initial criteria that we shoot for is
safety....and this is generally roads that are more rural in
nature. From there, the next important criteria are
services....and having services that are somewhat close
together since most folks seem to average about 65 miles a
day. After that we look for scenic routes with some interesting
features along the way. All of these things added up means
that our routes are probably not the quickest way from point A
to point B.....but hopefully the route would provide experience
for a cyclists.

But every cyclist has their list of things that they want to see.
And since our routes are so specific, they generally don't
include all of these things. And we aren't saying that our
routes are the end-all be-all to bicycle touring in the US.
There are thousands of roads in the country that aren't part of
our routes that make for outstanding riding.

I think that the biggest advantage to touring on Adventure
Cycling routes is that the guess work is taken out of the
equation. We hear from people all of the time that have
toured for years....who have never used our routes. Then
after a tour using them they go on and on about how much
easier it made their tour. Their comments seem to be about
having the location of the services (that are update monthly
on our website) as much as the route.

Over the years we've learned that roads and highways
change all of the time. They get busier, lanes are added,
surfaces change.....and we try to keep up with these changes
and make them available as fast as we can. Just like we do
with the services.

Some people that tour do not like to know what is coming up.
They like the experience of just heading out to see what will
happen....talking to locals along the way to find out where to
ride, eat and stay. They might just be using a state map, and
following mostly major roads. People that tour this way can
have a great trip, just like folks that use an already existing
route.

When people call to ask about the best way to go about
designing their own trip we generally tell them this:

We generally don't have a lot of information when it comes to
traveling off of our routes. What we do have to offer though
are some good resources to help you with your planning.
The first thing that I suggest to folks is to take a look at the
routes that we have http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/
network.cfm.  From there, find out which parts you could
potentially use. The next step is to get in touch with the bike
coordinators for the states in which they will be traveling
through. The bike coordinators have a wealth of information
that they can distribute for no charge. Most every state
publishes a bicycle map of their state that they will send out
for free....and while the maps aren't as detailed as ours, they
generally offer suggested roads for cycling through their
state. Some states, such as Colorado and Wisconsin, have
outstanding information, while other states are much simpler.
But every little piece of information can help. Here is a link to
the contact information for all of the bicycle coordinators:
http://www.bikewalk.org/contacts_links/
state_bikeped_coord.htm

Another good resource is our Cyclists' Yellowpages, which is
now on-line. From our Home Page you can select "Cyclists
Yellow Pages" in the banner towards the top of the page. Of
here is a link straight to the site: http://
www.adventurecycling.org/cyp/index.cfm This is a search
engine for the Yellowpages and has a lot of good reference
information about where to find information for your trip.

I will also add to folks that are planning their own trips…..we  
see more and more as State and U.S. highways are being
resurfurced that the DOT's are adding a nice 3 to 4 foot
shoulder to their highways. While traffic on these roadways
tends to be heavier than others, the shoulder can make for
some nice, safe riding…..depending on where the rumble
strips are placed.

Tom Robertson
routes and mapping
Adventure Cycling




 

Offline pmspirito

beaten paths?...
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2004, 12:46:27 am »
Tom:  Thanks for joining this thread.  You really summed up the entire thought process for developing the AC maps.  I purchased the Atlantic coast maps last year.  The route passes next to my home town in Connecticut, and goes thru town at our vacation home in North Carolina, and just before our home here in Florida it takes a right turn to Ft Meyers.  Therefore I am very familiar with much of whats on the route and your route is very accurate and passes thru some beautiful country.  Most important are the online updates.  AC truely sets the standard for cycle touring.  Our plan for next spring is to drive to NC and while Judy is visiting with family I will head South on my 'bent, camping and/or moteling as I go. After a week or so Judy will leave NC and find me along the way.

best wishes from the back of the pack,  Peter & Judy Spirito

Offline JayH

beaten paths?...
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2004, 01:54:34 pm »
Also, besides Adventure Cycling, if you are interested in looking for safe routes off ACA's routes, contact the state's department of tourism or transportation (usually you can contact the Tourism office first for info and they can point you in the right direction). Here is the link to the State Coordinators. You'll find that some states actually publish bike routes and maps that may list traffic density, shoulder width, etc. And best of all, it is usually free.  It may be a bit dated but it's better than nothing.  I know that Maine does this, the map they provide covers the whole state and includes most of the county and state roads.

So if you're going through a bunch of states and want to explore one in more detail, contact them and ask to see if they have a bike map..

Jay

This message was edited by Webmaster on 4-6-04 @ 3:55 PM

Offline pmspirito

beaten paths?...
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2004, 01:50:07 am »
North Carolina has both state and county marked bike routes. I rode one last year for about 50 miles and it was a great ride.  My only goof was not checking on the ferry schedule and after having taken a nice long lunch I missed the boat by a couple of minutes and had to wait 2 hours for the next ride across the bay. The routes are well marked with routes numbered as high as upper 40's.  But there is'nt just one source for the maps and the route markers for the county routes and the state routes are the same.  I am still searching the various state and county agencies for all of the maps.

Peter Spirito


best wishes from the back of the pack,  Peter & Judy Spirito

Offline JayH

beaten paths?...
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2004, 01:54:07 pm »
Is there a depository of states that offer either online bike maps of the state or at least a printable version?

I ran across this really nice PDF file of Rhode Island that is available from the state's DOT:

http://www.dot.state.ri.us/WebTran/ristatebikemap.pdf

I think ACA should If not already, have a depository of which states have a bike map and their relevant age of data (times change, sometimes quickly!).  It would be cool for those putting our own tours together to get a one-stop locale for bike routes.  

Jay