Southern Tier - Motels, Safety

[Susan]

Hi Folks,         Can someone advise me please?  I am a 58-year old female living in Germany and wanting to travel along the Southern Tier Route westbound, starting in FLA in February 2008 or 2009.  My daily average will probably be about 60 miles, and I can manage 80 miles if necessary.  I travel light and want to stay in motels, no camping. I have the Adventure Cycling maps, but would like to hear from someone who has traveled this route - can I count on finding motels within max. 80 mile distance to one another along the route?   Is an average of US$45 a realistic figure of cost per night?   Last issue:  I am used to travelling alone and not a fearsome person - is there a reason (safety) not to do so?  
Greetings and thanks in advance for any help you can give me.     Susan

[TRobertson]

Hi Susan,
Your mileages sound about right. I led a Southern Tier trip years ago
and we averaged about 62 miles for the whole trip. There are a couple
of longer stretches in Texas, and a couple in Arizona, between motels.
Those are in the 80 mile range. Your dollar figure for the hotels is
about right for the rural areas. If you end up staying in a city though,
the rooms might be closer to $60. However, in some of the cities
(Austin, El Paso, St. Augustine, San Diego) there are youth hostels that
are nice and inexpensive.

As far as traveling by yourself, we havent heard of anyone having
trouble doing this. From the folks that Ive talked to, it seems though
the hardest part about solo travel is people not having anyone to talk
to for long stretches of the day.
If you would write to me directly with your email address
(trobertson@adventurecycling.org) I can email you a few pdf's of
articles that have appeared in our magazine about traveling solo; as
well as a couple on the Southern Tier.

Best Regards,
Tom Robertson
routes and mapping



 

[Susan]

Hi Tom,  
thank you so much for your reply - I feel confident about proceeding with my plans and want to start the Tour in the first week of February this year. The exchange from Euro to Dollars is very good for us Europeans at this time and I can imagine that the Dollar will become stronger after the elections in November.  I am so excited that I can hardly sleep!
My Email is as follows:  goettschie@web.de   - I get the Adventure Cycling Magazines and do recall one very good article about cycling solo, but I would appreciate your forwarding those copies to me.  

Greetings from wet and foggy northern Germany,  
Susan Goettsch

[lisaharris]

Dear Susan YOu are welcome to come and visit here on The Farm Community during your southern tier tour. I am located in middle TN. near the Natchez Trace. I would love to tour the northern Ala. route to the Dismals Canyon. Let me know. Regards.Lisa

[bchaffins]

I just finished a modified Southern Tier on Jan. 4, 2008.  I kept a site of the trip at www.ridingforadventure.com.
If you have any questions about it you can email me.