Are ACA Routes Marked?

[rlovisa]

Live near DC, in MD.  Recently bought the Atlantic Coast Route maps and completed about 310 miles of the route via 2 single day trips and one 4 day trip between Reisterstown, MD (just NE of Baltimore) and Isle of Wight, in SE VA.  Several questions:

1. Are the ACA routes numbered and posted along the route?  I noticed in parts of VA, but not in MD or DC, that the Atlantic Coast Route is numbered 1. When intersecting and sharing the TransAmerica Trail, both route numbers were posted - 1 and 76.  76 is very appropriate by the way.

2. Assuming the routes, at least parts of the routes that are marked with route numbers, are the route signs provided by the local or federal governments, cycling clubs or ACA?

3. If the route signs are correct, Did the Atlantic Coast Route South of Richmond change?  I flawlessly followed the route one signs into Richmond from the north, but the route one signs led me across the James River and then in what seemed to be the opposite direction and off the ACA published maps. No addenda was provided to indicate a route change. After about 10 miles I abandoned the signs, back tracked and followed the ACA maps.  Never did see another route one sign again.

Thanks.

PS:  Wanted to attach a photo of the signs with this post but could not figure out how to do that.

[FredHiltz]

Hi rlovisa,

ACA does not post signs or other markings along the way. Of course, they are not the only ones who recognize good cycling roads, so we often see signs put up by other organizations, most often state departments of transportation or tourism.

Looking ahead, ACA and other bike organizations are lobbying for a national bike route network: an attempt to organize and expand this hodge-podge of routes. Adventure Cyclist and Bike Bits occasionally report on this effort.

Fred

[staehpj1]

My observation from last summer is that the TA was marked some of the way, but by no means everywhere.  The markings were actually pretty sparse, especially in the west.  I think we were nearly halfway across the country before we saw the first one between Fairplay Co and Canon City CO.  There were a  lot in Virginia, but even there they were not frequent enough to count on them.

[JayH]

NY has some bike routes that are marked but these are not ACA markings so don't go following them willy nilly! :-)

Jay