can you help me get from pittsburgh to ILL?

[billb]

hi

i'm trying to connect up a few routes and could definitely use some tips. i'm planning to follow the Great Allegheny Trail from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh. from there, i'd like to hook up with the Transamerica route. any thoughts on the best way to do this? i was thinking of using the Outdoor Pursuit maps through Ohio. but Indiana is a big mystery, likewise Illinois.

thanks!
bill b

[Turk]

You might ask this same question in the Underground Railroad forum on this site. It looks like the Underground Railroad Trail, soon to be inaugurated by this site, will accomplish what you want (connecting from Pittsburgh to the Transamerica Trail), but you'd have to go by way of Cleveland. There might be a way around this.

[Ike]

If Indiana is still a mystery when you get there, stop at libraries and use the state road atlas hidden somewhere on the shelf.  Make photocopies of the pages you need.  Most libraries usually have an updated version that is accurate enough and the librarians are more than willing to help.  In a more populated state like Indiana, it wouldn't be hard to self plan a backroads route using a Delorme Gazetteer or its equivalent.  That's how I made it through Ohio from Aberdeen, OH to Monroeville, IN.  This wasn't difficult for Ohio, and I can't imagine it being any different for Indiana.

Ike

[Indianacharlie]

Bill and others about Indiana!!!!
Efforts are underway to get more info out there on routes in Indiana.
In the meantime there are resources that will help cyclists find a
scenic remote route through the state.
1. Back Roads of Indiana, a map book (by a cyclist) containing
individual county maps showing most all paved roads with several
suggested routes. Available at Hodsons Bay Co. in West Lafayette.
765-743-3506
2. http://www.cibaride.org/maps/maps.html (has links to other area
maps)
3. http://www.lafayette-in.com/bikeindiana.html

Should you find similar info on Illinois please keep us posted.
Charlie Myer
Author; Back Roads of Indiana

[Ryo69]

I'm not sure if you have the time to wait for them, but you can order bicycle maps for free from the IDOT website to get through Illinois.  There are 9 different maps, and they are pretty detailed.  Each road is color-coded as to whether or not the road is more or less bike friendly.  Mine just came in the mail this week, and they will be very helpful when planning my weekend rides.  Here's the link:

http://www.dot.state.il.us/bikemap/STATE.HTM