america by bike

[swimmer]

i've wanted to bike across america for many years, but also have wanted to sleep in a bed every night.  i recently discovered "america by bike" as a company that can accommodate all my dreams. 

has anybody out there used this company or known anybody who used it?  i'd appreciate any thoughts on their goodness or badness. i know enough about the route and the weather, but i don't know anything about the company and how well they support their riders. 

thanks for any info you can share.

--swimmer

[mucknort]

uhhm, well their website does have a link to this one on their "links" page.

[ztmlgr]

There are at least 3 journals (that I know of) on crazyguyonabike.com posted by members of the ABBIKE 2008 San Francisco to New Hampshire tour.  You might want to peruse these journals to get a flavor of how the tour operates:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/3419
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/usa08
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/3383

I also (briefly) considered using this tour operator but was a bit turned off by their prices as well as their rigid schedule.  Here posted on their site are the rates for various motel occupancies:

Rates:
# $6450 (Triple)
# $8582 (Double)
# $11,130 (Single)

If you wanted a motel room every night, and you didn't want to share it with another rider, you would be spending an average of $215 per day.  I rode from San Francisco to Boston in 2007 and stayed in a motel every night and, although I never added up the total cost, I'm sure it was thousands lower than abbike's lowest rate.  I also had the freedom to change my route or itinerary which is something the abbike riders do not have.  However, they have some advantages, such as they sag your gear, provide 2 meals a day, fix minor mechanical issues with your bike if needed, and plan the route for you and give out route sheets every day.  It might be right for you if the money is not a problem and you want someone to take care of all the details and you just want to ride your bike and you like the social group ride thing, but for me, I had a problem with their prices and I wanted the freedom to change my route or schedule and I didn't want to deal with the group dynamics.

My journal is here (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/sftobostonbybike) and it shows every motel I stayed at on my trip, so it is possible to do it yourself without using a tour operator ans STILL sleep in a bed every night.

[swimmer]

thanks to ztmlgr for the reference to crazyguyonabike and to your journal.  these help a lot.  i agree that i could do this for a lot less cost on my own, but if i do this trip i'll pay for the support and minimize the hassles.  life is full of tradeoffs. 

There are at least 3 journals (that I know of) on crazyguyonabike.com posted by members of the ABBIKE 2008 San Francisco to New Hampshire tour.  You might want to peruse these journals to get a flavor of how the tour operates:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/3419
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/usa08
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/3383

My journal is here (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/sftobostonbybike) and it shows every motel I stayed at on my trip, so it is possible to do it yourself without using a tour operator ans STILL sleep in a bed every night.

[Louarn]

I cycled cross country last year with America by Bike and the experience was excellent in my humble opinion. I could have done the ride alone and self-contained, but ABB takes a lot of the hassles out of doing it on your own as they know the best routes through populated and unpopulated areas, offer very good accommodations (except for two hotels that I considered under par), and lots of food at dinner. I figured I'd only be riding once across the country and perferred to do it in the best possible way. Actually, one of the journals listed for CGOAB and mentioned in one of the above posts, was my journal of that trip.

[mikedirectory2]

I cycled cross country last year with America by Bike and the experience was excellent in my humble opinion. I could have done the ride alone and self-contained, but ABB takes a lot of the hassles out of doing it on your own as they know the best routes through populated and unpopulated areas, offer very good accommodations (except for two hotels that I considered under par), and lots of food at dinner. I figured I'd only be riding once across the country and perferred to do it in the best possible way. Actually, one of the journals listed for CGOAB and mentioned in one of the above posts, was my journal of that trip.

That sounds like a lot of fun.  It must also be nice to hae the companionship of other travelers on your journey.