first time

[spongebob123]

i am leaving next month for cal from illinois, why, have not figured that out yet, how , by a bike, i am riding everyday as much as i can i am hoping for 30 to 38 days for the trip, any advice and i mean any would be greatly welcomed, i think i have the trip mapped out, and i have read a few articles of other people who have went, i pray i meet nice people on the way like they did, again any help would be accepted whole heartilly

[John Nelson]

There's not anything I can add other than the numerous tips you find reading these forums and the how-to articles on this site. Let us know if you have any specific questions. Have fun, which I'm sure you will.

[FredHiltz]

Hi Spongebob,

Welcome to the forum, the best place to meet seasoned touring cyclists. Please do not duplicate your posts in several groups. You will not get a larger audience, but you will annoy people who might be inclined to answer. Check the top post in each group for our etiquette.

Keep spinning!

Fred

[whittierider]

Please do not duplicate your posts in several groups. You will not get a larger audience, but you will annoy people who might be inclined to answer.

Right.  I suspect most people are clicking on "Show unread posts since last visit" near the top, so they won't miss it.  It works best to keep all the responses in one place too so dialog is better and there's no duplicate effort by different people to say the same things.

[spongebob123]

my apologies if i did say the same thing twice, i am not to good of a typer,

[spongebob123]

i also thought there would be different people for  different groups but i think i understand it now, also what does one think of instead of going the trail over to colarodo and down , taking route 66 instead it might not have as many stops along the way but is is a lot closer, just curious.

[whittierider]

what does one think of instead of going the trail over to colarodo and down , taking route 66 instead it might not have as many stops along the way but is is a lot closer, just curious.

The only thing I can comment there is that near the Twenty-Nine Palms marine base in California, midway between the Arizona border and L.A., Route 66 which parallels I40 in that area is in absolutely terrible condition for the 30 or 40 miles on the east side of Newberry Springs.  Someone here said he has ridden the I40 freeway through there though which is only a couple hundred feet away or less, and the Highway Patrol didn't give him any static.  Supposedly bikes aren't supposed to be on the freeway if there's another suitable route, but 66 in that area is definitely not suitable, and the freeway has a good paved shoulder and is plenty safe to ride.  If an officer does stop you, just say you can't afford to buy or carry enough replacement tires to get you through that stretch on 66.  I don't think I've ever seen the police in that area anyway though.

Be ready to carry a lot of water through the western deserts, because you can go 100 miles at a time and not find any.  Many easterners don't know the meaning of the word "barren."  There is just nothing out there-- not even a gas station for sometimes 100 miles at a time, and it can get extremely hot (120°) in the summer.

[spongebob123]

thanks for the reply, i have decided on the bike route it is a bit farther but  it seems to be safer to say the least,