Looking to take a long trip with a big cart/trailer from Bay Area

[mmichaelson]

Hi all!
I am doing this art project, collecting stories from people. I built this big paper mache sculpture that goes on top of a Burly kid cart, that has audio recording equipment in it. My goal is to take off on a trip with it and collect stories. I am planning not to go really far each day, as the cart is lightish, but... not something to drag around super fast. like 30-40 miles a day. I have time, at least a few months, and am leaving from the SF Bay area. I will probably take off in January, so Im thinking the south west to start.
Wanted advice from people who have taken kids or other wide load type trailers. Is there any routs that have really big shoulders for a long way?
I biked it down the oregon coast last summer, and it was OK, but defenately the cart was a bit to wide in some places... and it just got bigger, because I added to the sculpture.

[hmoore71]

Checkout http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=RrzKj&user=thegimprider&v=1B

He tours with humongous trailer loads.

[valygrl]

Hmmm, paper mache + El Nino = big gooey mess?  Just a thought....

[John Nelson]

Generally, the higher the traffic load, the wider the shoulder. It's hard to find low-traffic roads with wide shoulders. The widest shoulders are on the Interstate highways, which are legal to ride on in much of the West but you need to check because they are not all legal to ride on. Interstate highways, however, aren't much fun to ride on in my opinion and the shoulder sometimes has a lot of debris. A compromise perhaps is to stick with US highways, which have less traffic than interstates but often still have good shoulders.

You might consider the wide cart to be a safety advantage. Drivers will typically give you a bit more leeway (even if they do it subconciously) with a wide trailer, and if they do hit you, it will be more likely that they'll just hit the trailer.

[staehpj1]

Interstate highways, however, aren't much fun to ride on in my opinion and the shoulder sometimes has a lot of debris. A compromise perhaps is to stick with US highways, which have less traffic than interstates but often still have good shoulders.

My experience is that they vary widely in this regard.  I did a section of I-80 in Wyoming and it was not especially pleasant, but OK.  There was a good bit of sharp debris and the scenery was so so.  The traffic was kind of heavy and the resulting noise was less than optimum.

I did a good chunk of I-25 in NE New Mexico and it was actually very nice riding, either on the interstate or on the access road.  Good surface combined with a clean shoulder, light traffic, and excellent scenery made it quite nice.

[mmichaelson]

Thank you all for the help brainstorming. I will ask more questions as they come.
maria