How to cut down on miles without cutting scenery (Boston to SF) with TA

[botaguitar]

Planning a cross country bike trip with a frame of about 85 riding days. Starting in Boston ending In San Francisco. Badly want to do the pacific coast trail from oregon down to the bay area at the end, but dont know if it will all fit in the time frame. any suggestions how to cut down the total length without losing scenery (ive driven through nevada and its not exactly the prettiest)?

[John Nelson]

"Scenery" means different things to different people. Some people consider the wheat fields of Kansas scenic, and others consider them boring. Snow-covered peaks are certainly scenic, but that doesn't mean that a desert cannot also be scenic. Personally I like variety over a steady diet of one thing.

Figure out what parts you consider scenic, and how much time you have, and then take a automobile, bus, train or plane over the other parts you don't have time for. Given your desire to skip Nevada, then you certainly can. One possibility would be to fly to Pueblo CO and take the TransAm from there to Oregon, and then down the coast to SF. Logistically it seems much simpler to do your flying at the beginning of the trip rather than in the middle.

[FredHiltz]

Berkeley - San Juan Islands - Boston via the Pacific Coast and Northern Tier routes took me 80 days, which included a five-day side trip to Yosemite and a three-day side trip to Minneapolis. Not a fast rider, usually at the back of the pack on club rides, I think 85 days will serve you well.

You are wise to consider shortening the route rather than racing through it. The memorable times happen when you stop for something special: scenery, a hike, county fair, etc. No one comes back saying how much he loved watching the road ahead of his front wheel.

My own best memories include the big ones: Yosemite Falls, Going-to-the-Sun, Waterton Park, and--surprisingly--three hours with a bunch of little reservation kids at their bicycle rodeo. After testing whether a fully-loaded touring bike could match their 16-inchers at weaving among the traffic cones (it could), we had a great Q&A session about riding across their state and the country.

Fred

[bktourer1]

Take the commuter train to Worcester (off peak)  the scenery aint so great in this area