Lincoln,Ne heading east through Iowa

[jamesofyorkshire]

Hello again. Heading east from Lincoln, Ne.........should I take hwy 34? I read somewhere it's not too bike-friendly, but it's the most direct way east from Lincoln.
If not 34, which route through Iowa? not too far up or down out my way. I think I'll cross the river at Plattsmouth............and I'm heading to Pittsburgh.

[cgarch]

This may help http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=2SaFD8K&page_id=207786&v=8y

[litespeed]

US34 across Iowa is a miserable bicycling road - two lane, shoulderless and pretty heavily trafficked. I rode it east to west a few years ago. After four very tense days on it I was much relieved to get into Nebraska. Unfortunately, the only alternative roads near 34 are poorly marked secondary roads that force you into a lot of right turns. Good luck. I wish I could offer more useful advice.

[DU]

If you just want to go straight across Iowa and keep it simple Hwy 2 would be a much better option to Hwy 34. If you end up crossing the Missouri on 34 because of the flooding, you can catch a crushed limestone trail 6 1/2 miles east of Glenwood that will take SE to intersect with Hwy 2 by Shenandoah.

If you want to travel across farther north than Hwy 6 and the county roads that are old Hwy 6 is a good route. An Iowa Bicycling map would be helpful, check at Iowa bike shops (if there are any) along the way.

 It's a shame but there are very few roads with shoulders in Iowa but there are a lot of county roads with light traffic. Once again the map would be helpful and it's free.

[jamesofyorkshire]

Thanks for all the replies.

I enjoyed the crazyguyonabike read.......Iowa tomorrow - and it doesn't sound too good!

What's on the other side of Iowa? Indiana? Is that any better?

[jamesofyorkshire]

OK - Illinois............not Indiana..........

Anyone anything to say about hwy 92 through Iowa?

[litespeed]

I have crossed Illinois in the north but remember little of it so I guess there were no major problems. You might want to swing a bit south to avoid Chicago - say go just south of Kankakee. That's what I did. I go to great pains to avoid major town and cities unless I need something important there.

[jamesofyorkshire]

I took the Bellevue Bridge to Iowa then tracked over to a road called the Old Pioneer Trail................followed that for a few miles then it became dirt. Pavement ended.
So I headed north to hit 92 and been on that a couple of hours. Not good......no shoulder and cracked pavement.....quite a few trucks too, which means dropping onto the soft, dirt shoulder to let them pass. I wouldn't say it was busy, but there's just nowhere to go when something comes.
Bloody hill too!

Hiding from a thunderstorm in City Hall, Carson - where they have Wifi !!! Also a little campground here and a store.......so I guess this will be 'home' tonight.

Yet another pre-packed burrito and beer for supper -good job I'll be sleeping outside - and alone..........I think those burritos have a shelf life of 360 years or something..........I wonder what delightful, nutritious additives they're made with............

Strong headwind today and forecast is for same lousy weather the next 3 days. If there was a train station in town, I'd seriously consider skipping Iowa.

[RussSeaton]

Hwy 92 across Iowa is not a bike friendly road.  34 and 30 are not good either.  As mentioned, Hwy 6 is not too bad.  I've ridden it between Iowa City and Des Moines.  Hwy 2 is not bad either.  Its a main road, but it does not have lots of traffic.  Hills on 2 are not bad.  I've ridden it from Leon to Farmington.  Getting to 2 from Lincoln will mean heading south quite a ways.  But if coming out in the middle of Illinois is OK, then you might as well head south at the beginning.  There are lots and lots of county roads in Iowa.  A free map from the state will show them.  Iowa has a bicycling specific map.  You could easily piece together a good route using county roads from the Missouri to the Mississippii.

Here is the bicycle map for Iowa.
http://www.iowadot.gov/iowabikes/bikemap.aspx

[DU]

When I read about people not liking the cycling in Iowa it always is the result of them choosing the wrong roads. The state bike maps are the key to an enjoyable trip across Iowa.

It would helpful to know where you are going, at least your destination in the next state. The Northern Tier crosses the Mississippi at Muscatine, which might be useful, depending on where you are going.

[Indianacharlie]

Should you be entering Indiana in the central area I have several routes that can get you across toward the Cincinnati or Toledo area.
Here's a link to my routes:   http://backroadsofindiana.blogspot.com/

Charlie Myer
Back Roads of Indiana

[jamesofyorkshire]

Actually I'm heading towards Pittsburgh,Pa.........so any advice or recommended routes would be much appreciated. I'm kind of stuttering in an eastward direction taking in local advice as I go.
Currently at Knoxville,Ia.

I can categorically state that west of here, hwy 92 is not recommended for cycling. Cracks in the pavement every 20ft, truck traffic, no shoulder etc. etc. by far the worst road since leaving the west coast. Not mentioning the constant up and down (climbed over 7000ft according to my Garmin 705 so far in Iowa). The headwind doesn't help either......but that's not Iowa's fault!

In the 2000 miles since west Oregon - this (Bellevue-Knoxville) is BY FAR the worse 150 miles. 3rd world countries have better roads than this.

[RussSeaton]

Actually I'm heading towards Pittsburgh,Pa.........so any advice or recommended routes would be much appreciated. I'm kind of stuttering in an eastward direction taking in local advice as I go.
Currently at Knoxville,Ia.

Not sure why you rode Hwy 92 since several people in this forum, including me, recommended NOT riding 92.

Anyway, head north out of Knoxville on Hwy 14.  Go north to Monroe, go north of Monroe about 3 miles.  14 is a bit busy and hilly.  You will find county road F62 going east to Reasnor and Montezuma.  Stay on that road to Iowa City.  It changes from F62 to F57, Hwy 85, F52.  But its the same road.  You will hit Sully, Lynnville, Searsboro, Montezuma, Deep River, Millersburg, Parnell, Holbrook, then go south to Frytown.  There will be a road north to Cosgrove and a road south to Frytown.  Go south.  In Frytown get on F62 again and go east to Hills, West Liberty, Atalissa, Moscow, Wilton, Durant, Stockton, Walcott and finally the Quad Cities (Bettendorf and Davenport on the Iowa side of the river).  There are some hills on this route.  Parts of Iowa are flat, part are not.