The Route

A Very Brief Overview

The American Cycling Association (ACA) produce an incredibly useful interactive map and map guides of tried and tested routes for cyclists, throughout America. The TransAmerica Route is the most popular cycling route cross America but there are also the Northern and Southern Tier routes to consider and lots of routes in between.

Defining our route across America has entailed many, many hours of discussion. We will use ACA routes wherever possible. There are still however, a seemingly infinite number of options and we have had numerous iterations as we try to match roads that are deemed safest to cycle on, that are legal to cycle on, and where we can combine what we think are realistic distances and manageable climbs with the availability of water, food and accommodation. A seemingly impossible task at times.

This will be the first time we have cycled any distance without support and we will have to carry everything we need for the entire journey on our bikes. My bike and essential kit are currently weighing in at just below 30kg. More to follow on this in a future blog.

‘Our Plan’

We plan to start in mid May, from Seaside on the Pacific coast. As is customary, we will of course dip our rear wheels in the Pacific Ocean before we set off to cycle along the notoriously windy Columbia River route and beyond through Oregon, Washington and Idaho, across the Bitterroot Valley and into Lolo in Montana. At this point we will have cycled 732 miles and climbed 30,000 feet, just over the height of Everest. Our longest day at this stage should be 75 miles.

From Lolo we will pick up the TransAmerica Trail and cycle a further 400 miles until we reach Yellowstone. We are in bear country now, in the Rocky Mountains and there are a number of days with some very tough climbs as we traverse the Continental Divide, including Gibbon Pass which peaks at 6,974ft.

From Yellowstone, our route takes us a further 600 miles through Wyoming and into South Dakota. We have allowed for a short detour to Mount Rushmore and then onwards for a further 500 miles through the Great Plains of South Dakota. We have a number of stretches of 70-80 miles where we do not expect to have access to food, water or accommodation along this route, as we traverse the Badlands and the famous Black Hills of South Dakota. and a further 300 miles through Minnesota.

It is from Minnesota that we will pick up the North Lakes route through Wisconsin and into Michigan, heading north around Lake Michigan, allowing for a brief detour into Chicago as we complete the loop.

It is shortly after here, that we reach Denver, Indiana, where our group of four will split, taking different routes to the Atlantic coast. By this time we expect to have cycled 3,250 miles, climbed over 100,000 feet of hills and spent 70 days in the saddle together.

From Denver, Caroline and Paul will pick up the TransAmerican Trail again and follow it to its conclusion at Yorktown, Virginia where they will meet up with family.

It is around Denver, that John and I hope to be joined by friends who, familiar with the area may suggest a different route but our current plan is to pick up the Northern Tier route at Denver and follow it around the south shores of Lake Eerie, very close to the Canadian border and onwards through Ohio, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, for a further 1,200 miles, leaving this route around Bridgton to finish in Portland, Maine. It is here that we plan to dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean to mark the end of our 4,500 mile cycle, through fifteen States across America. I’m sure there will be many ups and downs, literally and metaphorically throughout this time and we will of course keep you posted.

Note: Those cyclists amongst you will note that having converted all my cycling statistics from miles to kilometres a few years ago, I am having to convert back to miles, as these are still in use throughout America.

Images Source: ClipArt Library / Map Source: American Cycle Association