crossing the usa from miami to san diego (by bicycle)
Henning
im from switzerland and i'm planning to cross the usa from eastcoast
(somewhere in florida) to westcoast (sd), starting this november.
i found a page where i can buy cards for a route i can pretty much
stick to:
http://www.adv-cycling.org/routes/southerntier.cfm
my question: are there any good books about cycling in the usa,
especially the south, that i should read in preparation/take along? has
anyone here experience with travelling by bicycle in this area? any
information, help, hint would be great.
henning
Henning
i meant "maps", of course (in german the word "card" is used for maps
too...)
sorry!
Mike Vermeulen
>
>my question: are there any good books about cycling in the usa,
>especially the south, that i should read in preparation/take along? has
>anyone here experience with travelling by bicycle in this area? any
>information, help, hint would be great.
The Adventure Cycling Route you found is a good route to follow. I
bicycled mostly this route in 2001 when bicycling from San Jose to
Jacksonville. Here is a link to my trip report:
http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm
What time of year are you thinking of doing this ride? During the
summer, it can get hot/humid in the Southeastern USA and very hot/dry
in the Western deserts.
How are you getting from Miami to the Southern Tier bicycle route?
Some roads in Florida can be unfriendly with narrow shoulders and much
traffic.
--mev, Mike Vermeulen
Henning
that's also the reason why i chose the southern route. so far, i
haven't really planned anything in detail, as my final exams start next
week... :-(
i just thought i'd take a flight to miami, as it's probably the
cheapest from overseas. but i'll check that too.
thanks for your link, that looks really impressive. i'll glady read
your trip report.
Booker C. Bense
In article <1128416252.7...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
_ You might check out
_ Lot's of trip reports there.
_ Booker c. Bense
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Pat
: im from switzerland and i'm planning to cross the usa from eastcoast
: (somewhere in florida) to westcoast (sd), starting this november.
: i found a page where i can buy cards for a route i can pretty much
: stick to:
Henning, I'm in north Texas. Our wind here is usually out of the southwest
except for storms in the winter which have the winds coming out of the north
west. you might be crossing Texas in one huge headwind, for the flat West
Texas plains have some brisk winds. And, you'd have New Mexico and Arizona
to think about, too. Have you thought about doing it from West to East?
Pat in TX
Janet
Mike Vermeulen wrote:
>>http://www.adv-cycling.org/routes/southerntier.cfm
>
>
> The Adventure Cycling Route you found is a good route to follow. I
> bicycled mostly this route in 2001 when bicycling from San Jose to
> Jacksonville. Here is a link to my trip report:
> http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm
>
I just took a quick look at the route on the Adventure Cycling website.
Looks like it goes close to (or maybe even through) some areas seriously
affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (i.e., Louisiana and points east
on the Gulf coast). There may be some parts of this route that are not
useable now.
Janet
Henning
Thanks for the link, i'll check out a few journals that deal with
similar routes on this site.
Pat:
On the adv-cycling site they say about the winds on this route: "Due to
changing local conditions, it is difficult to predict any major wind
patterns, but here are a few known observations. In California, dry
easterly winds predominate in the fall, blowing west from the desert.
In western Texas, winds from the Gulf of Mexico will cause headwinds
for eastbound riders." I don't know how reliable this information is.
Maybe the wind pattern is different in north and south Texas. As I've
got friends in SD and LA I really want to travel west and spend some
time there after the trip (rather than before). If the winds are
causing a problem in TX, I might take the Amtrak from San Antonio to El
Paso.
Janet:
Thanks for the advice, as soon as I'm sure about the route I want to
take, I'll make sure I can get through there somehow.
Claire Petersky
news:1128416252.7...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> hi everybody
>
> im from switzerland and i'm planning to cross the usa from eastcoast
> (somewhere in florida) to westcoast (sd), starting this november.
> has
> anyone here experience with travelling by bicycle in this area? any
> information, help, hint would be great.
You might enjoy the journal of someone who rode from Seattle to Miami. Since
he was riding in the fall, and because of where his family lives, he rode to
the southwest first, and then straight east to Florida, so about 2/3s of the
route might be the same. Here's the link:
http://mikebentley.com/bike/harry/.
I know that traditionally people ride across North America west to east
because of prevailing winds. I don't know if the winds are different in
November -- most people ride it in the summer.
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
Henning
i just found a book especially for travelling the usa by bicycle - it's
in german:
Raphaela Wiegers, Stefan Voelker, Clemens Carle
Bikebuch USA/Canada - Nordamerika für Tourenradler und Mountainbiker.
Über 172 Fotos, 45 Karten, 624 Seiten
ISBN 3-89662-389-3, € 23,50 [D] / € 24,20 [A]
maybe this is of use for anybody here.
they also have a very detailed coverage of the southern route mentioned
above (they even refer to these exact maps from adv-cycling.org).
and they suggest to drive this route from east (starting in miami or
jacksonville) to west (sd or la) between october and march.
;-)
Dennis P. Harris
<henning.r...@gmail.com> wrote:
> my question: are there any good books about cycling in the usa,
> especially the south, that i should read in preparation/take along? has
> anyone here experience with travelling by bicycle in this area? any
> information, help, hint would be great.
most folks cycles west to east because the prevailing winds go
that way. if you go east to west, you'll use a lot more effort
to go the same distance.
Dennis P. Harris
<henning.r...@gmail.com> wrote:
> they suggest to drive this route from east (starting in miami or
> jacksonville) to west (sd or la) between october and march.
it may take some time translating the many location in the
official us weather service table of prevailing winds to your
map(s), but it's at
http://www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/documentlibrary/pdf/wind1996.pdf
Henning
are close to my route and it doesn't look bad at all for going east to
west in november/december.
my table:
(Travelling direction) (Wind Nov.) (Wind Dec.)
(Florida)
Miami N E/10 -
Daytona Beach N NW/9 bad
Jacksonville W NE/8 good
Tallahassee W N/6 -
Panama City W N/6 -
(Alabama)
Mobile W S/9 -
(Louisiana)
New Orleans W S/9 S/9 -
Baton Rouge N S/8 S/8 -
Alexandria W SSE/5 SSE/5 -/good
(Texas)
Port Arthur W S/10 S/10 -
Houston W SE/8 SE/8 good
San Antonio SW N/8 bad
San Angelo WNW SSW/10 -/good
Midland WNW S/10 -/good
El Paso NW N/8 bad
(Arizona)
Tucson WNW SE/8 good
Pheonix NW W/5 bad
Yuma SW N/7 good
(California)
San Diego W WNW/6 bad
Ron Wallenfang
southeast extends into Nov. The odds are you wouldn't be affected,
but......
"Henning" <henning.r...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1128593723.7...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
Pat
"Henning" : thanks, dennis. that table is a big help. i checked all the
: are close to my route and it doesn't look bad at all for going east to
: west in november/december.
Are you forgetting the winter weather? I have seen snow blowing horizontally
to the ground in west Texas. When a "Blue Norther" comes roaring down from
the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it'll freeze your kiester off. Texas
weather is extremely changeable and November isn't exactly a month to count
on for mild weather. Just yesterday, we had a 20-30 mph wind out of the
north north west and I was pedaling like crazy but going only 7 mph. When I
was crosswise to the wind, I had to lean my bicycle into the wind just to
stay upright.
Pat in TX
Henning
those dificulties.