Ive been giving some thought to a bike ride accross America next spring to raise money for a charity. Have any of you done this? I have a few questions.
Thanks.
Maps, travel logs, and informative reading can be found at www.crazyguyonabike.com
I would love to ride across America and have done a fair amount of reading from the journals of others who have done it.
I just biked from Port Townsend, Washington to SF, CA from August 1-9th. An absolutely beautiful trip along the coast with some side detours suggested by the Adventure Cycling Maps. I have never biked across the country but I can give you some tips from my trip.
I did not do any special training for the trip since I did it pretty much on a whim. Most people I met on the road were not exceptionally strong cyclists, rather they were just taking their time enjoying the ride. I would highly recommend that method of touring, i.e., take your time to ride along so you are comfortable and you do not start to detest the bike. most people were doing about 40-60 miles per day. That may not seem like much but if you are towing your camping gear and food then your pace will be quite slower than a training ride.
There were many campgrounds along my route. I made reservations at some campgrounds and that was a mistake. Many campgrounds have hiker/biker camp sites that are non-reservable and are quite nice and cheap. I never had a problem snagging one of those even when I rolled into the most popular campgrounds late at night. The Adventure Cycling Maps were a great resource for pointing out where those sites were located. Many people would take one day off a week and stay in a hotel which I think is a great idea because it does provide some physical and mental refreshment.
Per my friend’s recommendation I towed my camping gear (tent, sleeping bag, pad, stove, pot, spare clothes, food) in a BOB trailer. Unless they have made a new model, this trailers are made out of steel and are way to heavy. I spent most of my trip trying to figure out how I could make one out of carbon fiber. But the durability means it will not break down and will survive all kinds of bumps and scrapes. Many people had paneers so those are also an option. Do try to pack light and sparsely because every little weight adds up and after 1000 miles you will start to wonder why you brought the espresso maker.
With regards to food you are going to need a lot of it, but you don’t have to carry all of it. I brought typical backpacking food (oatmeal, packaged meals, GORP, snickers bars, couscous, cheese, salami, powdered potato, etc.) but I ended up stopping for a late lunch and getting a sandwich and coffee with donuts and other snacks. Sometimes I also stopped for a second breakfast. My food was the heaviest thing in pack so the more food you can buy (it gets expensive quickly) the lighter your trailer.
I packed similar to a light weight backpacker (google search for pack lists) and I have am not uncomfortable wearing the same jersey every day or having only one set of non-cycling clothes. I brought two pairs of cycling shorts and would wash one in the sink at night and dry it on my trailer during the day. I think the UV from the sun killed most of the bacteria.
I did bring tubes, spare tire, spare chain (I did break a chain) and bike tools. I was lucky and had no flat tires but my derailuer did snap in half. I thought my trip was done, but luckly four nice people hooked me up with rides to the bike stores, tracking down and installing the part within four hours so I essentially lost no time.
Touring on a bike does seem quite hard on a bike and the Adventure Cycling maps are also a great resource for pointing out which towns have a bike shop.
I just did it to see cool stuff and work through some issues in life so I didn’t get any sponsors.
I would suggest taking your time if you have it available so that is stays enjoyable and if you are in a cool spot and you feel like sticking around for a few days you can. If I was wealthy I think next time I would just travel with a bike and a credit card and eat out every meal and stay at motel/hotels. The camping was beautiful and part of what I wanted to do, but it prohibits you from traveling extremely light and does require energy to make meals and set up camp.
Hope this was helpful.
Cheers,
noah
One more question…how long on average does it take?
Habitat Biking Challenge is a biking across America charity event founded by some Yale students. In 2005 someone was killed, in 2006 someone was killed in preparation for it, and 2007, someone was seriously hurt (http://www.yaledailynews.com).
They had set out in June and hoped to be completed by August 10.
I have never biked across the country so I do not know.
But it takes as long as you want it to take…
I would suggest averaging around 40-60 miles per day based on people I talked to on the road who had varying levels of fitness. So figure out the route you want to take, add up the miles and divide by 50.
I had a limited time frame so I was on my bike for about 9-10 hrs per day and pushing the pace quite hard to be able to make it to a wedding in the Bay Area. I enjoyed my trip but if I had to do it again I would probably bike only about 6 hours per day and therefore stop (explore) in more cool places.
Last weekend I was at the local LBS (Folsom, Ca.) and ran into a guy who had made it all the way from Virginia Beach and was on his final stretch to SF. I think he said it took him 80 days and his comment was “the US is not flat…anywhere.” He used the same reference Martin posted. Have fun with it!
No idea how different crossing the US is, but Andy and I are planning a 'cross Canada tour next summer. I calculate ~40 days in the saddle with ~7100km at 180k/day. My cousin is doing it as a fund raiser right now, as we speak. He’s not a cyclist and will go sub 70 days (total - not just riding days). If you want to see what happens to a couple of “normal” dudes who try it, check out his blog: http://wheeltoheal.blogspot.com/
I’ll need to move a little faster than that because my boss is already groaning at my proposed 8 week block out of the office. 
I did a weeks worth of domestique (750 miles riding) from PHX to KC Missouri for a friend who went San Diego to D.C. for charity.
We had an RV support vehicle, and hotels booked 140-180 miles apart. He did the entire trip in 17 days. Being from AZ. I believe he even met John McCain on the steps of the capital at trips end. I think he raised some $16k for mentally impaired kids.
I think it would be best to go west to east in the early summer. There were many days when the tail wind we had allowed us a 30 mph ride at a conversational effort for hours at a time. (Really fun!)
Family and friends occassionally flew in and out at various cities to ride with, and drive the RV.
Usually - Breakfast in the hotel. On the road by 8. Big burger lunch in some small town. Done for the day at 5-530. Dinner. Couple of beers. Jacuz. Stretch. Lights out at 10ish. Repeat.
I did the Fast America ride with America by Bicycle in 2004. LA to Boston in 32 days (1 rest day).
Averaged about 115 per day.
Several of the riders on the tour were doing it as a fundraiser.
You might want to check out their website www.abbike.com
OP,
We did RAAM this year and XTRI.COM has a 2 part article up now. Might answer a couple of your questions.
daved
Back in 1988 I rode from Maine to Florida to California a total of 5,000 miles in 43 days solo and unsupported.
Last year I provided support for Kenny Souza on RAAM.
I will be happy to help, offer advice and share experiences, my email is timaquatic@yahoo.com
Good luck
Tim
to keep it short, i biked from Oregon to VA on the tranamerica route (maps supplied by the aforementioned adventurecycling.com)
pm me for more details, pictures etc.
Thanks for all the great replies. That is some really helpful information. One of the biggest questions I still have is how to train for this…any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
really just ride as much as you can! at the time i was training for Olympic distance tris and did my first Half IM about a month before, so i didn’t really feel it necessary to “train” for the tour. I think any training schedule that gets you fit enough to race tris will get you fit enough to ride cross country.
here is the thing, i averaged about 80 miles per day, which seems like a lot and is probably more than most people average. but, you not really riding 80 miles. you’re riding 20, stopping at a a gas station, taking a break, having a snack and some coffee. riding 20 more. stopping for lunch, having a snack, chatting with locals. riding 20 more, stopping for another snack, filling up water. riding 20 more, finding a place to sleep and eat dinner. if you do this during the summer when the days are long, you have so much sunlight to use up that it is really incredible to see how much mileage you can cover in a day when you have so little else to do.
as for specific training, if that is what you are looking for, (and are worried about your fitness) i would try to have 2 long rides a week, and occasionally do “big weekends” or even mini tours over 3 day weekends, aiming for your goal mileage.
it’s easy in all of this planning and preparation to get caught up in miles and plans. I found simply, make sure you enjoy the trip, give you self plenty of time, and let the miles come as you feel up for it. the single piece of advice i took to heart was “don’t forget to stop and smell the roses” from someone who knew my competitive nature. really, doing something like this, is about seeing the country, not riding a lot of miles.
best,
michael
I suppose if you are attempting the ride as a competition there would be a specific training plan involved. If you are making the trip as a training/riding adventure, the way to go would be to get youself into the best riding, and overall fitness condition possible before the attempt without destroying your motivation to pedal nearly 3000 miles. (not an EZ task… too much your fried on riding at the start. Too little - lack of fitness to complete the ride)
I would ride normally throughout the winter, and strength train. Ramp up systematically to 80’s, and centuries through the spring. Then, let the terrain, sights, elevation, and the wind determine your r.a.a.m.
A few days on my trip, I had 100-120 miles scheduled, and mapped. More than once a beautiful 25mph tailwind across eastern New Mexico, and later western Kansas allowed for 150-160 in the same time allotted, permitted essential extra sleep hours. We even had a stretch when we road a mild downgrade an entire 5 miles without turning the crack arms.
In the end, the problem I encountered was not legs nor lungs, but my butt, and neck. There came a time when I could no longer keep my head in a position to see the road in front of me.