I looked at your planned route again and am thinking...even if you are not interested in doing RAGBRAI, Iowa has some great trails and the Great American Rail Trail uses many of them to traverse that state. If you are into craft beer, Des Moines has it fair share. There is an extensive off road trail system in the city that leas to many breweries. Last summer I toured from my home on the Eastern Shore to a buddies home in MN where I met friends to do RAGBRAI. For the most part I used the Great American Rail Trail, combined with a few bits of an ACA route and spur of the moment changes. It is a great way to get across the Appalachians without climbing much. I found the rail trails in Ohio and Indiana where great but in Illinois not so much. Another option for you is to use the Ohio to Erie Trail from Cincinnati north. Great route also.
Hi Timothy
Thanks for the Hawkeye evangelism! I've considered RAGBRAI ever since about 1980 but have largely given up on the idea; a 500 mile competition for resources isn't my cup of tea. Plus, if I stay anywhere close to my projected schedule, I won't arrive in Iowa until a month after RAGBRAI.
As for crossing Iowa rather than Missouri: I have relatives in the Kansas City area who I plan to visit (plus I was born there), and then it'll be easy to link to the Katy Trail. KC being well south of Iowa, I plan to stay south rather than backtrack on a northward path.
Finally, my route positions me to cross the Mississippi at Chester then transit southern Illinois, visiting places I lived and rode in and went to school (ahem, cough cough) "a while ago".
The southern ten percent of Illinois includes the Shawnee National Forest and is vastly different from the immense corn and soybean belt to the north. It was where I chose to view the total solar eclipse back in 2017; that brief return sparked a desire to see more of it at the speed of a laden touring bike.
I've not yet mentioned it in my journal, but part of the Trail of Tears passes through that region. It's the scene of an enduring national disgrace- the forced relocation of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral lands in Georgia and Appalachia to inhospitable, unfamiliar land in what is now Oklahoma.
I did a hybrid cross country tour from DC to the PNW in 2018. It worked out great. One thing to note though is that when you are on the TransAm, the locals are used to seeing bike tourists and the facilities for lodging are abundant. Not so much on the other ACA routes.
BTW your name is familiar. Did I meet you on the 50 States Ride in DC in 2006 or 2008? With Charmaine at a stop light in Anacostia?
In the winter we dream.
In 2019 I rode a westbound tour connecting Route 66, the Trans Am, and the Western Express. I western MO I met Corey and Mark who were doing the TA east to west. We rode together until Pueblo. I managed somehow to reach San Francisco (damned near killed myself doing it). They abandoned their tour in the high Rockies near Silverthorn. This was probably a result of inadequate altitude adaptation.
Corey texted me last week with an invite to join them for the completion beginning in mid-June. I have a wedding to attend in MO in May so I am working on a route from St. Louis to Silverthorn (or some other meet up point).
I am concerned that if I fly to Denver then ride to Silverthorn I won't be adapted to the elevation and will meet the same fate as they did.
I have always wanted to do a fall tour DC to Nola but the pandemic put me off so that may also be in the works. (TransAm to Great Rivers to Natchez then Southern Tier into LA. Alternative: Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smokies then across TN to Natchez Trace.)
Then there is the completion of the Atlantic Coast from DC to Bar Harbor. So many rides, so little time.
In the winter, we dream.
In the winter we dream.
In 2019 I rode a westbound tour connecting Route 66, the Trans Am, and the Western Express. I western MO I met Corey and Mark who were doing the TA east to west. We rode together until Pueblo. I managed somehow to reach San Francisco (damned near killed myself doing it). They abandoned their tour in the high Rockies near Silverthorn. This was probably a result of inadequate altitude adaptation.
Corey texted me last week with an invite to join them for the completion beginning in mid-June. I have a wedding to attend in MO in May so I am working on a route from St. Louis to Silverthorn (or some other meet up point).
I am concerned that if I fly to Denver then ride to Silverthorn I won't be adapted to the elevation and will meet the same fate as they did.
I have always wanted to do a fall tour DC to Nola but the pandemic put me off so that may also be in the works. (TransAm to Great Rivers to Natchez then Southern Tier into LA. Alternative: Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smokies then across TN to Natchez Trace.)
Then there is the completion of the Atlantic Coast from DC to Bar Harbor. So many rides, so little time.
In the winter, we dream.
Hi John
Yes, we met on the 50 States in a Day ride, and on a couple others that Charmaine organized. In those days I was riding a Softride to which you applied an amusing description in your journal entry.
I have anticipated a different reception when off the TransAm than on it. That's fine by me.
I still can't come up with journal titles as good as A Fistful of Advil, and For a Few Advil More.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Bike touring is indeed a small world, and when localized to the DC metro area it gets positively microscopic.
Great question to contemplate with temps of -7 and waiting on a storm.
Dream trip this year of turning 60 is the plan. From Wolfe Island where Lake Ontario begins and the St. Lawrence ends, east along The River to Gaspe, through New Brunswick, perimeter of PEI, into Nova Scotia, a big of Newfoundland, back to NS, maybe Maine, NH, Vermont, to home in Upstate New York. From the couch all things are possible.
Also some along the Erie Canal, hope to drive to UP Michigan and do some riding, time in Kentucky and Nashville ... 2022 - The Year Of Making Up For Time Lost
If you will be to Iowa the last full week in July, you might want to check out RAGBRAI if you have not already done it.
2 years ago