"....especially so for starting a TA in the east"

"I have always found it interesting (and okay a bit humorous) that, when asked, the people who start in the west usually say it is harder starting west to east and the people that start in the east say its harder starting east to west. "

Really?  I figured it was pretty widely accepted that the TA was more difficult starting in the east.  I certainly think  the terrain is tougher there myself (I started in the west).

Now in my 70s I'd have to be really in great shape to have the confidence to start in the east and do the regular TA route.   

"I figured it was pretty widely accepted that the TA was more difficult starting in the east."

Maybe.  I really don't know. I just meant peoples perception was different because at the start most people are less fit (or down right out of shape) so they describe it that way.

Maybe I need to ride it in the other direction so I can give a better answer ;-)  I better hurry, I turned 60 in August.

Anyone know the oldest known woman to ride it?  Who that is?

I did the Transam with a "both ends to the middle" approach. There was a 7-week gap between finishing the 1st half and starting the 2nd half (necessitated by my job, I couldn't take off all the time consecutively).  So I actually rode the Transam from east to west halfway, then from west to east halfway.  I have experience starting the Transam from both directions.

While Mckenzie Pass is indeed challenging for EB riders, no one has to walk it (no one I know of anyway). But it's not unusual for those starting on the east coast to have to walk and push their bikes up some of the steeper grades in the Appalachians. And that's the difference - the grades are steeper in the Appalachians and Ozarks than in the Rockies or Cascades.  I've read several journals of EB Transam riders who were shocked by how hard it became when they hit the Missouri Ozarks and the Kentucky and Virginia Appalachians.

I rode the Western Express from west to east. The climb up Carson Pass is challenging, but nothing like the Appalachians and Ozarks. Further along the Western Express there are a few climbs in Utah that are reminiscent of the Appalachians.  The climbing on the Western Express is definitely harder than the climbing on the western half of the Transam.  Some people take the Western Express and hook into the Transam as a way to shorten the distance coast-to-coast. It's a shorter route, but it's certainly not an easier route.

I'm glad I pedaled the Western Express route in 2010 at age 49. It amazes me now to see the daily climbing in my Sacramento to Loveland tour journal. I couldn't do it now.

I can think of many giant climbs that I did in the past but couldn't do now. Haleakala volcano in Maui. Beartooth Pass in Montana. Hurricane Ridge in Washington. Fresno to Sequoia National Park in California. I'm glad I did them while I still had the ability.

I know what you mean.  I have my own list of memorable climbs that I’m glad to have made while I could.  Maybe I could do Galibier or Ventoux again if I tried without luggage this time, but it’s questionable.  And I always wanted to tackle Beartooth Pass myself, but the summer I biked Yellowstone 28 years ago it was snowing at Old Faithful and the pass was closed.

"I just meant peoples perception was different because at the start most people are less fit (or down right out of shape) so they describe it that way."

Well there is certainly something to that.

Still even after being road hardened by riding across the country I found the Ozarks and Appalachians more difficult than anything I rode in the west on the TA.  Since you rode the Western Express that may be different.  I have not ridden it, but would expect the climbs might be harder than the ones in tjhe west on the TA.  I know that I found harder climbs on some of my other crossings of or riding in the western mountains compared to the TA.

"I figured it was pretty widely accepted that the TA was more difficult starting in the east."

I have a friend who has ridden the TA in each direction, in consecutive years (2021 west to east, 2022 east to west).  He told me that in his opinion west-to-east is the harder direction for a TA transit.

No matter which direction you travel, the hills are steep and nasty in the Appalachians and Ozarks.

I am not questioning wheter he found it more difficult going W-E.  I don't doubt that, but I'd be curious as to his rationale why.  Did he explain his reasons?

I think one issue that is more unique to the west is that the distances between towns are generally greater?  I think that can be a shock to the system to some people, especially if they don't have a lot of miles in the legs yet.  That is certainly the case with the western express, Maybe less so for start of the TA.  But my memory is that towns and services are closer together in the east.  From what I remember anyway.

We had great tail winds in the west though 👍

Again, not trying to argue which way is harder.  Just answering the question of what other factors might be involved.

Yes, he said the climbs of the western slopes of the western mountains (Cascades, Bitterroots, etc.) in particular were harder than the eastern slopes of the same hills.