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Anybody have experience biking cross country?
I’ve ridden much of the west from south to north, but never done coast to coast. What are you wondering?
My sincere opinion is that mid-90s mid-to-high end steel hardtail mountain bikes make the absolute best touring bikes. They have all the braze ons (attachment points) for racks and fenders, comfortably geometry for long distance riding (with appropriate modifications), and 26" tires and tubes are incredible common and easy to replace. But if you don't feel like doing that, and I understand if someone just wants to buy a bike off-the-peg, the gold standard touring bike is the Surly Long Haul Trucker. There are a lot of other good ones out there; if you search for "touring bike" on your local Facebook bicycle group or Craigslist, you'll see a lot of options. If it's made by a major maker (Trek, Kona, Specialized, Novara, etc), you're probably fine.
There are major east-to-west touring routes published by the Adventure Cycling Association. Their stuff is well-researched and generally considered to be industry standard. They are going to steer you towards state highways and other roads which some people might find too heavily trafficked. As a result, there are a lot of "gravel" routes. Look around and you'll see a zillion options. Remember that going east-to-west means you'll be riding against the prevailing winds, which means you're going to hit some vicious headwinds, especially on the plains. Plenty of people do it, it's not impossible or anything.
Best time of year is going to be late spring until early fall. You'll have a million different weather systems over the route, but generally most people don't want to do this mid-winter or during peak summer heat. The real best time is usually what works for your schedule, and of course which route you're taking (heading down south vs up north).
As for training, the best advice always and forever is to get the bike you're going to ride, and then spend months riding that bike exclusively. You don't have to spend months training with the 40 lbs of gear you're going to be carrying, but definitely test it that way. In general, be familiar with that bike and how it handles. Physically, ride your bike a lot. There's no running or weight lifting regimen which can substitute for actual time spend in the saddle.
Topic: bikes (Read 309630 times)