Trans American cycle/camping trip 2007

[Pinky]

Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will be
my 70th year.

I cycled over 5000 miles in 2004 ( with a 3000 km cycle/camping tour to
Spain) and it looks like being about the same in 2005 ( with a similar
distance on my camping trip to Budapest).

I have already made my plans for 2006 but I fancy visiting the USA on my
velo as a sort of final long distance fling before I "pop my clogs". It must
be about 7 or 8000 kms from coast to coast which seems to indicate a gentle
4 month trip for an old pedal pusher like me!



--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
Remove PSANTISPAM to reply
www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk ( for details of my 2004 trip -- not
completed the journal for 2005 yet!)

[Rich]

Pinky wrote:
> Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
> first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will be
> my 70th year.

http://www.adv-cycling.org/

[Pinky]

Thanks -- that looks extremely useful

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
Remove PSANTISPAM to reply
"Rich" > wrote in message
...
> Pinky wrote:
>> Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
>> first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will
>> be my 70th year.
>
> http://www.adv-cycling.org/

[[email protected]]

Additional Information besides the Adventure Cycling maps and books.
http://kenkifer.com/
http://faithandpeter.blogs.com/utterfolly/
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/
http://www.downtheroad.org/
http://www.roundtheworldbybike.com/default.asp


Pinky wrote:
> Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
> first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will be
> my 70th year.
>
> I cycled over 5000 miles in 2004 ( with a 3000 km cycle/camping tour to
> Spain) and it looks like being about the same in 2005 ( with a similar
> distance on my camping trip to Budapest).
>
> I have already made my plans for 2006 but I fancy visiting the USA on my
> velo as a sort of final long distance fling before I "pop my clogs". It must
> be about 7 or 8000 kms from coast to coast which seems to indicate a gentle
> 4 month trip for an old pedal pusher like me!
>
>
>
> --
> Trevor A Panther
> In South Yorkshire,
> England, United Kingdom.
> Remove PSANTISPAM to reply
> www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk ( for details of my 2004 trip -- not
> completed the journal for 2005 yet!)

[Claire Petersky]

"Pinky" > wrote in message
...
> Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
> first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will
> be my 70th year.


You might be interested in this fellow's story:
http://mikebentley.com/bike/harry/. Harry rode from Seattle to Miami, and
celebrated his 70th birthday along the way.

BTW, my daughter's school music teacher is also a Mr. Panther. I have never
met him, but I have this image of leonine strength and grace.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

[Pinky]

"Claire Petersky" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> "Pinky" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Can someone advise me where to start looking for information in the very
>> first steps in planning a Trans USA cycle/camping trip in 2007 which will
>> be my 70th year.
>
>
> You might be interested in this fellow's story:
> http://mikebentley.com/bike/harry/. Harry rode from Seattle to Miami, and
> celebrated his 70th birthday along the way.
>
> BTW, my daughter's school music teacher is also a Mr. Panther. I have
> never met him, but I have this image of leonine strength and grace.
>
> --
> Warm Regards,
>
> Claire Petersky
> Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
> See the books I've set free at:
> http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
>
--
Planning a trip like this is also a huge part of the overall enjoyment of
the whole event!

Thanks for that link to "Harry" and I read it with some interest -just for
the "feel" of a real touring biker -- even though he was motelling it (--
that option is a definite no-no for me in terms of expense. I find it
interesting that it seems very easy to "wild camp" in the US -- probably
because of an awful lot of open space. In UK and also many other European
countries "wild camping" is distinctly forbidden or at least heavily frowned
upon.

I must admit that I enjoy the facilities of being able to have a good warm
shower at the end of a days pedal pushing and my aging body has its body
"waste" functions adjusted to a fairly set routine which means I wake up in
the morning and have to go!!!!!!!! My youthful days of disappearing into the
wood with a digging tool and a couple of leaves has long since been replaced
by a comfortable and leisurely read of my book as all the necessary
functions work themselves through! Nuff said about that!



> BTW, my daughter's school music teacher is also a Mr. Panther. I have
> never met him, but I have this image of leonine strength and grace.
>
Ah would that it even applied in a small way to me! My days of "leonine
strength and grace" are long gone-- if they ever existed.

On my trips around Europe I have found that if I do about 80 - 100 kms/day I
then am able to have a pleasant evening where I can explore a little or just
relax in a new locale. My longest days journey this year was about 160 kms
which was fine but I certainly didn't spend much time sightseeing that day.
The aim of my travels is not just to cover "miles" or "kilometres" but to
see new places , interesting sights and events and above all meet new people
every day. I will stop for rest days as and when, and especially where I
find good company. I see little point in just getting my head down and
knocking off another 100 miles.

In Regensburg, on my way back up the |Danube this last summer, I met an
Australian who had cycled from Shanghai in China. He arrived at about 7 pm
in the evening set up and cooked a meal. He spent about 1/2 an hour telling
me and a couple of Hollanders about his travels and then was in bed. At 0500
hrs next morning, when I got up to have a pee, he was long gone.
What was very clear from his short conversation the previous evening was
that he virtually never stopped and "communed" with people or places. He had
travelled about half way round the world but had seen and sampled so little
of its wealth of experience -- what a waste of effort and opportunity!

I have travelled to and in many different places in the world but I am
saddened by the fact that there are so many places that I would wish to
experience which I shall now not ever see. I should like to "do" South
America, --- it would be fantastic to spend about a year in China cycling
slowly and living/working my way at "peasant level". I am something of a
good cook but my Chinese cooking is pretty basic and it would be a
tremendous experience to travel through China learning about food and
people.

I have rambled on far too much. My apologies for that. I suppose that the
second half of my life has been much like that -- a rambling journey that
has taken me in many different directions and has rewarded me with a huge
memory bank ( 100s of gigabytes in size) of wide ranging experiences. Even
the unhappy times -- they all count!

That is one reason I am looking at doing the coast to coast in the USA. I
have never been there although, in my long years as an "expatriate" working
in different countries I have made many US friends.


Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
Remove PSANTISPAM to reply
www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

[[email protected]]

Pinky wrote:

> I have travelled to and in many different places in the world but I am
> saddened by the fact that there are so many places that I would wish to
> experience which I shall now not ever see. I should like to "do" South
> America, --- it would be fantastic to spend about a year in China cycling
> slowly and living/working my way at "peasant level". I am something of a
> good cook but my Chinese cooking is pretty basic and it would be a
> tremendous experience to travel through China learning about food and
> people.

When you are ready to "do" China, drop me a line. :)

-M

[Claire Petersky]

"Pinky" > wrote in message
...

> Planning a trip like this is also a huge part of the overall enjoyment of
> the whole event!

I can well imagine. For me, any trip is enhanced by the time previous to it
with the maps. Even before a supported tour, where the route is pre-planned
and laid out, I spent hours looking at topos before I left. I know one
contributor to these newsgroups who apparently just gets on his bike --
that's the way he rode from Boise to Seattle. I think I spent more time
looking at maps and thinking about the best way to get here than he did.

> Thanks for that link to "Harry" and I read it with some interest -just for
> the "feel" of a real touring biker -- even though he was motelling it

He camps from time to time too. In the West, where population is sparser, he
camps more than he does in, say, the Southeast, where cheap motels are
abundant.

>> BTW, my daughter's school music teacher is also a Mr. Panther. I have
>> never met him, but I have this image of leonine strength and grace.
>>
> Ah would that it even applied in a small way to me! My days of "leonine
> strength and grace" are long gone-- if they ever existed.

My daughter was hoping you were his father. She says that Mr. Panther
complains if they sing with an American accent (such as nasally-sounding
short As) and could imagine his father being a Brit.

> The aim of my travels is not just to cover "miles" or "kilometres" but to
> see new places , interesting sights and events and above all meet new
> people every day. I will stop for rest days as and when, and especially
> where I find good company. I see little point in just getting my head down
> and knocking off another 100 miles.

My thought is that there are places in the US where there just isn't all
that much for 100 miles. Interesting sights would be natural and geologic,
as opposed to opportunities to meet new people. You might want to chart a
route with that in mind.

> I should like to "do" South America,

Harry spent some time last year riding the Andes -- I read his journal that
trip, too. From the journal he made reference to spending some of his
childhood in Argentina, so he had decent Spanish skills to get him through
the trip.

> I have rambled on far too much.

Not at all.

> That is one reason I am looking at doing the coast to coast in the USA. I
> have never been there although, in my long years as an "expatriate"
> working in different countries I have made many US friends.

Please feel welcome to visit!

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky