Routes

May 2, 2008

Below is the actual route taken day by day. We are making some notations and revisions from time to time. (11/25/10)

Notice the red line headliner on the top of this page. This was essentially the route. Note how the red line differs from the blue in Pennsylvania. The blue was the planned route and the red was the actual route taken. 

 Preliminary Planning/Routing

Dan started the routing with basic road maps and layered information from bicycle specific maps and traffic density. I often looked to Google Earth for terrain and pavement. If substantial climbing was obvious I used DeLorme Topo USA 6.0. Usually I finalized the route in Microsoft Streets and Trips. Streets and Trips has some excellent advantages in searching for needed services. You cannot search for bike shops but nearly everything else.  On the bike, we use paper maps. I ride with a Garmin 305 GPS-enabled computer for cyclists. I had hoped this divice would make an absolute record of the journey. Unfortunately, the device malfunctioned in the first week.

The West;  (Oregon to Iowa)  Much of the western route came from Preston Hunt’s site http://prestonhunt.com/raam/ Preston had some excellent advice. Also, in Oregon, great advice from members of GEARS http://www.eugenegears.org/index.htm.

Midwest; We did not specifically map each days ride in the midwest. This was because; a.) there are many options for roads ( this part of America is where Thomas Jefferson’s survey created a basic one-mile grid road network), b.) population traffic densities make major highways ill advised for cyclists, and c.) having lived in this part of the country I know if one county/state trunk is not satisfactory simply go south or north one mile and turn east! In retrospect, a great routing resource is visiting local bike shops and asking for local or club maps. The slight costs were insignificant when compared to the value added to the ride in those areas.  

East; East routing was done much as the midwest.  Greatly enhanced and adjusted by Ohio DOT (Sharon.Todd@dot.state.oh.us). Pennsylvania was a big issue. We had heard that secondary roads compound the already steep grades in the Allegheny’s. So we selected a combination of rail-trail and Penn DOT recommendations.

See Trip Log pages for accounts in all these regions, particularly the east.

Actual Routes.

The following are the actual routes taken.

Start;  June 8, 2008

Day 1. Reedsport to Eugene OR

 Day 2. Eugene to McKenzie Bridge OR (6-10)

Day 3, McKenzie Bridge to Bend OR (6-11)

Day 4, Bend to Burns OR (6-12)

Day 5, Burns to Juntura OR (6-13)

Day 6, rest day in Boise ID

Day 7, Juntura to Nyssa ID.

Day 8, Nyssa to Mountain Home ID

Day 9, Mountain Home to Arco ID

Day 10, Arco to Idaho Falls

Day 11, (rest day in Idaho Falls)

Day 12, Idaho Falls to Jackson WY (6-20)

 Day 12, Jackson to Moran Junction WY

Day 13-15 rest days at Yellowstone

Day 15, Moran Junction to Dubois WY (6-23)

Day 16, Dubois to Shoshoni WY (6-24)

 Day 17, Shoshoni to Casper WY (6-25)

Day 18, Casper to Lusk and Nebraska Line (6-25)

 

Day 19,  Nebraska Border to Chaldron (6-26)

Day 20, Chaldron to Valentine NE (6-27)

 

Day 21, Valentine to O’Neill (6-29)

Day 22, ONeill to Sioux City IA (6-30)

Day 23, rest day Sioux City

Day 24, Sioux City to Storm Lake IA (7-2)

Day 25, Storm Lake to Fort Dodge IA

Day 26, rest day July 4th in Ft Dodge

Day 27, Fort Dodge to Hudson (7-5) 

Day 28, Huson to Anamosa (7-6)

Day 29, Anamosa IA to Moline IL. (7-7)

Day 30, Hennepin Canal to Oglesby IL (7-8)

Day 31, Oglesby to Kankakee IL (7-9)

Day 32, Kankakee IL to Remington IN (7-10)

Day 33, Remington to Lafayette IN (7-11) 

Day 34,35  Rest Days in Lafayette IN

Day 36, Lafayette to Gas City IN (7-14)

Day 37,  Gas City IN  to Anna OH (7-15)

Day 38, Anna to Marengo  (7-16)

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Day 39, Marengo to Newcomerstown OH (7-17)

Day 40, Newcomerstown OH to  Washington PA (7-18)

Day 41-1, Washington to West Newton (7-19)

Day 41-2, West Newton to Ohiopyle (trail) 7-19

Day 42, Ohiopyle PA to Cumberland MD (trail) (7-20)

 

Day 43, Cumberland to Big Pool MD (trail) (7-21)

Day 44, Big Pool  to Knoxville MD (7-22)

Day 45,  Knoxville to Woodley Park MD (7-23)

Day 46- 49  Rest Days

Day 50, Washington D.C. to Assateague Beach MD

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