Dumb question on a rainy night

In article <ASZ3f.4033$p_.2971@trndny05>,

Thomas Wentworth said:

What is the average time it takes to ride across the USA? I met two
cyclists last August in Ogunquit, Maine who were just finishing. They took
75 days. Does that seem about right?

Whatever it takes.

I think most people who realistically set out to cross the country will do
near 100miles/day except in the mountains (or when it rains, say). So 40-50
days ought to be plenty. Obviously those who are elderly or disaled, say,
will take longer.

Quoted message said:

How early in the Spring, do you think it would be possible to start a cross
USA ride on April 1 if the cyclist was riding from New England toward the
west? I figure it would be cold the first few weeks but not overly hot.

If you ride to the west, you are more likely to face headwinds.

If you start in April you get less daylight per day (esp up north) than
if you start in June. You also get MUCH chillier nights -- no big deal if
you're using motels but if you're tenting, you're not going to enjoy sleeping
outdoors in April in New England (and you won't want to drag around the
cold-weather supplies).

dave

PS -- this year I rode from coastal NJ to northern IL, starting late May.
Ten days, 1093 miles, lugging a small tent and light sleeping bag and air
mattress. It wasn't too cold usually. I didn't do any sightseeing or
anything -- just pedal, eat, and find a place to sleep. I hope to do two more
10-day trips (2006 and 2007) which will make the whole coast-to-coast trip.

"Dave Rusin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <ASZ3f.4033$p_.2971@trndny05>,

Thomas Wentworth said:

What is the average time it takes to ride across the USA? I met two
cyclists last August in Ogunquit, Maine who were just finishing. They
took
75 days. Does that seem about right?

Whatever it takes.

I think most people who realistically set out to cross the country will do
near 100miles/day except in the mountains (or when it rains, say). So
40-50
days ought to be plenty. Obviously those who are elderly or disaled, say,
will take longer.

Quoted message said:

How early in the Spring, do you think it would be possible to start a
cross
USA ride on April 1 if the cyclist was riding from New England toward the
west? I figure it would be cold the first few weeks but not overly hot.

If you ride to the west, you are more likely to face headwinds.

True, but going west to east and starting in early April risks big time snow
problems in the mountains.

Quoted message said:

If you start in April you get less daylight per day (esp up north) than
if you start in June.

True except for the parenthetical. After March 21, days are longer in the
north. Even by early April, you have well over 12 1/2 hours of potential
sunlight and are pushing 14 hours of daylight in the north, and increasing
steadily. On my last long trip, I Ieft Philadelphia April 22 and day length
was no problem at all.

You also get MUCH chillier nights -- no big deal if

Quoted message said:

you're using motels but if you're tenting, you're not going to enjoy
sleeping

Very true. On my 1994 Boston to Milwaukee trip, we left April 30 and had
frost one morning. In early April, even snow is very possible, though it's
unlikey to cost you more than a day. Even in Alabama on May 2 this year,
the starting a.m. temperature was 39. Also get ready for some below normal
days that never get much above 40. (That happened on the last day of my
trip this year. The home stretch from Chicago to Milwaukee on May 6 was
just above 40 degrees all day - after 75 the day before.)

Quoted message said:

outdoors in April in New England (and you won't want to drag around the
cold-weather supplies).

dave

PS -- this year I rode from coastal NJ to northern IL, starting late May.
Ten days, 1093 miles, lugging a small tent and light sleeping bag and air
mattress. It wasn't too cold usually. I didn't do any sightseeing or
anything -- just pedal, eat, and find a place to sleep. I hope to do two
more
10-day trips (2006 and 2007) which will make the whole coast-to-coast
trip.

"Dave Rusin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <ASZ3f.4033$p_.2971@trndny05>,

Thomas Wentworth said:

What is the average time it takes to ride across the USA? I met two
cyclists last August in Ogunquit, Maine who were just finishing. They
took
75 days. Does that seem about right?

Whatever it takes.

I think most people who realistically set out to cross the country will do
near 100miles/day except in the mountains (or when it rains, say). So
40-50
days ought to be plenty. Obviously those who are elderly or disaled, say,
will take longer.

Quoted message said:

How early in the Spring, do you think it would be possible to start a
cross
USA ride on April 1 if the cyclist was riding from New England toward the
west? I figure it would be cold the first few weeks but not overly hot.

If you ride to the west, you are more likely to face headwinds.

If you start in April you get less daylight per day (esp up north) than
if you start in June. You also get MUCH chillier nights -- no big deal if
you're using motels but if you're tenting, you're not going to enjoy
sleeping
outdoors in April in New England (and you won't want to drag around the
cold-weather supplies).

dave

PS -- this year I rode from coastal NJ to northern IL, starting late May.
Ten days, 1093 miles, lugging a small tent and light sleeping bag and air
mattress. It wasn't too cold usually. I didn't do any sightseeing or
anything -- just pedal, eat, and find a place to sleep. I hope to do two
more
10-day trips (2006 and 2007) which will make the whole coast-to-coast
trip.

==================

Dear Dave, 100 miles a day? Not this guy. You must be a fanatic. On most
of my tours, and I have toured over the eastern and western USA and Canada
and in Florida, I try to limit my daily miles to around 50-60. Sure, sure,
I could go further but then it would not be FUN.

Anyway, I have never gone coast to coast. And I am thinking about doing the
trip in the spring. On one of my tours, a cycle trip from southern NH to
Montreal, I met a fellow from the Netherlands. He was heading to Plymouth,
MA. He had started his trip in LA, Calif. He went from LA, to Las Vegas,
to >>>> all over >>> I met him in Vermont. He said he would do 50-60 miles
per day and he was having a HECK OF A TIME.

Quoted message said:

What is the average time it takes to ride across the USA?

The amount of time varies a fair amount from individual to individual
including factors such as:
-- preferences on how much riding each day and
how many rest days/sightseeing days are taken
-- any "goals" for the trip. For example, is this an
ultra-marathon event such as RAAM, a high mileage
supported tour such as PAC, goals for stopping and
experiencing things along the way, supported tour
vs. self-contained? a slow tour looking for opportunities
to "stop and smell the roses",...
-- the route taken
-- events along the way, e.g. weather, mechanical issues,...
and many others...

If someone asks this question for themselves of "how long should
I budget for a trip?", I frequently turn it around and recommend they
work out preferences on mileage, stops, supported/unsupported,
motels/camping, etc perhaps via shorter trips. They can be their own
best budgeters...

With that said, fastest times for a RAAM like event are around 9 days.
On the other end, a self-supported tour of 4-5 months wouldn't seem
extreme to me. If I were to guess, the median times I've seen are in
the 2-3 month range.

For myself, I've crossed USA almost three times and Canada once taking
the following amounts of time:
a. 1992, Astoria OR to Portland ME in 36 days
so ~100 miles/day including my rest days.
b. 1997, Canada: Fairbanks, AK to St John's
Newfoundland in ~85 days or ~85 miles/day
including my rest days.
c. 2001, San Jose CA to Jacksonville, FL in
47 days or ~70 miles/day including my rest days
d. Either separate one-week trips that when
placed end-to-end go from San Jose, CA to
Pittsburgh, PA in 7 weeks from 1999 to 2005,
probably around ~70 miles/day. I have one
more week still to go to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

A guideline that works for me is to assume an average speed of 10
miles/hour including my lunch and other stops. My riding speed is
faster than that, but with stops the guideline works fairly well for
me. I then look at a trip with the following type calculations:
-- If an average day is riding from 6am to 2-3pm, a baseline
assumption is ~85 miles/day
-- If I want to average 100 miles/day; my average days
will be 6am to 4pm and I would do this continuously
without taking rest days...
-- If I take a mellow trip of 6 days riding per week with
60-70 days per riding day then I'm around 350-400
miles/week...
This guideline also gets adjusted for terrain or local things but
gives me a reasonable starting "budget".

However, these sorts of guidelines will undoutedly be different for
others. I also like to budget some extra "slack" time so I can adjust
early in the trip to the "flow" of being on the road; and also have
time for unforseen things like weather or mechanical problems...When I
have extra "slack" left at end of the trip, I'll start doing
additional sightseeing and my average mileage per day also goes
down...

Quoted message said:

I met two cyclists last August in Ogunquit, Maine who
were just finishing. They took 75 days. Does that seem
about right?

That seems within the range I would expect such a trip to take. How
much this will apply to anyone else is going to depend on the factors
I've listed above...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

In article <J584f.705$%L.586@trndny09>,

Thomas Wentworth said:

Dear Dave, 100 miles a day? Not this guy. You must be a fanatic. On most
of my tours, and I have toured over the eastern and western USA and Canada
and in Florida, I try to limit my daily miles to around 50-60. Sure, sure,
I could go further but then it would not be FUN.

This is recreational cycling. THere are no rules. Do whatever you like.
I think people on long trips do more miles a day because many of them are
involved in jobs which don't easily permit a two-month absence.
Parenting, for instance. Obviously these people are interested in (a) the
physical workout (b) bragging rights (c) a cursory look at the landscape
and towns. If you're doing this primarily as a way to See America --
enjoying local color, comparing restaurants and nightlife, etc. -- I suppose
50 miles a day is the most you will want to do. (Bike in the a.m. and
stop in at the local museums or whatever in the p.m.)

Me, I don't care much for city life so I get what I want from the seat
of my bike. Somewhat longer and more scenic routes would probably be
fine with me except I can't always spare a lot of consecutive vacation days.

And yes, I am a fanatic. Once a week I'm gone all day on the bike and
cover way more than 100 miles. (When you're on a bike, no one can call
you with a problem you're supposed to fix...) Right now the scenery
and the weather are just great, but I'm not much liking the creep
towards earlier dusk!

dave

Dave Rusin said:

(When you're on a bike, no one can call
you with a problem you're supposed to fix...)

Big Brother is trying. I've been looking for a new trunk bag on eBay,
and there's one there with a "cell phone/nutrition bar" pocket.

Bill

__o | When gas hit $5 a gallon,
[ ]___`\(,_ | People stopped asking why,
(_) (_)/ (_) | And asked, "Where can I get one?"

Dave Rusin said:

In article <ASZ3f.4033$p_.2971@trndny05>,

Thomas Wentworth said:

What is the average time it takes to ride across the USA? I met two
cyclists last August in Ogunquit, Maine who were just finishing. They took
75 days. Does that seem about right?

Whatever it takes.

I think most people who realistically set out to cross the country will do
near 100miles/day except in the mountains (or when it rains, say). So 40-50
days ought to be plenty.

Most people will average a lot less than 100 miles a day IMO. 50-60
would be more realistic for "most people".