I am planning another trip for next summer (2018). Though it is still up in the air whether I will have enough money for me to go. I am planning to ride my bike across America from west to east along the American Discovery Trail. I intend to go to Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus Va. which is a 3 day weekend event. From there I want to get dropped off in Washington DC and ride my bike back to Pennsylvania via the Rails To Trails route. This route is around 200 miles depending on your starting point. I want to start that section first so I can work out any bugs in my system. It should be just long enough to see if anything is not going to work or will. When I get back into Pennsylvania I can swap out what/if I need to and then get a rental car and drive out to San Francisco Ca. where I intend to ride my bike back to Pennsylvania thus completing the entire cross country bike tour. The entire trip will be around 4038-4500 miles estimated.
You can click here to see the trail website:
http://www.discoverytrail.org/states/index.html
There are two routes you can take for the American Discovery Trail:
I am planning to take the southern route of the American Discovery Trail detouring through Pennsylvania.
If all goes well it should take me an estimated time/miles around:
Total Trip Miles 4500
Ride Plan For First 700 Miles:
30 miles per day for first 10 days
40 miles per day for next 10 days
= 700 miles first 20 days (2.85 weeks) (0.6 months)
Ride Plan For Remaining 3800 miles:
50 miles per day for next 76 days
= 3800 miles 76 days (10.85 weeks) (2.5 months)
Total ride time:
96 days (13.7 weeks) (3.2 months)
Planned Rest Time:
1 day of no riding every 10 days of riding
= 13 total rest days (1.85 weeks) (0.43 months)
Combined Total Trip Time:
109 days (15.57 weeks) (3.6 months)
In the coming months I will post a few blogs showing the gear I intend to take with me.
Currently I am working on building an exercise routine that will best prepare me for this trip. And a second stretching routine that I can do daily during the trip. These routines will be posted as soon as I have them designed.
To see my exercise prep routine for my Appalachian Trail Through Hike click here:
https://fixedbydoc.com/2017/02/20/my-appalachian-trail-hike-exercise-prep-routine
Stay tuned for updates 🙂
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This is great for a disabled vet like yourself to undertake. Not only do I wish you the best (and great weather) I hope to SEE much of this here.
it will be very hard for me to accomplish much like hiking the Appalachian trail was. however i will try my best to :)
I can't believe he has the mental capacity.
I hate to see bicycles on the interstates and highways..
then be sure not to be on those roads when the biking season starts lol...
I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in road taxes for roads and their repair.
in a sense they are MY roads.
I'll drive on them if and when I want to.
how much money did bicyclists pay?
they pay the same road taxes you do. road taxes are paid by everyone irregardless of whether you ride a car or a bicycle. the roads are for everyone to share and it even says so in the laws written about sharing the roads with bicyclists. in my state road tax is built into school tax which is based on your residential property and has nothing to do with whether you even own a car.
nope...ever heard of 'ton mile tax"
or IFTA?
it's on the VEHICLE not the person.
actually every single person pays road tax when they:
as for vehicle taxes:
the bigger the vehicle the more wear and tear that vehicle does to the roads thus the road tax for such vehicle is adjusted to match when you register said vehicle.
YES bicyclist over the age of 18 pay their fair share of taxes to include road tax. they have just as much right to ride on the road as you or anyone else. it is even written in the laws.
i suggest you read this article and learn who actually pays for these roads. the average american pays $1,100 per year in road related taxes but that is less then half of the cost.
https://uspirg.org/reports/usp/who-pays-roads
and this article as well:
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the-myth-that-only-drivers-pay-for-roads/393134/
eleven hundred?
I WISH.
I was paying ten times that.
besides theft of services riding bicycles on motorways is just stupid.
it's fricking dangerous..not only to the spandex menace but to those who get hit by people trying to dodge the fool.
Great plan and I wish you well! I believe that if your going through Nebraska part of the route is on the Cowboy Trail. It is the longest rail to trail progect in America. I used to live in Norfolk where the trail head is located. It follows the Elkhorn River valley then traverses into the Niabrara River Valley, the Niabrara is a National Senic River Trail. I'll follow your posts in anticipation of your progress in your adventure.
awesome info thanks. i hope to raise/save enough money for the trip. I figure I need about $5000 for it based on this years 2200 mile Appalachian trail hike I recently completed. I will be definitely be posting pre-trip updates and during trip updates if I can find a decent app for my android tablet.
I found eSteem at the Google play store. So far it seems to be working.
i will look for it thanks...
this sounds cool Doc. i wanted to meet up with ya this summer when you did the appalachain trail.
i will be there again next may for three days in damascus va on the trail if you want to go to trail days...
do you remember the green mountain store in PA by Michaux state forest ? the app trail goes right by there and the store has a trail log book. laurel lake and fuller lake is close by
i think i recall the place but im certain i didnt sign any log books in stores except maybe two. when ever i signed trail log anywhere i generally wrote: fixedbydoc.com "DOC" (followed by a sentence or two).
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