The TransAm Eastern Express Welcome to the newest offshoot of the Adventure Cycling Association s historic, TransAmerica Bicycle Route across the U.S. This variation of the TransAm is a natural counterpart to the Western Express route that was added to Adventure Cycling s mapped routes in 2001. Please note that this route and these materials are not a product of Adventure Cycling Association, but are the result of my own research, based on nearly 20 years of professional bicycle tour-leading experience. Why this alternative route? The completion of the combined C&O Canal towpath trail and the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) rail-trail through the Appalachian Mountains from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA provided the opportunity to take the logical step of extending a full alternate route between Pittsburgh and the TransAm route further west. This new route will provide a welcome option to cyclists who would more likely ride the TransAm if they were offered a way to bypass the severe mountain climbs and nasty dogs that confront cyclists in southwestern Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southern Missouri on the existing route. It also replaces three major high-altitude climbs in Colorado with one gradual and scenic climb to the Continental Divide. Furthermore, having Washington, DC as the start or end point for your trip is also a whole lot easier (and perhaps more economical) to get to and from than the TransAm s traditional east coast starting point in Williamsburg, VA. A start or finish in DC also still provides cyclists with the experience of being able to dip their bike s wheels in the tidal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, since the Potomac River in the DC area (like the York River in Yorktown, VA) is a tidal estuary. There is even an option (a connector )for cyclists who want to start or end their ride at the Atlantic coast. Like the Western Express, this part of the route can be completed more quickly than the eastern half of the original TransAm. Speed is not usually a key factor in long-distance cycling, but it can be the deciding factor for whether some people can fit a particular ride into their schedule. Vacations are shorter, and the many non-u.s. cyclists who ride the TransAm will also appreciate a route that enables them to complete a cross-country adventure within their 90-day visa period. Most riders on this new route will take about 36 pedaling days (and much less climbing) to reach Walden, CO compared with a typical 50 pedaling days for Adventure Cycling s self-contained tours to reach Walden on the original TransAm route. I have led many long-distance bike tours, including Adventure Cycling s selfcontained TransAm tour in 2007, and I researched this eastern express route from the viewpoint of planning a group tour, to ensure that the selected route would have the necessary support services along the way, including overnight 2018, Frank Moritz Updated July 28, 2018
lodging/camping options at intervals of about 60-65 miles per day. In fact, I found that the new route has at least as many services as the eastern half of the original, official route. In addition, the more northerly entry-point into the Rocky Mountains via the bicycle-friendly college town of Fort Collins, CO is a far better experience than what cyclists encounter in Pueblo, CO on the original route. Here s how this new route works: Ride the C&O Canal towpath, the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail, and the Three Rivers Heritage Trail from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA. From there you follow Adventure Cycling s Chicago-to-New-York-City route, taking local roads, the Panhandle rail-trail, and several trails along the Ohio River to ride from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, WV and onward to Zanesville, OH. You then follow a series of secondary roads through the Midwest, from Zanesville, OH to the Mississippi River north of St. Louis a route on which most of the last 35 miles are on rail-trails and other bike paths. Take the Lewis & Clark Route either from Alton, IL (by bike-friendly bridge) or from Grafton, IL (by ferry on weekends) to cross the Mississippi River and connect with the KATY rail-trail, from Machens, MO to Boonville, MO. Continue on the Lewis & Clark route to Atchison, KS, which offers a wideshouldered bridge for crossing the Missouri River. Proceed from there on a route that goes through northern Kansas, the southwestern corner of Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado and brings the rider into Fort Collins, CO, a bike-friendly university town. From there it is a beautiful two days of gradual climbing up the scenic Poudre River canyon and riding over Cameron Pass (10,276 ) into Colorado s North Park to re-connect with the main TransAm route at Walden, CO. The result of my work is that there is now a viable, bicycle-appropriate alternate route for cyclists to use for the eastern half of the TransAm route. This new route has been heavily traveled during its first two summers, and its documentation has been updated through mid-2018 based on extensive feedback from cyclists who rode the route and from many other members of the cycling community. The Eastern Express bike route is now in final form, and I would like to thank the many dozens of people who help me conduct a crowd-sourcing exercise by using their own ride to check it out, or who provided me with local expertise on the segments of the route in their area. I continue to invite your comments, critiques and suggestions for even better options with the proviso that any suggested
alternates must meet the requirements for support services, rider safety, and other criteria that would make a group tour of 12 to 15 people feasible. Nearly 600 of the 2,100+ miles of this route are on dedicated bike/pedestrian paths or rail-trails; it strings together a series of wonderful state parks in Ohio and Indiana; and it includes some covered bridges along the way. The route takes you along the Pawnee National Grasslands of northeastern Colorado, and the ride up the canyon of the Cache la Poudre River west of Fort Collins is one of the prettiest and easiest climbs to the Continental Divide that you can experience. I offer the following caveats and suggestions for users of these materials: These materials contain copyrighted information (from the Google Maps and the RideWithGPS software applications), and thus may be reproduced only for personal use by cyclists who choose to ride this route. You may not distribute electronic files of these documents; nor may you sell them, even for non-profit purposes. You may, however, provide links to the website s pages. Cyclists who choose to use this route do so at their own risk. I have made every effort to choose routes that appear to offer the best combination of rider safety, scenery, and support services, including the use of as many dedicated bike paths as possible. However, I cannot guarantee any rider s individual safety or the condition of the route s roads or bike paths at any given time. Because of the many hundreds of miles of unpaved surfaces on this route, I strongly advise that you ride it on a bike with wider-than-normal tires. I use 700 x 41 tires on my touring bikes, even on paved roads, to provide a smooth and cushioned ride, and I would suggest a 700 x 35 tire width (or equivalent) as a minimum guideline for this route. A front suspension fork would be overkill, but a shock-absorbing seat post would make the miles go more comfortably. The unpaved surfaces on bike paths and rail-trails are generally smooth and usually consist of crushed stone, but their level of maintenance varies and their condition can deteriorate in bad weather. Thus, fenders also would be a very useful accessory to your bike when riding this route. The hypothetical daily itineraries suggested in these sheets reflect the typical pace and average daily distances of Adventure Cycling s many long-distance tours, as well as providing the level of support services on each day s segment that would be needed to support a traveling group of 12 to 15 cyclists. Most cyclists probably will not follow these itineraries, but will use each
map set s service directory to determine the daily distance, pace, and type of overnight facilities (camping vs. indoors) that they prefer for their own ride. The mileage intervals and totals on each day s sheet were generated by the Google Maps and RideWithGPS software applications and, where applicable, they also reflect what is on the Adventure Cycling maps. The mileage recorded on your bicycle s computer will be at least a little different than what s on the sheets. Most likely your mileage will longer, because the miles in the cue sheets include only the miles covered on the official route. They don t include mileage to and from overnight locations; nor do they account for short-cuts, side trips, wrong turns, or alternate routes required by road conditions. And inevitably, every rider's bike computer will give slightly different mileages, because it is difficult to precisely calibrate your digital odometer for a fully-loaded bike. The elevation profiles shown for each day s ride were generated by the RideWithGPS application. The profiles can t be directly compared from day to day, because the scale of each profile depends on each day s mileage and the highest and lowest elevations on that day s route. Nonetheless, these profiles are a piece of information that most cyclists want to have. The climbing elevation figure that is generated on each day s profile will be a subject of great debate and dispute. It will almost always be different than the numbers generated by cyclists altimeters and GPS devices. It s my impression that the RideWithGPS numbers for cumulative climbing are a bit high, but please keep in mind that this figure is most useful when it is simply used to compare a day s upcoming ride against the figures from previous days rides of a similar distance. Weather patterns will (or should be) be a factor in your trip s schedule. o The high plains of western Kansas, southwest Nebraska, and eastern Colorado often experience severe late-afternoon storms (and the occasional tornado) from mid-july through mid-september; and o the major western mountain ranges can have very cold overnight temperatures, and even snow, by late September. Thus, westbound riders on this route should depart from D.C. no later than the first week of June. GPX and TCX Files: Each of the map sets for this route has a link to the original files for that day s ride in the www.ridewithgps.com online data base, and you can use those links to obtain and download the GPX and TCX files for each day s ride as follows:
STEP 1: CLICK ON THE LINK, OR COPY IT INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER STEP 2: CLICK ON THE EXPORT TAB ON THE RIDEWITHGPS PAGE THAT APPEARS
STEP 3: CLICK ON THE TCX Course LINK OR THE GPX Track LINK, WHICH WILL OPEN A DIALOG BOX FOR YOU TO TRANSFER THE DESIRED FILE TO YOUR PC OR OTHER DEVICE I hope that this new route will encourage you to ride the TransAm or simply to explore a new part of the country on two wheels -- and I hope that you will continue to send me your comments, updates, corrections, etc. Frank Moritz Westminster, Colorado frank.moritz@comcast.net