I'm planning a first time bicycle tour in January, and I need some ideas for good spots to go /out/ during my travels and also some general advice or tips. I came here instead of /n/ because I am more in need of planning a route around cool places to visit and camp/hike. I will be riding from the Oregon coast to Maine. Any advice on routes to take and sights to see between these 2 states? I've never really left the west coast before besides going to Nevada and Idaho, so I want to get out and explore some of the rest of this country. I'm planning on mostly stealth camping the whole trip with maybe a few motel/campground stays since I will have access to a bank account, but I want to spend as little money as possible. I lived on the streets for a year about ten years ago and have done my share of illegal camping, so I'm not too worried about that part. I have never been on a long distance bike trip, but I have never owned a car and have used a bicycle to get around for most of my life. I am a little worried about leaving my bike with all my gear on it while I shop for food or hike. Any tips on leaving gear unattended? General bike touring/ stealth camping tips are appreciated as well.
>>774184
If your bike looks shit enough and is loaded down with enough stuff, you don't have to worry too much about theft. A good U-lock helps matters, too.
Also, you do NOT want to be riding the northern states during January/February/March.
>>774216
Yeah, I thought about that and realized that leaving around March would probably better. I'm just anxious to get out and explore.
>>774184
The skatepark
On a more serious note, if you are going through the mountains in Colorado in the summer and want something more intense, hit some of the MTB trails. I took my BMX down multiple double black diamond trails at Vail and Breck and it was some of the most fun I have ever had.
They will rent you a MTB with suspension for a reasonable price too if you don't want to abuse your road bike.
One more thing I would suggest is if you go through Chicago, get on the lakefront trail as far north as possible and ride it all the way to the south side. It's beautiful. If you can get to the lakefront even further north, riding along Sheridan through the north suburbs, eventually through Evanston and then all the way along the lake in the city itself, it will be a great afternoon.
Also see if you can line up a Critical Mass or two. The one in Chicago has thousands and thousands of people and would he great to meet people. They have a police escort and basically stop traffic. Down here, Ft. Lauderdale's Critical Mass is much smaller but still a couple hundred. Not that Ft. Lauderdale is on your route, just saying any city you happen to be in on that particular Friday should have a nice little group of people to cruise with and drink a couple beers or smoke a couple joints.
>>774229
I was thinking about going through Montana instead of down through Colorado because I've always heard nice things about it, and I know a few people that live there. On the other hand, if I went through Colorado I could re-up on legal weed and not have to deal with shitheads on the streets. That's another concern of mine is getting weed along the way and avoiding shady people in the process. I'll probably start out with at least an ounce, and I imagine that I'll be smoking a lot less than normal, so it will probably last me a while. Maybe I'll just not smoke the rest of the trip after it runs out and live sober for a bit and just enjoy nature. I definitely want to check out Chicago and probably New York too. Critical Mass sounds cool. I'll look into it and see if I can make it to one. I don't drink, but it would be fun to smoke with some people. Thanks for the info.
>>774184
If you haven't already, get proper tires for your bike. Flats suck, proper tires are totally worth the money.
>>775100
Thing is, flatproof tires can be slow and for long distances that can suck more than an occasional flat so you don't wan to go overboard. If you have patches, spare tubes and a decent pump flats aren't a big deal. Unless you're riding in goathead country.
If was going on a long tour myself, these days I'd probably use fairly fast tires, and orange seal in my tubes.
