I am planning a trip west from home (near Chicago). The general idea is that this should be the middle third of a 3-year project to pedal from coast to coast. So I decide to go as far west as I can along an Amtrak route, then ride home. Primary goal: get a good route across the Great Plains and pedal. Amtrak does not travel to the places I expected (e.g. Yellowstone would have been nice.) Have to go SW or NW. I choose NW. Picking a spot on the train line roughly half-way from home to the Pacific Ocean gives points near WIlliston, ND. (Note: there are other Amtrack stops nearby but I must leave from one that allows the loading of bikes. Other nearest choices are Minot ND and Havre MT. Sheesh!) So this has now become a DeKalb, IL (i.e. Chicago) to Williston, ND plan. Next approximation: follow the Adventure Cycling "Lewis and Clark" route up the Missouri River. This would be nice but is kind of long. (I am going to allocate only about 12 cycling days for this whole project.) Also, if I'm going to get to Williston, I might as well visit MT and/or Canada while I'm at it! So the goal becomes: cross Illinois to Iowa, all the way to the Missouri river, then follow Adventure Cycling at least to Yankton, SD, then scurry northward e.g. to Canada, then to Williston. General remark: looking at other people's reactions to a similar route I get the feeling that the consensus is that the Great Plains are considered pretty flat and boring; population density is very low and winds can be strong. Well, we'll see. Secondary goal: take this opportunity to visit retreat centers and the like. Web resources include retreatfinder.com and findthedivine. Found some hits at reasonable spots: http://www.chmiowa.org/olp.htm (Our Lady of the Prairie) http://www.ucciaconf.org/phts/index.html (Pilgrim Heights UCC camp) http://www.yanktonbenedictines.org/cen_out.html (Benedictine Peace Ctr.) Lutheran Bible Camp near Estevan, SK Hutterites in SD? Sent email to all. Planning tools: 1. Use Mapquest driving tool (choose "shortest route" and "no highways") to estimate distances between cities, divide to 100mi-120mi chunks 2. Get a sense of lay of land from satellite and topo maps. Good start: http://www.mapmart.com/Topo/ras_24mainu.htm Avoid tall mountains and valleys when possible... Also try RouteSlip.com --- mark a route and then wait for an elevation profile. But it's a little hard to use. Same spirit but better results from Topo USA (I have 4.0). 3. Choose roads that are paved! (increasingly few as we go west...) Each state has county highway maps showing this. Also try to find roads with low traffic, shoulders, etc. IL has a set of 7 free maps showing road conditions for every road in state (paper only I think) IA: http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/pdfview/counties.html . THey also have a free statewide road-suitability map for bikers; see iowabikes.com . SD: http://www.sddot.com/pe/data/map_county_pdf.asp ND: http://www.state.nd.us/dot/road-map/county-base/index.html Note: riding on interstates is illegal and stupid in Illinois and Iowa, but OK further west: http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/insight/faqs/legal_policy.htm#seventh Overlay county lines on road maps: http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/mapcounty.asp ("county"->"zip" works too!) 4. Try to get a sense of upcoming wind and weather. Not much we can do about them but at least it makes sense to know which days will bring little progress. Also, if we have the option of when to depart... Details for next 10 days: insert zip code into this URL: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/60115?from=hrly_topnav_undeclared General outlook for 6-10 days out: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/610day/ Same, 8-14 days out: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/ Current month, and rolling 3-month windows: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/churchill.html Historical record: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KDKB/1972/1/1/PlannerHistory.html?PlannerFrontPage=1 (30-day forecast of dubious merit: http://www.dryday.com/ ) For wind including directions: current : http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface/ Prevailing : http://www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/documentlibrary/pdf/wind1996.pdf Wind rose data: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/climate/windrose.html 5. Search web looking for (a) Geographical summary data of towns (look for some big enough to have food and water) (b) nps.gov and other federal lands (grasslands, etc.) (c) state parks & rec. areas. (d) hotels (see chambers of commerce, state tourism boards, or just try e.g. google:"yankton, sd hotels" which gives a map) (e) interesting bike paths Samples and odds and ends: SD: west = badlands + black hills, supposedly v interesting 110 mile bike path: deadwood + black hills ND: parks in McClean co: http://www.visitmcleancounty.com/recreation/parks.html (Garrison etc.) Canada: will need photo ID, etc. for both crossings. Plan to bring an expired passport along with driver's license and birth certificate. Note that some border crossing points are only open certain hours of the day. 6. Arrange for return travel. Looks like I can return on an Amtrak "Empire Builder" train which makes one run each day from the west coast to Chicago. Some trains have a bike rack allowing a ride-on / ride-off ; apparently the Empire Builder trains are not among them. Bikes have to be boxed and brought on as extra luggage (for a fee). But even then, this can only be done at stations listed as having a baggage service (I think). So I will be very limited: if not Williston then back at Minot or ahead to Havre MT. Moreover, I think the boxing requires removal of pedals and I don't expect to travel with a special pedal wrench, so I'll need the services of a LBS. There seem to be none in the eastern Montana towns, and just two in Williston: Bike & Skate Shop, (701) 572-3561, 1316 2nd Ave W and Sandvik Brothers Schwinn 701-572-9551, sandvikbr@dia.net . Next nearest bike shop in Minot I guess: Scheels All Sports 701-852-1010 Dakota Square Mall; also Val's Cyclery Inc, 701-839-4817, 222 E Central Av. Amtrak's pricing system is weird. There are two Empire Builders, supposedly, arriving at the same time at each city. I'm sure this just means one physical train, possibly with separate cars but obviously all arriving together. But they sell seats at different prices! Pricing of a basic seat has nothing to do with seat location, day of travel, or proximity to travel date -- prices start at $99 then move to $128 or $167 or $217 when supply gets tighter. Let's keep some sample data. Here are some WTN -> CHI prices, n days into the future: 5/17 5pm 5/18 0 217/128 1 99/128 2 167/99 3 128/167 4 128/99 5 128/99 6 128/99 7 128/99 June 1: 128/99 June 4,6,7,8 already at 128; June 2,5,9,10 at 128/167; Jun 3 at 167/167 7. Consult calendar! I have work to do until approximately May 23, and a family obligation on June 10. That gives me 16 days potential riding (plus a day on Amtrack) in which I must accomplish something like 1400 miles. Yikes! Not much spare time for bad weather. General comment: it's a lot easier planning for a 10-15 day journey than one of 30-50 days. On rides as long as mine it is still conceivable to plan in advance for most eventualities, to time the departure to maximize sunny days, to expect a recent tune-up to keep the bike trouble-free, and to ride without need of days off. Those trying a trip lasting three times as long can probably only plan to go two times as far! ============================================================================== Wind roses: IA: des_moines 10/02/03 00:00:00 mason_city 10/02/03 00:00:00 sioux_city 10/02/03 00:00:00 waterloo 10/02/03 00:00:00 SD: huron 10/02/03 00:00:00 pierre 10/02/03 00:00:00 rapid 10/02/03 00:00:00 sioux_falls 10/02/03 00:00:00 ND: bismarck 10/02/03 00:00:00 fargo 10/02/03 00:00:00 Here is the plan so far: DAY 1: DeKalb, IL to Wheatland IA S. Malta Rd to Malta, Creston, Rochelle IL 23 to Ashton, Franklin Grove, Dixon ?? to Morrison ?? to Fulton, IL. Cross Mississippi River at Rt 136 Follow IA-side river bikepath S < 1 mile W on F12 (220 St, 13th Ave?) through Clinton, through Elvira (8 mi), 215 St (17 mi tot) S on 290 Ave ~4 mi through DeWitt. Find old US30? (243 St?). Or US30. W on 243 St through DeWitt to Grand Mound (5 mi) - becomes US 30 W on US30 through Calamus (6) to Wheatland (10) S (towards Big Rock) on Y4E (130 Ave) 1.5 mi to 257 St SE on 257 St 2 mi to #2664 =Our Lady of the Prairie DAY 2: Wheatland IA to Montour IA (101) follow US 30. Ish. http://www.ucciaconf.org/phts/index.html (Pilgrim Heights UCC camp) DAY 3: Montour IA to Carroll IA (114) follow US 30. Ish stay in local park DAY 4: Carroll IA to Salix, IA (83) Visit NE stay in hotel? Do laundry if not yet done. DAY 5: Salix IA to Yankton SD (77) stay in Benedictine Peace Center DAY 6: Yankton SD to Plankinton SD (~105) NW to state 50 or 52? N on to Utica W on to N on to Lesterville W on N on to Scotland, Olivet W on to Tripp, Delmont N on US18/281 to Armour W on N on to Corsica, Stickney, I-90 & local access road there W on US281 to Plankinton stay somewhere... DAY 7: Plankinton SD to maybe Faulkton SD? (~120) W on US281 to White Lake, Kimball N on to St Lawrence, not quite to Orient (// to Cottonwood Lk) W on N on to US 212 find faulkton? stay somewhere... DAY 8: Faulkton SD to Herreid SD (~98) W on 212 to Seneca N to state 20 (near Onaka) W on State 20 to Tolstoy, N on State 20/47 to Hoven W on State 20/148th St N on US 83 past Akaska, Selby, Mound Lake, Herreid stay somewhere...do laundry again? DAY 9: Herreid SD to Bismarck ND (~100) N on US 83 past Hague ND, Strasburg, Linton, Hazelton, Moffitt W on Moffitt Rd (?), becomes 1804, to river N, W on 1804 through Bismark DAY 10: Bismarck ND to Parshall ND (128) N, W on US83 to Wilton, Washburn, Underwood, ColeHarbor, past Garrison, Max W on 1804? past Makoti, Parshall, DAY 11: Parshall ND to Williston ND (87) W on 1804? to Newtown NW, N, W on to Williston