baltimore to baton rouge; rookie

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Hello to all, and thank you in advance for reading!

My brother and I have been cycling for about a year and have decided to take a long tour, from Baltimore to Baton Rouge, starting sometime next May. Both of us are young (20 and 23) and in very good shape. On the calendar before the big trip is 250-300 miles on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi early next spring as sort of a shake-down. Neither of us has done anything like this before though, and we've a few questions.

We're in the very beginning of the planning stage, trying to determine our route distance, stops, etc. I've found some bicycling maps offered on state DOT websites, but I'm not quite satisfied. Is there a good source for cyclable roads in each state?

Also (we'll be supported), what's a fair estimate of the distance we'll be able to travel each day? I know that depends on our route (there's a hill or two in between), but any kind of estimate would be appreciated.

Are there any must-read books and/or good references to look at? Websites (besides this one)?

I'm sure I'll have more questions--thank you for any help you can give!

Will Benton

The TRACE is a fantastic ride. Having done the ride, I can highly recommend:
- Ridgetop B&B near Hampshire, TN
- Camping in the Jeff Busby *picnic area* rather than the campground; you'll have it all to yourselves.
- Riding the last 10 miles into Jeff Busby after nightfall (the trace is very lightly traveled here and night riding is a haunting experience)

You can easily cover from 70 miles to 120 miles per day assuming your half-day training rides are up to 50 miles in duration. As for route, have you considered that the TRANSAM route (maps by AdventureCycling) roughly follows a large portion of your intended tour? I.e., from Lexington, VA to Falls of Rough, KY. The advantages are meeting other touring cyclists along the way and meticulous route finding by using their maps. From KY it's then a couple of days riding to Nashville to link up with the trace.

Sounds like a great ride!

Check out the following:

http://www.adv-cycling.org/ for routes.
and
http://www.nbtda.com/ FYI.

I am from Baton Rouge, and will tell you right now; it's HELL just driving around that place. Cycling around Baton Rouge is an.....experience.

Have a good time!

True, B.R. is not your most bike friendly city. As a Louisiana native, I too speak from the ridicule I enjoyed while biking there. I believe the Adventure Cycling maps direct the rider to the B.R. Metro Airport. From there, you make your flying exit or you head downtown riding briskly through the poorer neighborhoods at dusk or dawn to avoid being detected, until you reach Huey P. Long's towering one-of-a-kind state capital. A detour up the elevator and a quick look north gives the viewer the notion that the state is irrevocably tied to the petrochemical industry. Breath deep the gathering gloom...watch lights fade... Then look west and you see another reproachable oddity that La. lawmakers just can't say no to... the strategically placed casino. But there's hope, because in looking south through the ground-level ozone you're sure to see a beautiful city park and beyond this a maze of city streets that actually invite bicycling. And with the use of a map and a little ingenuity, you can bike toward the LSU campus and pick up the river road... superb cycling indeed. And it's not hard to imagine that, in a few day's time, you find yourself in New Orleans enjoying the live music and funky street hotdogs of Bourbon Street. So B.R. really is an adventure, a stepping stone of sorts, and a great river town in its own right that could be even greater if La. politics were synonymous with the adjective "forward-thinking." And as for bike paths, you don't expect the city's counsel members in their fight to guard their turf against outsiders to waste taxpayer dollars on such frivolous pathways to nowhere. Just like you don't expect Martha Stewart to broadcast from Berlin.