2016 Route Maps

For some technical reasons, it was necessary to split our route planning for this year onto more than one map, so we've opted to split the route as follows:

• Spring - The Atlantic Coast, from Florida to Bar Harbor, Maine.  We are hoping to complete that route by mid-June.
• Summer - Maine to Missouri, then to South Central Kentucky and down the Natchez Trace to Natchez, Mississippi.  Our best guess is that we'll be on the Trace some time in September.
• Fall - From Natchez west, at least to Eastern Texas, perhaps as far as San Diego, California.  We're likely to be crossing Texas in October and could reach California in November.

There are links at right for each of these maps, and the current map will also be displayed at the top of this blog.  If we go all the way to San Diego I believe our total mileage for the year would be 9,000 miles or more.

We are planning to return to the Natchez Trace again this fall.  It's not the most interesting ride, but it's probably the safest way of getting through Mississippi to the Sun Belt.  And we will have a very good chance of finding other cyclists to travel with along the Trace, which makes traveling a lot more fun for us.

Our summer leg will allow us to complete the remainder of Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier Route.  From there we'll follow Bicycle Route 66 through Illinois to St. Louis.  Then we'll retrace parts of our 2015 route on our way to Cave In Rock, Illinois.  From there we'll be taking the Trans America Trail to Mammoth Caves, Kentucky.  We'll need to find our own way from there to just south of Nashville, where we jump on the Natchez Trace for 400+ miles.

Our fall leg will allow us to cycle the remaining portion of Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier Route, where we will eventually reach San Diego.  Whether we make it that far in 2016 is largely a timing issue.  If we arrive too late, then snow in the mountain passes in New Mexico could cause us to wait east of the mountains until warmer weather arrives.  And based upon our experience with finding available campsites in Florida, we're also a bit concerned about campsite availability in Southern California during the peak of the snowbird season.