I will be riding the route east to west for a few reasons. First, I can leave a bit earlier with a beginning of May departure date. I have also done a lot of traveling and hiking in the east since I have lived there most of my life. Heading west to the Rockies just seems like the way to go.
I am up for the challenge and even challenging myself of rides now as I get ready for my shorter fall tour. I will likely do the tour solo and like you said just hook up with people certain days to ride together. Thanks for the encouragement

David; you are certainly fine as far as weight goes. You will do well on the steeper Appalachian grades - I usually recommend folks have a low gear less than 20 gear-inches for the Appalachians, but for your weight and load you should do fine as long as you have a low gear of 22 gear-inches or better. Honestly, you will probably wonder what the big deal is - the Appalachians are challenging, but as long as you start the tour in fair shape you will be fine. A lot of it involves your expectations - if you expect it to be challenging, then you won't be dismayed when it is. I had 1 day in the Appalachians when I was suffering from a muscle tear and I had to walk the steepest grades - if I hadn't been injured I would not have had to walk. The Ozarks have a couple of climbs that are as steep as the Appalachians, but overall the Ozarks are easier - it's a constant roller-coaster in the Ozarks, and that's different than the Appalachians where you have steep climbs followed by some flat valley riding and then another steep climb. In the Ozarks, once you get in the hills it seems like you seldom have any flat ground until about 15 miles before you reach the Kansas border. That assumes you are going east to west, which is my recommendation. If you read my epilogue, then you saw my recommendations and reasons for them.

If you are even considering doing the ride solo, then you absolutely should NOT ride with an ACA group. I had a couple of days riding with an ACA group and camped 1 night at the same location, so I was able to talk with them and get their view - several of them told me they were envious of me and wished they had went solo. You will meet others on the route and probably end up forming some impromptu "min-groups" of your own along the way. That was one of the greatest joys on the trip for me. When you meet others going the same direction, offer to exchange phone numbers with them - that way you can text each other and talk about good places to stay, etc. - it's really helpful! When you meet others going the opposite direction, ask them about their last few nights and you may learn valuable things about where to stay or not stay.

One thing you need to take to heart is this; there WILL be at least 1 day when you question why you are doing the tour and think that you should give up. I know this because so many others have told me thay had such a day and I experienced it too - it lasted only about 1/2 day for me, but in this time I seriously considered quitting. You will have to convince yourself to continue, and once you do then things get better. If I had known that this was a "thing" then I would have been better prepared for it - so that's why I am telling you.

I plan to ride the route again some day, and I'm honestly envious of your upcoming trip - this will truly be the adventure of a lifetime and you will forever identify with it - those of us who have ridden the Transam are a fraternity of sorts. I will be 70 in a few months, and I have a few health issues that slow me down - but I'm still riding and planning more tours and will do the Transam again some day. I look forward to following your journal.

George, I read most of your entries after you commented on my upcoming ride. Picked up some great advice along the way

Adventure Cycling offers a Transamerica ride with 14 others and while my wife would rather have me with a group the entire way I will likely ride solo. I have a Trek 520 with a 60 frame size that weighs in at 32 pounds, fully loaded panniers/handlebar bag/trunk bag comes in at about 38 pounds. I currently weigh 195 pounds and stand 6'2". I think I should be fine weight wise
One question - did you end up having to dismount and push your bike during any hill stretches in the Appalachians or Ozarks?
As you know from reading my journal: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/oceantoocean/
I ended up not doing the Transamerica this summer due to a hernia. I am fully recovered and back on the bike and plan on doing a shorter tour this fall
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/flowersteelcapital/

Great read!

I've had a few similar experiences while touring. Enough time has passed that I should probably go back and update those old journal entries. At the time I wrote them, I omitted some details because they involved other people that I didn't want to mention (locals I didn't want to anger and/or offend.)

Of course, I had to check this page out after your comment on the concluding page of my MN to MA journal. Oh boy! I'd have to say you out-philosophized me by a mile. Great read!

! ! !

Yes, been there, done that! Seldom do I have leftovers for the next day.

Kelly - I do still have the same lighting system on the bike. It's now 6 years old and I have used it for 19,000 miles. The front light is wired to the dynamo, and the rear light is wired to the front light. There are connectors on the front light for the wiring that goes to the rear light. Since this is the only dynamo hub and lighting system I have had, I don't know if this is how all rear lights are wired. A very useful aspect of my lights is that when riding I can look down at the front light, and there is a green LED on the back of it that tells me all is well and that the rear light is working. If the wiring came unplugged or for some other reason the rear light wasn't working, the green LED would not be lit. So I don't have to turn my head and do gymnastics to know that my taillight is working.

I think for most folks that a dynamo might be overkill. But when I tour in the summer, I sometimes like to get up very early and leave before sunrise to beat the heat and traffic - so I'm using the lights most every day. With the dynamo I don't have to worry about batteries or recharging at night, and I don't need to think about turning the lights on during the day if a storm comes up or I find myself riding in and out of shade a lot in a forest - my lights are always on, so I have that little extra edge for safety. I also have a battery powered blinker light that clips onto my seatbag - if I get into a bad rainstorm or something like bad foggy conditions I will turn it on for extra rearward visibility.

Kelly - I rode the ACA Western Express route through Utah in 2017. The USBRS often travels on the same roads as the ACA routes. The Western Express was a great ride, but it is definitely challenging with heat and hills and some long no-services sections. Most days on that route are easy to plan - once you leave a town, there's nowhere to stop until you reach the next town! And it's a popular tourist area, so you need to book hotels well in advance. Many of the mountain passes have gentle grades similar to a lot of the Rockies, but some of the hills on that route are as steep as Appalachian hills. My journal from my 2017 tour will be up on Cycleblaze within a few days - I just need to do a bit of touch-up work to it before making it public.

We discovered the USBR system this summer in Michigan and Wisconsin. Notable that USBR skipped the Tunnel of Trees near Mackinaw Island. We rode the must do road anyway, only to come away unimpressed with the lack of view and the heavy traffic/skinny road. No wonder USBR skips it!

For 2022 we will be traveling through Utah. I pulled up the USBR for routing help. I'm presuming it will be as good as it was in the Great Lakes area.

Thank you for the detailed bicycle and gear description. I'm one who loves all of the details!

Do you still have the same lighting system today? It sounds as if the rear light is also attached to the (front?) dynamo? Does that mean you have cables running the entire length of your bike?

We met a man this summer who is running a rim dynamo. He quite liked it. I've been thinking about adding a dynamo to my bike, but can't decide if it's overkill, given that we stay in motels each night.

Jacinto just bought a Priority 600 bike. It is very well outfitted for the cost. It came with a dynamo hub. I like how eye catching the front light is. It has a small flashing light on the rear fender that is attached to the dynamo. It isn't a very good light, but it's 'free', and always on. It has the five minute delay you mention. I asked Jacinto how the wiring to the rear light runs, but he doesn't know. Typical . . .