rail trails across USA

[Saratoga Dave]

Well, I'd say that's an improvement! I particularly like how the handout calls out some specific trails as great places to ride one of these newfangled gizmos.

 

[Art Deco]

Ohio recently adopted the 3 class system and has softened it's rather harsh stand on e-bikes to some degree.

https://wsd-pfb-sparkinfluence.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/E-Bike-Law-Handouts_OH_2020-2.pdf

Still, it pays to check before planning a ride.

Good to hear. I'd like to spend a few days biking around the Great Serpent Mound sometime.

 

[GypsyTreker]

Wow. Thanks @6zfshdb . I haven't actually used a map program except google maps, so it's time to learn one. I know the old csv format, but not gpx . But I never owned a Garmin, either. I was hoping for something along the Missouri river, and it sounds like you hit it on the head

I'd try some section rides on the Katy. You would get some great stretches I would think. I often use YouTube to preview rail trails. Seems like people love to video their rides. Keep an eye on temps after labor day if heading west. Our experience in late June in Taos area, was crazy wind. A local told us we were lucky it wasn't May, lol. Moab region was like very hot but totally doable but probably not on bicycles unless you were into extreme MTB and in late June the bike shops appreciate the tshirt sales. We did not have our eBikes then and if we had I am sure we would have found use for them, especially in the evenings. Our plans keep vacillating. At present it looks like a Badlands/Black Hills Mickelson trail then some Ohio R2T rides.

I totally get the moving target when it comes to planning. I had no idea Ohio was a stickler on eBikes, no problem, my tourist dollars spend well in more open eBike States. We are almost at the point of hitting SD ( I have a DL renewal) and then winging it.

 

[Spicy Legato]

In June I'm planning on cycling from Seattle to the GDMBR using mostly rail trails/bike paths. It looks like I can get to St. Regis, MT mostly by bike trail.

I'm hoping to do 120 miles a day. I figure that will take 4 full charges, or 2 kwh. Ideally, I'd like to cycle 60 miles, take a 4.5 hour break to charge, then do another 60. I have two batteries.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

In June I'm planning on cycling from Seattle to the GDMBR using mostly rail trails/bike paths. It looks like I can get to St. Regis, MT mostly by bike trail.

I'm hoping to do 120 miles a day. I figure that will take 4 full charges, or 2 kwh. Ideally, I'd like to cycle 60 miles, take a 4.5 hour break to charge, then do another 60. I have two batteries.

I think you'll find that good places to charge aren't always 60 miles apart.

 

[Spicy Legato]

I think you'll find that good places to charge aren't always 60 miles apart.

Yeah, not exactly. 30 miles is the bare minimum I will get out of 500 watt hours on my bike.

This is where I intend to charge:

mile 57 - Tanner, WA <-camp
mile 108 - South Cle Elum, WA
mile 170 - Vantage, WA <-camp
mile 230 - Warden, WA
mile 282 - Ritzville, WA - off trail <- hotel
mile 348 - Donahue, WA
mile 399 - Harrison, ID <-b&b
mile 455 - Mulan, ID
mile 505 - St. Regis, MT <-hotel

Washington to Montana

 

[Cowlitz]

Yeah, not exactly. 30 miles is the bare minimum I will get out of 500 watt hours on my bike.

This is where I intend to charge:

mile 57 - Tanner, WA <-camp
mile 108 - South Cle Elum, WA
mile 170 - Vantage, WA <-camp
mile 230 - Warden, WA
mile 282 - Ritzville, WA - off trail <- hotel
mile 348 - Donahue, WA
mile 399 - Harrison, ID <-b&b
mile 455 - Mulan, ID
mile 505 - St. Regis, MT <-hotel

Washington to Montana

I have never heard of Donahue, WA so looked it up. It looks like an ag-product business. You would be better to put Rosalia as a substitute. It may actually be closer for you. Vantage will require a detour. A suggestion there may be using a convenience store near the Beverly Bridge on the other side of the river, or camp at Wannapum State Park where there is power. This is also probably a bit out of the way. The bridge is scheduled to open this year, I think.

Never heard of Tanner either. But, I'll have to look it up. You can probably charge up at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass somewhere, or at Easton. Lake Easton State Park might also be an alternative camp with showers and plug ins?

Hope you document this trip and post it. It sounds like a great adventure.

 

[Cowlitz]

Ahhh, Tanner is kinda hooked to North Bend.

I haven't been over that way in a lonnnnng time.

The convenience store that may be more convenient than Vantage, if the Beverly Bridge is open, is in Schwana. It's down (South) the highway, but close to Beverly. Here is their website. https://www.76.com/station/U76-OUTPOST-STORE-0000884066?refer=psx_76

It also looks like you can ride an unbusy road from Beverly to Schwana instead of the highway.

The gas station website doesn't give much info, but I drive by it around 4 times a year, if not more. Never have stopped there.

 

[Spicy Legato]

I have never heard of Donahue, WA so looked it up. It looks like an ag-product business. You would be better to put Rosalia as a substitute. It may actually be closer for you. Vantage will require a detour. A suggestion there may be using a convenience store near the Beverly Bridge on the other side of the river, or camp at Wannapum State Park where there is power. This is also probably a bit out of the way. The bridge is scheduled to open this year, I think.

Never heard of Tanner either. But, I'll have to look it up. You can probably charge up at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass somewhere, or at Easton. Lake Easton State Park might also be an alternative camp with showers and plug ins?

Hope you document this trip and post it. It sounds like a great adventure.

Tanner is just past North Bend.
I'm not sure why I put Donahue. It should be Rosalia.
My plan is to ford the Columbia at Vantage if someone won't give me a ride across the bridge.

I may charge at Snoqualmie Pass, but I'm not sure, as it might be a slight detour since the trail goes through a tunnel.

Once this rail trail across the US is mostly complete there will likely be a network of volunteer trail angels where cyclists can charge and camp.

 

[EMGX]

My plan is to ford the Columbia at Vantage if someone won't give me a ride across the bridge.

You're joking, right?
Is there a reasonable detour around the Beverly bridge? I wouldn't want to have to count on a ride from someone across the I-90 bridge and I certainly wouldn't attempt to bike that bridge.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

You're joking, right?
Is there a reasonable detour around the Beverly bridge? I wouldn't want to have to count on a ride from someone across the I-90 bridge and I certainly wouldn't attempt to bike that bridge.

No, there isn't a reasonable detour. And crossing on the I-90 bridge in Vantage is at best extremely unsafe.

My understanding is that some businesses in Vantage will shuttle you across the bridge. If you stayed at the Motel/RV Park in Vantage (or called them and asked) I think that would be your best bet to figuring something out.

I think 120 miles per day is a very ambitious schedule, in particular if you are planning on spending several hours per day charging. For me 15mph on a rail trail with good surface while carrying is a very good average speed over the course of a day. A lot of sections of this trail, in particular those East of the Columbia River, have very poor surfaces and 10mph is probably a more reasonable figure of merit. So you are likely to have a couple of days where you are on the road for sixteen hours or more. You are also assuming your route finding is perfect, which it won't be. And even if you are very good at organizing your gear setting up and taking down camp is going to take a bit of time as well.

But everyone is different and needs to ride their own ride. So good luck.

 

[Cowlitz]

This is a good channel to watch. They document the trail and where they goofed, from Tekoa to the end near North Bend. This area, Warden to Beverly, does not look like fun.

 

[Spicy Legato]

No, there isn't a reasonable detour. And crossing on the I-90 bridge in Vantage is at best extremely unsafe.

My understanding is that some businesses in Vantage will shuttle you across the bridge. If you stayed at the Motel/RV Park in Vantage (or called them and asked) I think that would be your best bet to figuring something out.

I think 120 miles per day is a very ambitious schedule, in particular if you are planning on spending several hours per day charging. For me 15mph on a rail trail with good surface while carrying is a very good average speed over the course of a day. A lot of sections of this trail, in particular those East of the Columbia River, have very poor surfaces and 10mph is probably a more reasonable figure of merit. So you are likely to have a couple of days where you are on the road for sixteen hours or more. You are also assuming your route finding is perfect, which it won't be. And even if you are very good at organizing your gear setting up and taking down camp is going to take a bit of time as well.

But everyone is different and needs to ride their own ride. So good luck.

I don't really count a 4.5 hour siesta to charge as "on the road".

I can do a century a day on a non-electric bike, it's just much more healthy for me to avoid that level of exertion, and use an ebike.

I might ditch the midday charging, and carry three batteries, getting 40 out of each charge.

With tire pressure on the low side, and 1700 feet of gain, I get 31 miles, and still have a bar showing. That's in Turbo mode, on a Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon Lefty 3, fully charged, hot off the charger. I weigh 155 lbs.

 

[Spicy Legato]

This is a good channel to watch. They document the trail and where they goofed, from Tekoa to the end near North Bend. This area, Warden to Beverly, does not look like fun.

Thanks for that. I'm taking a totally different route from Vantage to Warden that does not involve any highways, or roads without shoulders.

 

[K PierreR]

As far as plans vacillating, yeah, there's a lot of that going on the last year or so. No idea why. Grin. But if the past weather is anything to go by, it'll be early spring or fall, NOT summer or winter.
And my Ohio relatives warned me that all ebikes are illegal on all public lands or roads there, and can be confiscated. IDK if that's true, but I'm not likely to find out. I lived there long ago, but rarely return. Seriously bad weather and worse cops .

I have had an E bike in Ohio for the last 4 years. I put on 5,000 miles a year and have never so much as had a whiff from the PoPo. The rail trails here have a lot of gerry's on e bikes. The Cuyahoga National Park allows e bikes on the Towpath and a few other trails. The entire Cleveland Metoparks system allows e bikes. The Ohio to Erie rail trail allows e bikes. Where the hell do your relatives live that they say this is an unfriendly place?
The Ohio law gave an option to bypass their general law and most jurisdictions have done so. If not, they just don't care enough to even enforce anything. I have not encountered e bike haters here and have done many single track trails as well.
I have not been to PA because of the laws surrounding trails through game lands including paved rail trails. I have no idea of enforcement there.

 

[K PierreR]

I have a big fat titanium e bike with four parallel batteries. Total is 2,540 watt hours @ 52 volts. BBSHD mid drive. I have a 15 amp charger that puts out 800-900 watts and charge all four batteries at once. Depending on how I ride that is 35-60 miles of charge per hour.
Good charging spots are. Any town park pavilion or gazebo. Most have electricity for music nights and weddings. Churches, Vending machine outlets, gas station mini-marts, police stations, restaurants, private businesses and RV's with generators and beer in the middle of the desert.
Big chargers are great as the perception for how much electricity you are using is in direct proportion to the length of time you are plugged in. 900 watts is a hair dryer on low and will not blow most circuits with other things running on them.
A loaded big fat e bike is one hell of a conversation starter and a ticket to charging in some unusual places.
The big battery bank in parallel virtually eliminates battery sag and give great range or higher speeds. At 20mph I can get 100 miles. At 15mph I can get 200 miles on a single charge. Some areas in the desert south west USA can be as much as 200 miles between charging points when off road dirt touring.

 

[Art Deco]

I have a big fat titanium e bike with four parallel batteries. Total is 2,540 watt hours @ 52 volts. BBSHD mid drive. I have a 15 amp charger that puts out 800-900 watts and charge all four batteries at once. Depending on how I ride that is 35-60 miles of charge per hour.
Good charging spots are. Any town park pavilion or gazebo. Most have electricity for music nights and weddings. Churches, Vending machine outlets, gas station mini-marts, police stations, restaurants, private businesses and RV's with generators and beer in the middle of the desert.
Big chargers are great as the perception for how much electricity you are using is in direct proportion to the length of time you are plugged in. 900 watts is a hair dryer on low and will not blow most circuits with other things running on them.
A loaded big fat e bike is one hell of a conversation starter and a ticket to charging in some unusual places.
The big battery bank in parallel virtually eliminates battery sag and give great range or higher speeds. At 20mph I can get 100 miles. At 15mph I can get 200 miles on a single charge. Some areas in the desert south west USA can be as much as 200 miles between charging points when off road dirt touring. View attachment 81064

Reply about Ohio laws. My relatives live in Carroll county and do all their shopping and business in Akron or Canton. They say they have never seen an eBike and were telling me about an ebike being confiscated on some trail in one of those two cities that was on the local news. I haven't been back there in decades for more than an overnight visit at Christmas or a family event (a wedding or a funeral) every few years.

 

[FezUSA]

Reply about Ohio laws. My relatives live in Carroll county and do all their shopping and business in Akron or Canton. They say they have never seen an eBike and were telling me about an ebike being confiscated on some trail in one of those two cities that was on the local news. I haven't been back there in decades for more than an overnight visit at Christmas or a family event (a wedding or a funeral) every few years.

We live in Ohio and started using eBikes last August. Also joined a FB group specific to eBike riding here in NE Ohio. I believe there's been a couple of reports of issues, but most people are of the "don't ride like a hooligan and draw attention" ilk.

 

[Art Deco]

Cool. Sounds like they may have lightened up. There are a few places in southern Ohio that I would like to revist, but it's not worth a risk.
I think I get pulled over as soon as they see my Pennsylvania liscence plate, even if not speeding or doing anything out of ordinary. Never a ticket or even a warning, the highway patrol just seem to want me to know they are watching and don't like foreigners...

 

[K PierreR]

Reply about Ohio laws. My relatives live in Carroll county and do all their shopping and business in Akron or Canton. They say they have never seen an eBike and were telling me about an ebike being confiscated on some trail in one of those two cities that was on the local news. I haven't been back there in decades for more than an overnight visit at Christmas or a family event (a wedding or a funeral) every few years.

There are no confiscation laws in Ohio. I poke my nose in a lot of places and my bike stands out like a sore thumb. They are selling tons of e bikes in this area. I biked 42 miles today between Akron and Massillon.
I never throttle, I always pedal. My throttle is programed for 400 watts max and 16 mph max.