Need help planning tour
I need some tour-planning help:
My Seattle daughter is going to be getting her PhD this July in Seattle (happy proud Mom, here). My bike, William, has informed me that since I have nothing else, not even a steady job (drat it all) planned for this summer, I should go, do the proud mother thing and then ride back home to Lincoln, NE from Seattle.
William doesn't seem to care that we will be on a tight budget, that we are glacially slow up hills, or that getting his Long Wheel Base recumbent self to the start will be a logistical nightmare. None of this matters. I have been commanded to make it work.
To take the problems in order:
1) I'm thinking of shipping William by FedEx, or some such to a bike shop in Seattle so he can be put back together and be made ready to ride. My daughter suggests Recycled Bicycles (I don't think that's the name, but it's something like that), as they have a good reputation and are just down the bike path from her house. Any feedback on that?
2) Routing. My vague idea is to follow Adventure Cycling's TransAm route to Yellowstone, then head off across northern Wyoming to the Sturgis area in South Dakota, follow the Mickelson Trail down past Mt. Rushmore and then take Hwy 20/Cowboy Trail to Norfolk, NE. Then south to home. I could play tourist to a fare-thee-well, but I'm scaring myself with the thought of those Wyoming mountains. Thoughts? Routing suggestions?
3) I need new cycling shoes that don't hurt my feet. I wear a 10W shoe and have been having problems getting shoes that don't give me hot spots. Also, The Cat left a dead mouse in one of my cycling shoes which wasn't discovered for far, far too long. Suggestions for wide shoes with good arch support?
I'm not concerned about the camping/cheap moteling part of the ride. I used to do a lot of backpacking, have toured before, and I often go on S24Os around here, so I have my routine and gear pretty much dialed in - though I realize that there is a large possibility for unhappy surprises.
So, any thoughts? Warnings? Maps? Suggestions? I know better than to ask to be talked out of it here in this crowd of enablers.
Give big space to the festive dog that make sport in the roadway. Avoid entanglement with your wheel spoke.
(Sign in Japan)
1978 Raleigh Gran Prix
2003 EZ Sport AX