MD to NV on US 50: Advice, please!

[SeabeckS]

Sort of regret being a party pooper, but have to add to some of the concerned comments here. I picked up my 11S from a fellow in Louisville, KY the last week of April, three years ago. I intended to visit family in central Iowa, then take a nice meandering ride back to the Seattle area. I expected it would take 1 day to get to my brother's home, it took 2 1/2 days, battered by heavy rain and wind (literally blown off the highway in Illinois) the riding was very difficult.

After a day or so of rest, I departed on my "detour" route via Texas/Arizona etc to get home. The Rockies were covered by blizzards from Canada through Colorado. The two days it took just to get to New Mexico were done with very high cross winds, probably 35mph gusting to 50+. My brother-in-law (also from Iowa) is a long haul trucker, during this same period he spent 3 days parked with his big rig in Wyoming enroute to SF, even the major freeways were heavily impacted.

That being said, I do hope you're watching the weather reports VERY closely. There are some darn nice sights to see on US50. We lived near 50 in Nevada for many, many years. If you yearn for some wide open vistas, you'll definitely find them there.

Good Luck!

[sellis]

How could you possibly pass this up?

[sellis]

Or This?

[SeabeckS]

Or This?

Been there, done that!

Of course having grown up (sort of!) in Fallon, Nevada it was easy to do...

Nice pics! (Okay, now I'm a little homesick)

Cheers!

[criminaldesign]

Yeah, I'm now pretty much decided on abandoning 50 at St. Louis, going down the Mississip, crossing Arkansas through Eureka Springs then across North Texas. More interesting and likely safer for climate, too.

50 through St Louis and the burbs was ultra congested when we rode it last October to Oklahoma but found great roads leading off 50 south towards 54/Lake Ozark. That part of MO is beautiful. I believe we cut southwest around Rosebud or Linn. We cut back north at Eldorado KS.

When you hit Kansas, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Trucks are something you will have to put up with.

[MDCRUISER]

At one month before departure, my itinerary is pretty much set. In addition to these tremendously useful comments, I want to thank Jamie Jensen, author of Road Trip USA, for his personalized advice by email.

Here's where I'm off to (take it for granted that all travel will be on 2-lane roads, interstates used only to circumvent metropolitan areas such as DFW): if anyone has advice about any of these destinations, such advice is still quite welcome!

1. Potomac MD to Athens OH
2. Athens to Madison IN (via KY, bypassing Cinci)
3. Madison to Sainte-Genevieve MO (cutting south into IL well before St. Louis, crossing into Sainte-Genevieve by the little ferry into town)
4. Sainte-Genevieve to Clarksdale MS (via TN, staying at Shack Up Inn!)
5. Clarksdale to Jefferson TX (crossing into AR at Greenville MS and going over to Texarkana)
6. Jefferson to Abilene TX
7. Abilene to Marfa TX
8. Marfa to Lordsburg NM
9. Lordsburg to Scottsdale AZ (visiting relatives in this city)
10. Scottsdale to Las Vegas NV (pick up my wife at the airport) (steps 11-13 are 2-up)
11. Las Vegas to Palm Desert CA (through via 29 Palms)
12. Palm Desert to Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon
13. Then back to Las Vegas where we ship the bike home (from Las Vegas BMW) and fly home.

I'll try to post pix during the route!

[Earache]

Michael -

Athens is a neat little college town. I was born there while my dad was in grad school and later graduated from OU myself. The place is a bit run down, but you'll find the people nice and the stay enjoyable. Most of teh hotels are kinda crappy, but there's a newer Hampton Inn on East State Street. Bit of a hike from there to downtown / Court Street though. Be sure to get a walk around the University in if you can.

Madison is close to me - let me know when you're there and I'll see if I can stop by for a beer or soemthing. If you can, stay near the downtown area along the River. Lots of cool architecture to see in that town and an evening walking around looking at the buildings and houses would be a good time.

Eric

A few shots from Madison, Indiana:

[MDCRUISER]

Eric, thanks for the great pix. Now I can download yours, and don't need to take any pictures while in Madison!

I will indeed be staying at the Hampton Inn in Athens. In Madison, I'll be at the Lottie Mae Inn (I think it's one of your pictures!) right downtown. Should get there by 2PM on April 28. If you PM me I'll give you my cell number. Hope to see you!

Cheers,
Michael

[Earache]

Eric, thanks for the great pix. Now I can download yours, and don't need to take any pictures while in Madison!

I don't know about that - there's a lot to see in that small town.
That yellow home in the last pic is the Lanier Mansion. I believe they have tours there, although I've never been inside. Must do that someday. Have ridden past it dozens of times. It's lcoated on the River just a block or two west of hte downtown area. Easy to walk to.

I'll mark ya down for April 28th - if I'm not outta town for work, I'll ride down in the late afternoon. Then you can tell me in poerson about your Athens, Ohio experience.

Eric

[MDCRUISER]

Gas stop in Frostburg, MD, then a lunch stop just outside Clarksburg, WV on US 50. Quintessential WV restaurant, (can't seem to post the pic I took on my iPad!) -- tiny, waitress wants to know my life story, etc. .

Terrible downpour just before riding into Athens. Worse than the rain was the buffeting wind en route. Since I can't seem to post pix from the iPad, I'll post them in a batch upon my return home.

Going into Athens for dinner (the Baymont Inn is about 1.5 miles from downtown).

[glenfiddich]

Good to hear you're underway at last. Be sure to keep the weather ahead of you on that iPad!

Pete

[MDCRUISER]

What a lovely town Madison is! The ride from Athens was quite windy (gas mileage dropped from 50 to 44) with maybe 30 miles of rain, and the Interstates near Cincy were reminiscent of the DC area, but I love Madison. Photos to come in a couple weeks when I get home, but suffice it to say that in addition to the great pix Eric posted above, I have photos of the considerable part of the town that is currently submerged by the Ohio River.

Lottie Mae B&B is fantastic. Downtown is a delight to explore.

Tomorrow, off to Ste Genevieve MO.

[piperjim]

I made a run over Hwy 160 (just south of, and parallel to, Hwy 50) in Colorado about 10 days ago. I rode west from I-25, west on Hwy 160, over La Veta Pass and then over Wolf Creek Pass, to Pagosa Springs. The weather was perfect. There was snow on the top of Wolf Creek Pass, but the sky was clear and the highway was perfectly dry. The snow at the top was deep where the snow plows have plowed it off the road.....so deep you couldn't read the sign that they have at the top of the pass, indicating the Continental Divide. (And, if you need a good soaking after many days in the saddle, spend the night at Pagosa Springs and enjoy the natural hot springs).

At the time I was making this ride, the high country west of Denver (across I-70) was getting snow. This pattern is pretty common......snow in the highest elevations, nice at the lower elevations, and further to the south.

So, keep that Hwy 50 option open to Colorado. As posted earlier, Hwy 50 offers some great biking and great scenery!!! If it's questionable when you get to Pueblo, check the highway conditions and maybe you can run over Hwy 160 to the south.

Ride safe,
piperjim

[MDCRUISER]

Much flooding en route from Madison to Ste. Genevieve. One very close call on Indiana 37 near Paoli, where IDOT stupidly declined to close a road covered with 12 inches of rushing water. Got through in 2nd gear, but if I had stalled I was going to be swept into the temporary lake that surrounded the road... Anyway, Ste Genevieve was great, and the Southen Hotel is a perfect B&B. The route to Clarksdale along the swollen Mississippi led through Missouri and Arkansas. I found the southern 'burbs of Memphis and Tunica, MS to be pretty sorry spots. Clarksdale, however, perhaps the capital of Mississippi's impoverished "black belt", is one of the most fascinating cities I have visited. The Deltta Blues museum is phenomenal, and the Shack-Up Inn (former sharecropper shacks) is far and away the most interesting "hotel" I have ever stayed at in our country. Again, photos to come when I get my iPad home (question to administrators: why can't I upload photos from the iPad?

[Earache]

Ca't wait to see the pics!