W Trans America Trail GPS tracks

Yo Countdown, I was flipping through one of my old Cycle News from 1986 and found this, thought you might get a kick out of it -

I have some questions for all you West Coast Tat'ers, either past or planning.
1) What method have you used/plan on using to get bike and person to the trail head in Tennessee? I'm playing with the idea of slabbing it there on street tires, the doing tire swap/maintenance and taking the trail back.
2) I live in San Diego, and am planning on leaving the Tat somewhere in Utah or Nevada, heading south and ending up here on the coast. Maybe route south in Moab, cruise around Lake Powell, North Rim of the GC, and south from there. Maybe through Utah into Nevada, cut south through Death Valley, etc. Anyway, have any of you Southern Socal riders done this route? Thanks in advance for info/suggestions/links to RR's.

P.S.: I hereby solemnly swear or affirm that I will purchase the maps and roll-charts from Sam and input said information into the GPS on my own.

With my delorme pn-40, you can use the TOPO USA software to download satellite images of the missing roads, draw "routable roads" in the proper place based on the satellite images, add "via" points as necessary, calculate the route, and then download the route to the gps. As long as you have the "back on track" option turned off, the PN-40 will not mess with the route while you are riding.

I actually have the entire TAT routed using this method to fill in the gaps. It took a lot of time, but I saw it as a learning experience so I didn't mind too much.

I slabbed it from Harrisburg, PA to Jellico, TN last year and regretted it. My rear was sore before I even started the trail. Would you be slabbing the whole way from San Diego?

Maybe get with some other people to split the gas and rent a van or something that can carry multiple bikes. That's what I'm doing in August this year, but the van will take me west to Oregon, and I'll ride the tat backwards.

If you do decide slab it to TN on the bike, I'd find a local motorcycle shop you can trust, and ship the knobby tires directly to them, rather than carrying them with you.

An interview with Sam.

I haven't decided yet how I'm getting east. Options are:
1) Slab to Jellico.
2) One way van rental.
3) Air freight/fly.
D) Wife's best friend lives in N.C. Load the bike in the truck, load up the family,(thank God for quad cabs!) drive back east, family drops me off, and I see them when they get home. Both kids will have licenses by then, driving duties will be easier.

On a related note, have any of you east coasters that are lurking on this thread ever done trails from the actual east coast, either N.C. or Virginnie, to the beginning of the TAT? It would be nice to do an actual coast to coast trip, time permitting. That would add what, maybe 2 days?

Yes, we just finished it last August. You can find what you need here and here. If you want a view of the big picture, look here.

Two days ain't enuff, more like 7.

I priced out a one way rental of the smallest Uhaul/Penske truck, it was around 800 bucks, plus gas, which they get around 15 miles per gallon, so say 300 for gas.

We ended up driving my truck from CT to NC and parked it in outside storage for 30 bucks a month. They are real close to the trail head, we then camped overnight in a state park and headed out the next day. If you call them for storage, "Marge" runs the place, she was very nice.

• Lafollette Self Storage
• (423) 562-1232
• Serving Cobalt, CT
• La Follette, TN 37766

I have a 550 and it can do some pretty amazing things.
It is just done very differently than the other GPS units that can use tracks efficiently.

One point I did not see addressed in this thread.
Concerning updates published by Sam.

Maybe he feels that he should not publish any information given to him by others unless he rides it himself. First he wants to verify it himself. Second maybe he feels it is wrong to publish it since he did not produce the information himself.

Just a thought. I don't have a bike that is capable of making that kind of trip. But I am looking at those kind of bikes. I really miss my first bike. It was a dual sport 250cc, I am guessing something like that and not any bigger than 500cc would be ideal for this kind of trip.

But what if we show you pictures of the maps we bought with your screename or some kind of secret handshake on a note so you can see it's legit.

Moderator's Note -

This thread is for discussing The TAT - Supporting Sam, Copying maps, Copyrights, and so forth

This thread is for discussing how to set up your own GPS information for your TAT ride Transamerica trail

This thread is officially done........

Dave