RIDING CONDITIONS

The Eastern Express Connector begins at an intersection with Section 6 of the TransAmerica Trail in Walden, Colorado. SR 14 through the North Park Valley is shoulderless, but traffic is minimal and the sightlines are long. Shoulders appear near the summit of Cameron Pass (elev. 10,276 ft.) and stick around for about 23 miles before disappearing again at the Poudre River Fish Hatchery. Traffic picks up on the east side of the pass, especially on weekends in the summer and fall. SR 14 through the scenic Poudre River Canyon east of Rustic is narrow and winding. Services are limited between Walden and Fort Collins, but campgrounds are plentiful.

Fort Collins is a great place for a layover day. It’s a college town (Colorado State University), a platinum rated bike-friendly city, and has over a dozen bike shops. Whether headed eastbound or westbound, be sure to stock up on a good supply of groceries here; it’s sporadic convenience stores-only for the next 100 miles in either direction. It’s also your last chance to visit a real bike shop for the next several hundred miles, so make sure your bike is in good shape and you have any necessary tools and spare parts you may need.

The route uses the Poudre Trail to access downtown Fort Collins. See advcy.link/FCbikemap for a complete bicycle map of Fort Collins. NOTE: Riding a bike on the city’s main commercial street (College Ave./US 287 south of the downtown area) is prohibited, and it’s unsafe and unpleasant anyway.

The route east of Briggsdale is a long, gradual decline into the Platte River Valley, as you traverse some of eastern Colorado’s “outback”. If you like wide-open spaces and a horizon that goes on forever, this is your ride. The route travels through the Pawnee National Grasslands, an area of the Great Plains that saw limited cultivation in the early 20th century. As a result, the area is very sparsely populated and services are limited and unreliable. Carry extra water and call ahead to confirm operating hours if you are depending on a service to be open. Many services are closed on Sundays.

The traffic on SR 14 in eastern Colorado can be heavier than you might expect on weekdays, and it moves fast and can include a lot of trucks. The shoulders are mostly good, except between Ault and Briggsdale where they narrow, especially in the westbound direction.

As you enter the town of Sterling, make sure to follow the route’s diversion onto Platte Street, two blocks north of Main Street/SR 14. This is the safest route through town, and it avoids a 1.5-mile gauntlet of fast-food restaurants and big-box stores along 4-lane Main Street.

After a gentle climb out of the Platte River Valley, you’ll begin the long, imperceptible descent across the Great Plains. Shoulders are good on US 6 in Colorado and between Imperial and Enders in Nebraska. Otherwise, the shoulders on US 6 are narrow to nonexistent with occasional rumble strips on the white line. Traffic is light and services are few and far between. Make sure to change your clock when you cross the time zone border at the Chase/Hayes county line.

Because of scorching summer temperatures, you may be tempted to ride in the early morning and/or late evening. However, be aware that you’ll be riding into the rising or setting sun, depending on your direction of travel, which will blind you and motorists coming up behind you. Turn on your taillights and wear high-visibility clothing.

At Culbertson you’ll join US 34 and begin a multi-day ride through the broad Republican River Valley. The shoulders are wide, but the traffic is heavier as small towns become more frequent along the river. US 6/34 (B Street) through McCook is a busy 4-lane road. Although it has many of the town’s services, it is not the recommended cycling route. Use C Street instead, one block to the north. US 136 east of Edison has no shoulders, but less traffic than US 34.

At Franklin, you’ll turn south leaving the Republican River Valley to enter Kansas. The remainder of Kansas is rural (until Atchison), with towns a little smaller and spaced a little farther apart than in Nebraska. For an interesting side-trip, head off route to visit the Geographical Center of the Contiguous United States in Lebanon.

As you ride east across Kansas, you’ll start to notice a change in your surroundings. Gentle hills rise from the landscape, and the route is a continuous stream of rollers as it cuts across many small drainages. Shoulders widths on US 36 vary and traffic is moderate. SR 9 has narrow to nonexistent shoulders but traffic is mostly light. Watch out for “Texas tacks,” aka goatheads or puncturevine, a thorny weed that is the scourge of bicycle tires.

Section 1 ends at the Missouri River in Atchison, the first town with a population above 10,000 since Sterling, Colorado. A quaint town with sufficient services, it’s the perfect spot for a rest day before continuing your adventure. Speaking of adventures, Atchison is the hometown of Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. You can visit her childhood home downtown and the new Amelia Earhart Hanger Museum (opening in 2023) located at the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport.

Be aware that camping in city parks may have some drawbacks if you’re traveling early in the year. Many towns that have showers and restrooms, which are connected to the town swimming pool, often don’t open until after Memorial Day, so water and restrooms won’t be available.

NOTE: Many of the smaller towns on this section have a limited grocery supply. Plan and stock up when you pass through larger towns.

All known Amtrak stations are listed on this map but not all stations provide bicycle service. Check if bicycle service is provided at both the starting and ending stations on your trip using the spreadsheet and other trip planning resources at advcy.link/amtrak.

CLIMATE

The mountain ranges in Colorado can have very cold overnight temperatures, so expect to wear several layers at night even if the days are warm. Also be prepared for the possibly of snow at higher elevations, which can fall as late as June and as early as September.

The wind blows almost constantly on the plains, and it can whip up huge clouds of dust, particularly on the high plains of Colorado. These storms sting the face, cause the eyes to water, and reduce visibility to no more than several feet. Cyclists are advised to stay off the road during such storms. Severe late-afternoon thunderstorms (and the occasional tornado) are common in eastern Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas from mid-July through mid-September. A tornado’s path of travel can be erratic. If you see one on the horizon, seek shelter below ground at a farmhouse if possible. If not, find a ditch or low spot and wait out the storm.

To a cyclist riding west to east, the elevation is dropping, albeit slowly and irregularly. With this loss in elevation comes a change in the humidity and temperature. The 100th meridian, which crosses the route near Holbrook, Nebraska, is usually regarded as the dividing line between the semiarid high plains and the semi-humid lowlands to the east. West of the meridian, the average rainfall is 5-20 inches; east of it, average annual rainfall jumps to 20-25 inches, a major portion of which falls during the summer growing season. This explains why the Colorado foothills and high plains are cattle country, while eastern and central Kansas are wheat and corn farmland. Much of the increased moisture coming into the area east of the 100th meridian is blown north from the Gulf of Mexico. Expect to have several days of riding with strong crosswinds.

Updated: Oct 5, 2022

RIDING CONDITIONS

Section 2 of the Eastern Express Connector begins in Atchison, Kansas, and quickly crosses into Missouri on the wide-shouldered Amelia Earhart bridge over the Missouri River. The Connector route through most of Missouri is identical to the Lewis & Clark Bicycle Route, created to celebrate the anniversary of the Corp of Discovery’s 1804-1806 expedition from the mouth of the Missouri River to the Oregon coast.

The route is flat along the Missouri River floodplain until Weston, where you’ll leave the river and enter the pastoral Missouri countryside. Traffic on the state secondary roads (designated with letters) is mostly light, but the roads are hillier than you might expect. Prepare yourself for an endless rollercoaster ride with some steep, albeit short, ascents and descents. Also pay attention to street signs and freshen up your navigational skills; there are lots of turns between Weston and Excelsior Springs.

South of Excelsior Springs you’ll drop down into the Missouri River floodplain again for a nice break from the constant hills. SR 210 has more traffic but nice, wide shoulders. At Henrietta the route turns south onto SR 13, a divided 4-lane limited access highway across the Missouri River. Traffic can be high, but the shoulders are wide in both directions.

The hills return between Lexington and Boonville, Missouri. SR 20 has wide shoulders, but they are unpaved. SR 41 between Marshall and Boonville is mostly shoulderless. The touristy village of Arrow Rock, a National Historic Landmark, is a nice spot to spend the night or an afternoon. Make reservations in advance, this area is popular with visitors in the summer.

From Boonville eastward, the route uses 169 miles of the Katy Trail (advcy.link/katytrailsp). This converted railroad bed is composed of crushed lime­stone and skirts the north bank of the Missouri River. Consequently, the Katy Trail and adjacent road­ways are prone to flooding during late spring/early summer. Even if the trail is not currently underwater, damage from a recent flood may force some sections to remain closed. The Jefferson City Option (54.6 miles) can be used if any portion of the Katy Trail from Boonville to Jefferson City is closed, or if you just prefer riding on pavement. This Option is four miles longer than the Main Route.

Towns along the Katy Trail are small with limited services, so you might have to go off route to resupply or spend the night. The towns of Jefferson City, Hermann, and Washington across the Missouri River are all accessed by newer bridges with dedicated pedestrian and bicycle paths.

Boonville is also the endpoint (or startpoint for westbound riders) of the TransAmerica Crossover, a connector to the more southerly TransAmerica Trail. The Crossover is ideal for anyone who also plans to ride the Western Express Route, which connects to the TransAmerica Trail in Pueblo, Colorado. It’s also the choice for those who are only riding the Eastern Express Connector to avoid the rollercoaster climbs of the Ozark and Appalachian Mountains, but don’t mind the long and steady grades in the Colorado Rockies on the original TransAm. The Crossover begins near Toronto, Kansas on Section 8 of the TransAmerica, and travels 227 miles into Missouri to meet the Eastern Express Connector in Boonville. From Iola to Garnett it follows 27.5 miles of the Prairie Spirit Trail (advcy.link/prairiespirittrl), a converted rail bed with a crushed limestone surface. Five miles of the route between Garnett and Parker are on unpaved roads. In Clinton, you’ll join the Katy Trail for the remaining 73.5 miles into Boonville.

NOTE: When traveling on the KATY in wet weather, your bike’s wheels will spray a mineral coating from the trail’s crushed limestone surface onto your frame and drivetrain, which will harden into a white film if you don’t clean your bike thoroughly at the end of the day’s ride.

St. Charles is an all-services town that’s contained within the St. Louis metropolitan area. The brick-lined Historic Main Street overlooks the river and is lined with 19th century buildings, lively restaurants, and charming boutiques. It’s worth a visit and is easily accessible via the Katy Trail.

The Katy Trail comes to an unceremonious end east of St. Charles on a narrow floodplain sandwiched between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The Clark Bridge across the Mississippi River into Illinois has bike lanes in both directions but watch out for debris and rumblestrips. For the next 28 miles, the route uses a combination of Madison County Transit’s (MCT) Confluence, Goshen, Watershed, and Nickel Plate Trails. See a map of MCT’s trails here: advcy.link/MCTtrails. The Confluence Trail travels atop a levee alongside the east bank of the Mississippi River. Although paved, portions of the trail are in poor condition due to repeated flooding events. Ride with caution. After a brief connection on surface streets past the sprawling Wood River Refinery, you’ll ride onto the paved Goshen and Watershed Trails into Edwardsville. From there, the unpaved Nickel Plate Trail takes you to Alhambra.

The route across Illinois is generally flat, with some rolling hills in and out of creek bottoms. SR 140 from Alhambra to Mulberry Grove has shoulders, but they are not paved. For the remainder of Illinois, with a few exceptions, the route makes a beeline northeast on US 40. US 40 parallels I-70, which carries most of the through-traffic, but US 40 still has a decent amount of local traffic between towns. Shoulder widths and surface type vary; for many miles the shoulders are wide but unpaved. Effingham is the largest town on this stretch, and has all services including a bike shop. Don’t miss the unique town of Casey, famous for being home to many of the “world’s largest” objects. Also, remember to change your clock when you cross the time zone at the Illinois/Indiana state line.

Because of scorching summer temperatures, you may be tempted to ride in the early morning and/or late evening. However, be aware that you’ll be riding into the rising or setting sun, depending on your direction of travel, which will blind you and motorists coming up behind you. Turn on your taillights and wear high-visibility clothing.

Terre Haute, home to Indiana State University, is a pleasant town to ride through and uses a portion of the paved National Road Heritage Trail (www.nrht.org).

You’ll probably be sick of corn fields by this point, but there’s still more to come. SR 42 cuts across rural farming country, with services at a minimum. East of Poland, you’ll get a break from the corn as the trees (and hills) return around Cagles Mill Lake. The campground at Leiber State Recreation Area, off route three miles to the north, is a wonderful spot for an overnight.

West of Martinsville, you’ll encounter the biggest hills since western Missouri, steep enough that you may have to walk your bike.

At Martinsville, the route turns north along USBR 235 (advcy.link/inusbr) to the Connector’s endpoint in Indianapolis. The last several miles into downtown use the Eagle Creek Trail (advcy.link/eaglecrtrl )and White River Wapahani Trail (advcy.link/whiterivertrl).

From Indianapolis, head east on Section 2 of the Chicago to New York City Bicycle Route to extend your tour toward the Atlantic. To maintain the ongoing theme of avoiding the mountains, deviate onto the Philadelphia Alternate when you reach Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This Alternate follows the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP)/C&O Canal Towpath trails to Williamsport, Maryland which gently slice though the notoriously steep Appalachian Mountains. From there, continue on the Philadelphia Alternate to the Atlantic coast in Mantoloking, New Jersey, or stay on the C&O Canal Towpath Trail to its end at the Potomac River in Washington D.C.

All known Amtrak stations are listed on this map but not all stations provide bicycle service. Check if bicycle service is provided at both the starting and ending stations on your trip using the spreadsheet and other trip planning resources at advcy.link/amtrak.

CLIMATE

The continental climate of Missouri is subject to frequent changes. The three primary causes of these changes are (1)cold air moves down from the north; (2)warm, moist air enters the southern portion of the state from the Gulf of Mexico; and (3)dry air from the plains sweeps into the western part of the state.

The wettest months along Section 2 of the route are May and June. Severe thunderstorms are common in the summer. Throughout this section, humidity is high enough to make riding uncomfortable on warm summer days.

Tornados are possible across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Their path of travel can be erratic. If you see one on the horizon, seek shelter below ground at a farmhouse if possible. If not, find a ditch or low spot and wait out the storm. Peak tornado season is between April and June.

Updated: Oct 6, 2022