The Trans-America Trail was created by Sam Correro, of Cleveland, MS. He spent more than a decade piecing together dirt roads, when possible, to create a route across almost all of the U.S.
When we began the Trail last year, it began in Jellico, TN. Sam has been adding to the trail consistently, but has yet to release any maps east of Jellico.
I have to admit, beginning in Jellico seemed like we were not quite doing the right thing. It was un-symmetric, in body and mind. So I decided we needed to just do our own thing. I made maps for the missing piece of the country.
This turned out to be easier said than done. What little respect I didn’t already have for Sam, I gained in this endeavor. It took me, let’s just say, a while, to come up with the directions for our new route. And who knows if they’ll be any good. The only resources I had were state atlases!
We wanted to actually start at the Atlantic. I mean, actually on the beach, if not dipping our toes in the water. There’s something gratifying to be able to say, “yea, ocean to ocean.” Also, explaining the trip is easier when we can say we’re riding across the country, as opposed to, “well, we’re sorta riding across the country.” It just works better.
The only problem is actually finding a beach on the same latitude as Jellico, or north of there, without being in a city or very close to one, unless we wanted to start in Maine. Neither of us really wanted to do that though.
After pouring over multiple maps, it became obvious that anything north of Virginia Beach, VA wouldn’t be possible without having to drive through, or close to, a large city. South of Virginia Beach, the possibilities were better.
No matter what we chose, we would have to ride on pavement for a while. The east is mostly paved.
Pavement isn’t bad, as long as it’s the right kind. Uncrowded two lanes are as good as anything out there.
We’re hoping to add four days to the beginning of the trip. This will be good since we weren’t able to make it through several Colorado passes last year because of snow. These four days, coupled with the fact that we will be leaving later than last year, will maybe allow us to get through this year. All in all, we will be a week later than last year. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Our goal is to leave Avon, NC on June 6, 2007. There’s no telling how long it will take to complete the trip. It could be 4 weeks or 6 weeks.
Edit: After some slight postponements, we’re not leaving until middle of June. We’ll keep you up to date.
