Love that this is a project, anything to get more people doing long distance biking in the US.
I'll just add that on my tours, I tended to avoid rail trails. They are nice at first, but quickly become boring. Too straight, too flat and monotonous. Roads are far more exciting. That said -- I'd probably prefer a rail trail in those parts of Wyoming that you have to bike on the interstate!
I’ve done a lot of long distance rides on brevets, and I too appreciate rides with hills and turns.
That said, I’ve also been hit by a car intentionally. And seen many fellow riders hit unintentionally. There is a rail-trail from Atlanta to Alabama that’s 100 miles and very pretty. It’s the only riding I’d do in Alabama.
what the honest fuck is wrong with people? We've got loads of litter near most roads around my town, and I just don't get it. bottles, cans, boxes, bags, etc. I saw a guy pull off the side of the road and dump a bag of garbage - like... opened the bag and dumped it out, then drove off. He was 200 feet from a convenience store that had garbage cans and an open dumpster. He explicitly chose to avoid that, pull off on the dirt, and dump trash.
I was going to approach him and my wife said "no way, he's probably got a gun". And she was probably right. Somehow my objecting to him open dumping trash in public (8:45 am) would be some form of liberal aggression and he'd have been within his rights to shoot me.
Drivers are rarely charged or ticketed when they hit people on bikes in the US.
If you ever want to kill someone, run them over with your car while they're riding a bike and say they swerved in front of you. The justice system will bend over backwards to make sure that you don't suffer any consequences.
If you think litter is bad in the US, just come visit the Philippines or any other developing-world country. This is not whataboutism, I'm saying that it's exponentially worse here having lived in both countries. That said, I'm also not making any excuses for the States. I know all too well how much garbage is thrown out of windows onto the side of the road. We need to do everything we can to clean up our environment and set an example for the rest of the world.
The Silver Comet trail is amazing. I lived about 5 miles away from one of the trailheads and I used to go riding and walking there all the time. It goes through some very pretty areas.
I'll just add that on my tours, I tended to avoid rail trails. They are nice at first, but quickly become boring. Too straight, too flat and monotonous. Roads are far more exciting. That said -- I'd probably prefer a rail trail in those parts of Wyoming that you have to bike on the interstate!