The tour is in two parts. The solo part goes from Saint Louis, Missouri to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team route goes from Colorado Springs to the Oregon Coast following the Adventure Cycling TransAmerica Route.
For the solo part of the tour, I decided to ditch Nebraska, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The plan is to do the Katy Trail from O’Fallon, MO to Clinton, MO. Then take a couple of days to get to the TransAmerica Route at Ash Grove, MO. I’ll take the TransAm west to Hutchison, KS. Next I leave the TransAm to check out the Gyp Hills Scenic route between Medicine Lodge and Clearwater. I will angle back to the TransAm at Scott City then head west to Pueblo CO. From Pueblo it’s one day north and about 3,000 feet up to Colorado Springs. The dates below assume I don’t take any days off but I will almost certainly take at least two. Ash Grove is a free, indoor place to stay. There are any number of small towns on the TransAm west of Scott City that have free camping or indoor accommodations.
It’s pretty common for small towns in the plains, especially those on the TransAm, to have free camping for bike tourists in city parks. Hutchinson, KS and Sheridan Lake (not show, but it’s near Eads) in eastern CO have free indoor camping at churches. I am not anticipating using Warmshowers (a community of people who host bike tourists for free) because of Covid concerns.
| Day | Date | Start | End | Miles | Cumulative Miles | Sleep? |
| 1 | May 22, 2022 | O’Fallon, MO | McKittrick | 60 | 60 | B&B/City Park Camp/Motels |
| 2 | May 23, 2022 | McKittrick | Hartsberg | 66 | 126 | B&B/City Park Camp/Motels |
| 3 | May 24, 2022 | Hartsberg | Pilot Grove | 53 | 179 | Town park camping/ B&B |
| 4 | May 25, 2022 | Pilot Grove | Clinton | 63 | 242 | Hotel/Camping Sparrowfoot |
| 5 | May 26, 2022 | Clinton | Stockton | 55 | 297 | Hotel/Camping Crabtree Cove |
| 6 | May 27, 2022 | Stockton | Ash Grove | 40 | 337 | City Park Camp |
| 7 | May 28, 2022 | Ash Grove | Pittsburg KS | 72 | 409 | Hotel/camping |
| 8 | May 29, 2022 | Pittsburg KS | Chanute | 60 | 469 | Motels/City campground |
| 9 | May 30, 2022 | Chanute | Eureka | 62 | 531 | Motels/City campground |
| 10 | May 31, 2022 | Eureka | Newton | 72 | 603 | Motels/City campground |
| 11 | June 1, 2022 | Newton | Hutchinson | 47 | 650 | Church Camping/motels |
| 12 | June 2, 2022 | Hutchinson | Pratt | 56 | 706 | Motels/Camping |
| 13 | June 3, 2022 | Pratt | Medicine Lodge | 30 | 736 | Motel/Camping? |
| 14 | June 4, 2022 | Medicine Lodge | Greensburg | 67 | 803 | Motels/Camping? |
| 15 | June 5, 2022 | Greensburg | Cimarron | 65 | 868 | Motel/Camping? |
| 16 | June 6, 2022 | Cimarron | Scott CIty | 70 | 938 | City Park. Motel. Hostel |
| 17 | June 7, 2022 | Scott CIty | Tribune | 47 | 985 | City Park |
| 18 | June 8, 2022 | Tribune | Eads, CO | 58 | 1043 | City Park/Motel |
| 19 | June 9, 2022 | Eads, CO | Ordway | 65 | 1108 | City Park/Motel |
| 20 | June 10, 2022 | Ordway | Pueblo | 55 | 1163 | All |
| 21 | June 11, 2022 | Pueblo | Colorado Springs | 51 | 1214 | All |
| Daily Average | 57.8 |
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
John – Corey and I will be in Denver with a friend of mine for a few days, hopefully to get some acclimation in. I’m hoping we can get a ride to Colorado Springs.
I don’t think you want to meet us in CS since we’ll be riding south to Canon City. That might be a better place to meet. We’ll keep in touch!
Thanks. Let’s plan on Canon City. Hopefully I can get there a day or two before you to acclimate.