USA Guide
Getting around
Cycling
Typically, cycling is a cheap and healthy way to get around the big cities, an increasing number of which have cycle lanes and local buses equipped to carry bikes (strapped to the outside). In country areas, roads have wide shoulders and fewer passing motorists. Bikes can be rented for $15–35 per day, or at discounted weekly rates, from outlets that are usually found close to beaches, university campuses, and good cycling areas. Rates in heavily visited areas can be higher. Local visitor centers have details.
The national nonprofit Adventure Cycling Association, based in Missoula, Montana ( 
406/721-1776 or 1-800/755-2453, 
www.adventurecycling.org ), publishes maps of several lengthy routes, detailing campgrounds, motels, restaurants, bike shops, and sites of interest. Many individual states issue their own cycling guides; contact the tourist office. Before setting out on a long-distance cycling trip, you'll need a good-quality, multispeed bike, panniers, tools and spares, maps, padded shorts, and a helmet (legally required in many states and localities). Plan a route that avoids interstate highways (on which cycling is unpleasant and usually illegal) and sticks to well-maintained, paved rural roads. Of problems you'll encounter, the main one is traffic – RVs, huge eighteen-wheelers, logging trucks – that scream past and create intense backdrafts capable of pulling you out into the middle of the road.
Backroads Bicycle Tours ( www.backroads.com ), and the HI-AYH hosteling group arrange multi-day cycle tours, with camping or stays in country inns.
Greyhound, Amtrak, and major airlines will carry passengers' bikes – dismantled and packed into a box – for a small fee.