Yeah, this is kind of my dilemma: it would be an awesome trip, but the time commitment is substantial because the distance traveled is huge. It seems the ways to get the time down would be to be superhuman/take no rest days, credit-card camp (possibly with drop locations so you’re not as slowed by hauling stuff), go north-south (instead of E-W) and/or split the trip up.

In the superhuman category, I submit two examples of aggressive pace:
1) Kent Peterson did the Great Divide Race (north-south), self-contained on a fixed gear because, well, that’s Kent. His trip spanned 22 days, including having a wheel built, though I don’t think he took any rest days, which is even more remarkable given the dirt roads, five-digit elevation gains per day, and being on a fixed gear.
2) Chad, at Google did an east-west push years ago at a pretty aggressive pace working out to 24 days averaging 145/day (3500 miles total), no off times, no major mechanical. I assume he credit card camped, but still, 145 miles a day for 24 days straight is impressive.

I was curious about the self-contained versus credit card options. Adventure Cycling shows their self-contained trans-America as taking 65 days with 9 rest days (southern tier) for an average of 57-ish miles per riding day. For comparison, their van-supported, middle-tier route averages 62 miles per riding day over 76 days (7 rest). I don’t know how realistic forgoing rest days on a two month trip would be.

Is a creative interpretation of across the US by splitting it into two trips an option?

We just hosted someone who is in the middle of the Big Ride Across America, which is sponsored by the American Lung Association of Washington. That takes 48 days, a fairly humane pace for such a long ride.

Now years ago, before blogs but after email, I signed up for email from a guy who rode from Seattle to Miami. Every two or three days we’d get another bulletin. It was really interesting. He did a combo of camping and staying in cheap motels. He was retired – he turned 70 during the middle of the ride – so he had more time than us worker bees. He also stayed with his sister in New Mexico for a week as a rest. I was disappointed when he finally reached Miami as I had been so entertained for a long time.

Personally, I don’t think I’d ride across the US unsupported – I’d do it like the Big Ride, where someone else carries my luggage and camping gear.

I also wouldn’t do it alone – as a female, I’d feel too vunerable.