Useful Information

Clothes

Be prepared! If you ride through Florida or the desert, you don't want to wear warm clothes, but even in the sunny southwest chances are high that you may encounter rain or violent thunderstorms, so don't forget waterproof rain gear.
If you ride through the Rocky Mountains, for example, carry some warm clothes, because temperatures can drop drastically in the mountains. A warm jacket, trousers, underwear, good gloves and a warm pair of socks may come in handy on high passes.
Seriously, bring your own helmet! In many states it's the law, and rented helmets seldom fit as comfortably as your own.

Gas

historic gas pumps

Gas is cheap in the US.
In Chicago the gallon of regular gasoline (3,78 liters) cost about $ 1.30; the further you go west the cheaper the gas gets, i.e. we paid $ 1.00 in some parts of Oklahoma.
But when you cross fairly uninhabited places like for, example, the Mojave Desert, prices may rise considerably.

Speed Limits

in cities/towns/villages	mostly 30 mph (about 50 km/h)
on country roads	normally 55 mph (about 90 km/h)
on highways/Interstates	from 55 to 75 mph (about 90-120 km/h)

Motels

You always find motels along the Interstates/highways.

The big chains are, for example ($ per double room)

	Days Inn	Super 8	Comfort Inn	Hampton Inn	Best Western
$	from $ 60 up	about $ 60	from $ 70 up	from $ 80 up	from $ 80 up

weekend rates can be 10% higher
the smaller motels along the Route are cheaper and also clean
members of the German ADAC can apply for the American AAA card which allows the card holders a 10% discount at motels, museums and various restaurants

Munger Moss Motel

Food

Breakfast: there's no B&B in the US, well, not like in the UK, at least. Motels offer you a place to sleep, for breakfast you go to a diner or breakfast restaurant. Check out the local places, they are much better than the big chains.

Dining: well, tough topic, but honestly speaking, there are no gourmet restaurants in the smaller towns or villages, just McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. Look out for a Shooney's, it's a chain restaurant, too, but the food is better and you can sit down more comfortably to eat.

Tips: leave a 15% tip for the waiters/waitresses - it's their income, they depend on this money.

Bike Rental

Bike rental in the US is not exactly cheap, but the personnel at EagleRider is friendly, professional, and quick. The paperwork took only 20 minutes, and after that I was cruising the street of Chicago.

EagleRider

1301 South Harlem Avenue
Berwyn, Ill. 60402
phone: 708-749-1500
Fax: 708-749-3800
email: rent@eaglerider.com

Money

I would recommend a balanced combination of credit cards (I used Visa and Mastercard) and traveler checks (American Express are accepted nationwide). Some diners or gas stations do not accepts plastic money, for this reason it is a good idea to carry some traveler checks which you can turn into cash at no extra charge. And you can always draw money from cash machines showing the EC or Maestro sign.

Temperature

In the US the temperature measurement is Fahrenheit. This is how it converts into centigrade:	Fahrenheit	Centigrade	Centigrade	Fahrenheit
	60	15	20	68
	70	21	25	77
	80	26	30	86
	90	32	35	95
	100	37	40	104
	110	43	45	113
	120	48	50	122

Distances

In the US distances are measured in miles. This is how they convert into kilometers and meters:	miles	kilometers	foot/feet	meters
	1	1,609	1	0,3048
	2	3,218	2	0,6096
	5	8,046	5	1,524
	10	16,093	10	3,048
	50	80,467	50	315,24

Communication

Phone: You turn around, and there's a phone right across the street. You are seldom more than a mile away from a phone booth (well, except maybe in the desert). Just dial (0049) for Germany plus the area code (without the initial "0"), and finally the extension; an operator will then ask you to read out your credit card number, expiration date and maybe the pin number. America has got many different telephone companies, and most of them accept the major credit cards for making international calls, but sometimes this secret pin code is required and sometimes it isn't, which can cause some irritation, to put it mildly. But at many supermarkets you can buy an international calling card which allows you to make phone calls via a pre-selected company - easy, no problem.

Email: Forget Internet cafes in the US, there aren't many. So what can you do? The easiest way to send/receive e-mails is to go to a public library and use its Internet access. Every little town has got a public library, and what's even more convincing: it's free.

Time Zones

US time sones - map