Hi Vagabond -
I rode the eastern end of the TAT from about mid-March until early April in 2009... and bits of it were wet, and the weather was freezing in Tennessee...
Things picked up once I got into Arkansas, and were pleasant all the way through OK and NM to Trinidad in Colorado, but as you surmise - that early in the year you won't get to ride any of the high passes in Colorado due to snow, and personally I'd say those are the best parts...
For info, I'd already ridden the CO to OR sections the previous fall, which, I have to say, is the best part from a technical and dramatic scenery point of view...
Yes it is possible to skirt around the Colorado sections (I'd stay south and take 160 all the way to Durango, oh and take a ride on the steam railway when you get there x) - then pick up the TAT again east of Moab UT, where you ought to be able to navigate most of UT and NV sections, and up into Oregon.
If you are prepared to bypass the higher elevations then go for it, but you are missing out some of the best riding in Colorado...
Jx
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