West coast thoughts... | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

West coast thoughts...

I did something like this in 1990, except we took 5 1/2 weeks and 19,000 km, and spent very little time on motorways.

Outbound - TransCanada to Winnipeg, north between the lakes, across Saskatchewan on smaller roads. Badlands in Alberta. Calgary. Icefields Parkway. Prince George. South through Okanagan then west to Vancouver. Ferry to the island, across to Tofino. Back south to Victoria. Ferry to Washington then all the way down the coast to LA, including Avenue of the Giants (redwood trees), several of the canyon roads northwest of LA.

Back - Angeles Crest Highway, Death Valley, Hoover Dam, Vegas (actually we just went around the city, couldn't be bothered with the tourist trap and didn't have $ for gambling), Grand Canyon, Utah, Colorado (Estes Park). After that we dropped down and took interstates 70 and 80 the rest of the way.
 
I keep coming back to this trip in my head, but then I keep realizing that in order to really maximize it's enjoyment I really need more than the time I realistically can dedicate towards it without using my entire summer's allotment of time in one single trip.

I don't know. I'm still thinking it over.

I have a few friends who have expressed interest in doing the James Bay Road trip that I had mulled about this year - I posted about it as well here, but other trips got in the way. That one still holds a bucket-list entry in my head.

Add in the fact that a few other friends have suggested some other intriguing ride ideas for next season as well, and I'm not sure what the plan will end up being.
 
That's really only a 4-5 days - worth doing once.

West Coast ya gotta commit at least three weeks and 4-5 much better. Ship the bike and fly one way you can knock 5 days off that
 
I am looking at doing a similar trip next summer. Through Canada a crossed and through the states back. Camping every other night or so. Taking a month.
 
I've done this loop 5 times, all by car. I'm doing it on my bike for the first time, as I'm headed to a July wedding in LA. A few thoughts I had while planning my route:

1) I like heading south at Denver to Albequerque. I70/80 are chock full of rookie-driven motorhomes and travel trailers in the summer, can be frustrating and dangerous. The mountains on I40 are not as breathtaking but they are beautiful and offer more interisting stops and side trip optionss, move faster, and IMO are a lot safer to ride. Budget accomodation is available along I40 if that matters - it's not in I70/80 through the mountains. ($60 / night vs $250/night on I70&80).

2) The PCH/101 from Ventura to Eureka is beautiful, I've ridden and driven it too many times to count, I will never miss the opportunity to re-do that route. Spectacular ocean and mountain views, fantastic stops everywhere. Ride this from south to north, the other direction is a nailbighter and you'll miss a lot of scenery as you concentrate on the edge.

3) In Northern CA, try Matolle Rd from Humboldt CA to Warswick. It's an epic 2 hours of magic.

2) The Pacific NW, north of Eureka CA can be non-stop wet and soggy -- it's a rain forest. Beautiful by car, but can be miserable if you're facing days of drizzly & foggy riding. It's worth planning an alternate that turns east at Eureka and Eugene if the Northbound forecast is soggy.
 
I've had more time to think about this trip now and have come to the agreement that it's not a trip I'm going to really enjoy jammed into 2 weeks.

We did a very similiar trip to this in 2008 with our RV over about ~35 days and I always said that next time I'd like to have 6 weeks instead of only 4, so 15 days would be tight. Yeah, I like 1000+KM riding days on the bike, but it only takes a string of bad weather or a mechanical issue somewhere to turn it into a real slog fast, and burn up all the down days.

As I posted about maybe 6-8 months back, I'm looking back towards the James Bay road as well. Chisasibi and Radisson are calling my name, as are the bragging rights that I rode my motorcycle to Nunavut. ;) .

And heck, that's a 4 day trip basically.. even if we took a few offshoot adventures somewhere else as part of it, it's only a week max.

We are looking at going down to Americade with friends as well, so that'd be a week there as well.

Too many riding ideas, not enough vacation.
 

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