Ride and Fly BC - 16 day options to ride the west coast

[MacDoc]

Been concocting some 16 day scenarios for riding the Rockies again >

Kelowna or Vernon BC is very central ....550 km to Jasper for instance.
Take a day up - and take a different route back.

760km to Glacier National Park - a good drive through on the way home.

1160 to Yellowstone...also a decent pass through on the way home including Beartooth pass.

https://www.airbnb.ca/s/Kelowna--Ca...203&ne_lng=-119.09842431661843&ss_id=wak9v7kd

Loads of roads both in US and Canada in easy range for day tripping and hell it's the mountains...you can hardly go wrong.

Flight to Vancouver one way for bike and rider $1000

$39 a night including kitchen for the place say 12 nights $500
( 1/2 that if two riders )
This has two queen beds and kitchen available. Can't beat that as a riding base.
In addition the riding season is much longer in that part of BC.

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Older home with heritage features & new furnishings gives this house a cozy home feeling. Comfortable & charming, offers everything you need from an ipod music system to a fully stocked, full access kitchen and bbq. Main bathroom is guest only.

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2 bedrooms on the main floor offer Queen beds, dresser, closet, bed side table and a shelving unit. The living room is cozy, has a gas fireplace and you can plug in your ipod for music selections of your choice. Full access to a fully stocked kitchen and that includes herbs and spices in abundance. I have a second room, here is the link. Check the calendar and see if they are both available and bring a friend! https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/6591320

Ride the area for 10-12 days.
4 days to slab home.

Both kid and I felt we were ready to head home after 2 weeks on the road and this fits many vacation schedules including his.

Being able to unload the luggage and ride the bikes without all the gear really makes a difference to the enjoyment as he and I are both discovering today. The Wee is a different bike entirely.

I suspect there are other areas just to the south in the US that one could base out of for cheap via AirBnb.

GF and I are looking at something in the Sonoma Valley for a week in November.
Vancouver is an ideal jump off for the west coast.

I suspect we could do the Yellowstonw Utah/Grand Canyon/Yosemite parks using a similar format but not basing in a single spot.
Taking out that 4-5 days going west plus low cost AirBnB accommodations opens up a lot of territory for relatively cheap.

••••

I'm going to look at similar set up for a Scottish jaunt. Base from a single area and then ride Scotland and N England from there.
In that case tho the price to get the bike there and back lifts it to $1700 so I'd want three weeks to make that worthwhile.
Scottish Highlands on the Wee.....too much fun

 

[wonderings]

Are you saying it was $1000 total for BOTH bike and rider to fly out to Vancouver? If so that seems like a really good deal and definitely opens up some different planning. I have done the drive up and down the west cost twice by car and it was some of the best roads I have seen, non stops curves, ocean views, magnificent forests. Might change my plans of riding out to Pikes Peak next year and do a west coast to home the long way.

 

[MacDoc]

That's each rider and bike

4 left at C$315 .40
http://www.expedia.ca/Flights-Searc...&options=sortby:price&mode=search&paandi=true

Bike is $650 to fly
The $50 or so for the dangerous good inspection.

If you are not camping you cannot really beat that to get to Vancouver.
Yep it opens up the entire west coast for practical 16 day trips ( 2 weeks and 3 weekends ).

FLy to Calgary ( same price ) and do justice to Alaska.

Fly to Van and do just about anything on the west coast and continental divide.

Now I know you can do 1000 km a day ( so can I but 800 seems a bit better ). Since you are coming with the weather it's easy to judge and deal with.

 

[richi]

That's each rider and bike

4 left at C$315 .40
http://www.expedia.ca/Flights-Searc...&options=sortby:price&mode=search&paandi=true

Bike is $650 to fly
The $50 or so for the dangerous good inspection.

If you are not camping you cannot really beat that to get to Vancouver.
Yep it opens up the entire west coast for practical 16 day trips ( 2 weeks and 3 weekends ).

FLy to Calgary ( same price ) and do justice to Alaska.

Fly to Van and do just about anything on the west coast and continental divide.

Now I know you can do 1000 km a day ( so can I but 800 seems a bit better ). Since you are coming with the weather it's easy to judge and deal with.

doing something a ride similar by the end of next week. I just cant hammer down a route

Options so far:

1- fly Calgary- ride south Montana/Wyoming/Colorado
2- fly Vancouver- ride south and and do the PCH

I got 3 weeks off to skip the chaos of the pan am starting Friday.

Any tips or suggestions would be great.

 

[MacDoc]

3 weeks you should be able to do both.

I'd fly to Van - it's the same price after all.....then bump along the border - some superb riding...I stuck in 99 - Sea to Sky as it will get you pumped the day your get off the plane ( get the flight that arrives at 10 am Vancouver time )

to get into that nest of riding roads just above and below the border.
http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...es-in-canada-/british-columbia--___13400.html
Head to Yellowstone and Bearcat then diagonal back to San Fran catch Mt St. Helens region on the way, then the PCH to San Luis Obispo then cut above LA to Yosemite and out the east side to catch all the Utah areas, Zion, Arches,

This is rough to get an idea of distances. I'd angle over at the top of Yellowstone to catch Beartooth Pass at the Northeast entrance and then out the west entrance. Just avoid the weekends.
Salt Lake City is a traffic monster best avoided entirely



https://goo.gl/maps/zzBrN

about 5500 km

then 3,500 home.

That's an average of 430 a day or so.
That's good for gawker days, PCH etc you can do 700+ plus on the long stretches.

Get a single $80 National Parks pass at Glacier and it's good for all parks all year.
there are pics of all these areas here
https://picasaweb.google.com/113408714888195024530

You want to do Glacier Point in Yosemite - this why - that's a 180 with no guard rail and it's way way down to the valley floor.

and find the way out the backside of the park - perhaps catch Sequoia and Death Valley.

Bryce Zion and Arches are gorgeous ride throughs that take little time. The Grand Canyon is a huge area - you'd have to figure best way to handle but I'd suggest south rim then head into Colorado and home.

Certainly from the distances very doable.

The PCH from San Fran south should be savoured. You cannot blitz it anyways. While it's tempting to to do it above San Fran the fog and weather is erratic

Use this for weather.
http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

Try and book the bike flight so you drop it off either midday or after 7 pm - not at rush hour. Unlike normal shipping - your bike is actually on a specific flight.
You also have to weigh it ahead of time and be pretty close to the weight when dropped off.
Mine was off and I ended up removing the topcase.

It's not a smooth system yet.

At the Vancouver end it is smooth .... cab to the air cargo ( 2 km ) and help unstrap the bike and you are off.
Nother reason to get the 10 am flight ...Vancouver traffic is horrid from about 2 pm on.
Once you are on Sea to Sky ( 99 ) it's superb. One of the best rides of my 50 years riding.

 

[richi]

The trip is booked. Bike flys out July 12th to Vancouver I fly out on the 13th arriving at 1000.
Route is still not hammered out, however I have some notable stops and everything in between is fair game.
Going to spend 2-3 days in BC then south to glacier national park ,mt followed by Yellowstone. From there make my way south hitting up any fun route as far south as rio grande national forest,co exploring around there before I head home.

The bike will be a 06' Honda 599 I don't have to be back in toronto until July 31st. However I may cut it shorter depending on how I feel. Right now days are planned out at about 550km.

A friend mentioned butler maps? Is there a source in Toronto to purchase ? Are they worth while?

 

[wonderings]

A friend mentioned butler maps? Is there a source in Toronto to purchase ? Are they worth while?

I would invest in a GPS, or a GPS app and mount for your phone with power coming from your bike. You can find all the best routes online for free, get turn by turn as you go with no need to keep looking at a paper map.

 

[richi]

I would invest in a GPS, or a GPS app and mount for your phone with power coming from your bike. You can find all the best routes online for free, get turn by turn as you go with no need to keep looking at a paper map.

I have a gps wired in with routes. Also connections for my iPhone. I
Was just wondering if they had decent routes. Or maybe something I missed.

Do you know any sites to that I can find some more routes?

 

[MacDoc]

Here are some

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...es-in-canada-/british-columbia--___13400.html

 

[kiley]

Richi its just my opinion but if you have 3 weeks i would try to do both.
I did it last year and am so glad i did.
you can read it here
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...-Washington-California-and-back-July-Aug-2014

 

[wonderings]

I have a gps wired in with routes. Also connections for my iPhone. I
Was just wondering if they had decent routes. Or maybe something I missed.

Do you know any sites to that I can find some more routes?

I normally ask people from those regions. When I was planning out a trip to Pikes Peak Colorado, Utah and Arizona, I talked to people from the area asking for suggestions. I use advrider.com and posted in the regional forums, picking the region I was going to obviously. You get first hand knowledge from people who have done it or who live there.

 

[xfactor]

Hey Macdoc,

I'll be heading down to the Rockies in a week. Thanks for the info, wanted to ask, how's the police presence in the back roads? I know that within Jasper and icefield parkway the traffic alone is a good way to check one's speed, but want to know if "spirited" can be had on the other roads.
thx

 

[MacDoc]

We did not get on the backroads which is why I'm angling for a repeat basing out of Vernon with a cheap place to stay and then ride those back roads for 12 days then ride home

We saw very little police presence in BC as it's RCMP.

 

[sadrik]

Bike is $650 to fly
The $50 or so for the dangerous good inspection.

Having just done this, count on $800 for flight+taxes+insurance for the bike, and the dangerous goods doc was $140. If you can get the DG doc done $50, give us the deets!

Anyway, nice route. However, you have so much time, what about heading up to Dawson City, YT (if half the continent isn't still on fire)? Then take another bit and head further west into Alaska, just to say you did?

And then, if you're going up that way anyway, I also strongly recommend the ride to Stewart BC/Hyder Alaska along the way. Man, beautiful little detour.