Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Rides, Rallies, & Events Starting to contemplate a cross country trip - Q's

Hey gang,

Has anyone done a cross-country trip? If so, what was your experience like? How many days did you take? How many miles per day did you average? What was your longest day in terms of miles or hours on the bike, etc.?

Here's a possible itinerary I sketched out. Any feedback?

Joe

Day 1: Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (250m) (leave after work on Friday before Memorial Day - this was I can do the trip with the minimal # of vacation days used.)
Day 2: Pittsburgh to Chicago (500m)
Day 3: Chicago to Knob Noster, MO (500m)(weird destination but I have friends there.)
Day 4: Knob Noster to Denver (700m)
Day 5: Rest Day in/around Denver
Day 6:Denver to Taos, NM (300 mi)
Day 7: Taos to Flagstaff, AZ (450 mi)
Day 8 and 9: Rest and visit sites in AZ - Grand Canyon, Sedona, etc.
Day 10: Sedona to San Diego (500 mi)
Day 11: Hang out in San Diego
Day 12: San Diego to Tucson, AZ (400 mi)
Day 13: Tucson to Roswell, NM (400 mi)
Day 14 Roswell to Carthage, MO (700 mi)
Day 15: Carthage to Bloomington, IN (500)
Day 16: Bloomington to Pittsburgh (400)
Day 17: Pittsburgh to Philadelphia (250)

Thoughts?

Aside from those couple 750 mile days, it looks like you'll have some nice rides. I would consider taking a little more time so you can stop and see stuff as you go. I'm sure there will be a few points of interest along the way.

for me those days are too long. With the best of intentions I still find anything over about 300m painful day after day and I'm happiest when it's less. What kind of road would you be on?

Bill - I'm not sure what kind of road, I'm going to try and use as many of the Rand-McNally "scenic" and "best of the road" roads as humanly possible.

I did 300 miles on Tuesday just riding around PA and felt like I could have done more. I think the two 700 mile days are a reach - but those are days when I just want to chew up miles to get to a destination.

I'm with Bill I would shorten some of the days and maybe contact some members along the way. If possible take 30 days instead of 17. We've got an extra bed here if you pass through Tulsa. Shoot you could spend a week in CO easy.

The thing about those "Rand McNalley" routes you mentioned, and I also prefer, is that they take a lot more time than you might think. Every 20 miles or so, is a small town, with lights and cops, and things to look at. You can do 700 miles pretty easy on a slab, but it might take the better part of a day to ride 300 miles on the byways. If you're not careful, you will start to get frustrated by the "time you're not making" and waunder back out to the slab. If you have time, take the time, chill, and enjoy the scenery!

I guess everybody's different and I'm a mileage wimp. I remembered a couple of tours from this summer's posts so I went and checked: Tom Vance did 6400 miles in 16 days and LitzerSki did 8000 miles in 18 days(but I think he may be clinically insane).

So your plan's not out of line with those numbers. You've got a few days off the bike as insurance.

Your stops look like fun. I note that you're passing close by los alamos and there must be some kind of exhibits there.

Seattle, WA to Bennington, VT to Seattle, WA

http://www.triumphrat.net/ride-trip-repo...-clockwise.html

For a 52 year old with crunchy bones & joints, riding on anybody's Triumph cruiser - I'd want a month or better yet - two months to do a trip like yours. For a late model Goldwing or a BMW long haul bike (whatever that model is) knock a week or so off. Interstates would not be a part of the equation, but a GPS that shows how to avoid the slabs and plenty of audio source along with a Valentine one within the audio stream would be essential.

500 miles a day on a Triumph cruiser makes me out to feel like I've been subject to a stout & hardy 20 minutes of chain whippin'.

[If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'da taken better care of myself]

That's a great writeup with some wonderful pictures. I think he takes 11 days to go 3000 miles one way - that's more my speed.

This looks like a great trip. I agree it would be nice to spend more time in CO. Otherwise, I hope you really have a need to see Chicago. I think coming into Chicago from the east or southeast is just brutal. I'd consider a straight shot to MO. Good luck.

Essentially, I want to get across the midwest and to Denver and the mountains as fast as humanly possible. Both midwest stops (Chicago, Knob Noster) were planned just for free places to stay and opportunities to visit with friends.

If I had my druthers, I'd want to take a month or two or twelve to do the trip and meander my way across the country. It's just not feasible. And I don't want to give my employer the idea that they can do without me! For a first-time cross-country, I want to get there and back, see some cool stuff, and then tweak the itinerary for future trips.

this is a great write up.



Ed

Niceswan Ed!

Great read and have 3 fantastic trips planned for next year and nothin' gonna change them!

your itinerary is okay by me. But, one rain day, one flat or such and everything gets screwed up.

A betterer way to ride cross country is instead of saying I have to be somewhere, think "I want to head that way". Then each morning that you throw your leg over the saddle, simply point your motorsickle in the direction you want to go and twist the throttle. Stop when you have to. Stop when you want to. Then about beer thirty assess where you are and how much longer you can stand not having a brewski. or whiskey or thick NY strip steak (which always puts me to sleep).

think about getting a GPS. Then you don't have to look at invisible lines on a map instead you set the GPS parameters to avoid toll roads, interstates and tell the GPS to take the shortest route not the quickest. Then from time to time along the way as you look at where the GPS is routing you...

...hit the detour button. Or not. Turn the thing on when you are wondering WHERE THE HECK AM I!

Have fun.

Dang....I rode my '05 186 miles yesterday, and I was pooped...Ya'll make me feel really old...

I know this is an old thread, but here's my .02 anyway... I used to ride a lot of long distance 'just to get there' like seattle to san fran in 15 or so hours. I don't remember what i saw and didn't have fun. Nowdays, since I ride In the environment and not Through it, I consider 250 to 300 a good mileage day. There are a lot of roadside 'two headed snake' attractions, and great scenic spots everywhere in this country and I hate to miss them. Throw the mile marker itinerary away, make a list of cool stuff you can see "if you get to it", and enjoy a ride through this great land. Just sayin,

i like everything Egan sez but i really like #s 5 thru 8. it took me a month to get to Cali from Mi. but then i took almost a yr to go all the way around the lower 48. can you tell i was in no hurry, which i believe is the best way. stop when you want, stay where you can see your bike, camping is good, friends are better hahahaha but the important thing is to take time to smell the roses if you know what i mean, like where Eagan talks about the pig roast hahahaha some of the best times i had was when i just went with the flow. Make plans but dont be afraid to change them and if you dont do everything you had planned dont frett, it will all be there next time.

That shouldn't be too bad at all...350 miles per day isn't a bad number at all.

A agree with moe...my cross country trip had very few destinations. I'd just look at a map in the morning, point my bike in that general direction and hit the road. If I wanted to stop, I stopped. If I wanted to keep going, I kept going.

I averaged 450 miles per day. But I did have a rest day and 3 or 4 days less than 200. My longest day of that particular trip was Steamboat Springs, CO to Joliet, IL, which was right around 1200 miles...around 18-20 hours. Followed by an 800 mile day, then 500 the next so I could have a rest day at an old flame's house out in MA. And boy was it nice to have that day or rest too!

I'm looking to take 2 or 3 weeks off this spring or early summer for a 10k trip down to the southwest.