Where are you headed in 2015?

wonderings

wonderings

Well-known member
I know I always start planning for the summer around this time of year. I use Basecamp with my Garmin Zumo and start looking at options, routing different trips trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to go. I am guessing I am not the only one.

So what are your plans for the year? Where are you going? Whats the plan?


For me, I am pretty set on heading west. I have wanted to do Pikes Peak for a while and really to just get out to the west for some different scenery. While out there I will be heading to Moab and doing some riding in the area, taking in the beautiful and different landscapes. This is what it is all about for me, I love being out in nature, in the open just taking it in while riding. I drove through Arizona, New Mexico, etc a few years back and loved Monument Valley, but you miss so much stuck in a car. Really looking forward to getting out there on 2 wheels. I will be taking 2 weeks for the trip, not sure if I will be camping or doing hotels yet, sometimes it is nice to not have to pack all that extra gear for camping. Planning to do this something in June or July.





So where are all of you heading this year?
 
Chasing Northern lights in Iceland next week - much warmer there than here despite it beiin 66 degrees north.

Then on to my newly refreshed KLR to poke around in the nooks crannies of the Tablelands in tropical Australia.
With a single bike this year in Aus I want to work on my off pavement skills.
KLR with 606s is no touring machine.

Then a couple of trips to WV area in May, likely on the Burgman followed by a too long delayed 50th riding year jaunt across country on the Wee with my kid

Lots planned Feb March April May and June...break in March to hit New Zealand by cage for a week.
 
This is definitely the time of year to start planning. I find the big problem is finding the time to tour with so many other commitments taking up time. I would love to do a western trip but you need a at least two weeks to do it and I cannot find the vacation time to do it so for the fourth year in a row I'll be doing an Appalachian tour for 10 days in May. We'll leave on Friday May 15 and return home on May 24. We'll be riding some familiar roads and we always try to find some new ones as well. Besides that I'll just be doing a few weekend Pennsylvania/West Virginia runs.

I'm also planning a two week trip to Italy in September and, although I will be renting a car not a bike, I'm going to attend the MotoGP race in Mugello and try to see the Ducati museum in Bologna.
 
Iceland is on my bucket list, been fascinated with that place since the 4th grade. Always wanted to do Australia and New Zealand as well, but I just do not think I could take the flight. I hate long flights. I could possibly put up with it flying first class, but I am sure that is a fortune flying all the way to Australia that way. I was lucky enough to fly first class to Germany and back over Christmas and I must say it has ruined traveling economy. So much comfort.


Enjoy Italy Gary, beautiful country! Time is always the hard part when planning trips. There is so much I want to do, but can only take so much time a year ruling out a lot of it. I think for the trip I am going to do out to Colorado, its about as far west as I can do in 2 weeks without long long days in the saddle.
 
wonderings said:
For me, I am pretty set on heading west. I have wanted to do Pikes Peak for a while and really to just get out to the west for some different scenery. While out there I will be heading to Moab and doing some riding in the area, taking in the beautiful and different landscapes. This is what it is all about for me, I love being out in nature, in the open just taking it in while riding. I drove through Arizona, New Mexico, etc a few years back and loved Monument Valley, but you miss so much stuck in a car. Really looking forward to getting out there on 2 wheels. I will be taking 2 weeks for the trip, not sure if I will be camping or doing hotels yet, sometimes it is nice to not have to pack all that extra gear for camping. Planning to do this something in June or July.
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With minor variations, that was my trip for 2012, awesome experience. It is definitely more convenient to stay at hotels and not carry the extra gear, also camping in July in Utah is a bit hardcore but it sure can save some money.

For me, there are no big plans for 2015. I'll be lucky if I can spend an XL weekend at the Gap.
 
Two wheels to Monument valley is on my bucket list. We'll see what happens this year...

On your map, is the green line 'superslab' just trying to get out there and back within the two weeks? How about a circle trip with different outbound and return routes?
 
FLSTC said:
On your map, is the green line 'superslab' just trying to get out there and back within the two weeks? How about a circle trip with different outbound and return routes?
Click to expand...

In my opinion it's not really worth it. Get to Denver as fast as possible and spend the extra days in CO and UT.
 
did 10 day self drive of iceland last year, and cozumel in dec. this year looking at machu pichi, europe and cuba
 
I would not skip Rocky Mountain National Park. It's got the potential to be the highlight of the journey, IMO.

Instead of starting purple part at Pikes Peak, I'd modify it through Loveland, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park then to Pikes Peak, perhaps via Mt Evans since its on the way. Mt Evans is supposed to be the "Forks" of Denver ppl. Riding down from Mt Evans to Denver is also really nice on the interstate.

tiborgh said:
In my opinion it's not really worth it. Get to Denver as fast as possible and spend the extra days in CO and UT.
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+1. Its either through corn fields A and B, or C and D lol either way, painfully boring especially after all the hype of CO and Utah on the return trip.
 
Wonderings...my GF can't take long flights in economy either ( I on the other can and have sat for 15 hours and not moved ....amazing bladder :D ).

She flies premium economy which is an in between range...not so expensive as Business or First Class but better seats.

If you are careful in planning you can keep the long hauls down. Toronto West COast...West COast to Hawaii, Hawaii to maybe Japan, Japan to North Australia....there are ways to keep it in the 7 hours zone.

Also the Dreamliner is coming available giving faster and more comfortable long haul.
You have to seriously plan for NZ/Australia and figure 4-6 weeks.
Aus is not cheap either tho their dollar is worse than ours.

Just a reminder ....you can figure on 20% rise in costs in the US this year except for fuel.

•••

Originally Posted by tiborgh
In my opinion it's not really worth it. Get to Denver as fast as possible and spend the extra days in CO and UT.
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I agree - cage or bike.

BTW I don't think 2 weeks is realistic to the west...a week of that will be riding pure boredom.

We are taking 24 days and even that feels tight - not sure how the kid ( or me tho I've done it ) will take those first few long hauls to get to the Rockies. I just picked up a custom seat to give me best chance....hey it's a 50th anniversary tour after all :D
Also - June is the best month as the long daylight gives you more riding time. I'm not adverse to slab at night tho.

We are hitting the ferry at Lake Michigan first then angling down to San Louis Obispo via Utah and Yosemite.
Have to dig out the thread where may maps are. :confused:

I think it's critical to get some distance in early while you are fresh as I find coming home I drag my *** at times until I get in range then can put in a long day to complete.
 
MacDoc said:
I think it's critical to get some distance in early while you are fresh as I find coming home I drag my *** at times until I get in range then can put in a long day to complete.
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I'm quite the opposite. I find the first days to be the toughest especially if slabbing. After a couple of days I get into "game shape" and find long days in the sadddle easier to do.
 
MacDoc said:
Wonderings...my GF can't take long flights in economy either ( I on the other can and have sat for 15 hours and not moved ....amazing bladder :D ).

She flies premium economy which is an in between range...not so expensive as Business or First Class but better seats.

If you are careful in planning you can keep the long hauls down. Toronto West COast...West COast to Hawaii, Hawaii to maybe Japan, Japan to North Australia....there are ways to keep it in the 7 hours zone.

Also the Dreamliner is coming available giving faster and more comfortable long haul.
You have to seriously plan for NZ/Australia and figure 4-6 weeks.
Aus is not cheap either tho their dollar is worse than ours.

Just a reminder ....you can figure on 20% rise in costs in the US this year except for fuel.

•••



I agree - cage or bike.

BTW I don't think 2 weeks is realistic to the west...a week of that will be riding pure boredom.

We are taking 24 days and even that feels tight - not sure how the kid ( or me tho I've done it ) will take those first few long hauls to get to the Rockies. I just picked up a custom seat to give me best chance....hey it's a 50th anniversary tour after all :D
Also - June is the best month as the long daylight gives you more riding time. I'm not adverse to slab at night tho.

We are hitting the ferry at Lake Michigan first then angling down to San Louis Obispo via Utah and Yosemite.
Have to dig out the thread where may maps are. :confused:

I think it's critical to get some distance in early while you are fresh as I find coming home I drag my *** at times until I get in range then can put in a long day to complete.
Click to expand...

The longest non stop flight I have done was to Tel Aviv, that was 12 or 13 hours. I can sit through it as well, though I need an aisle seat, I cannot stand crawling over people if I want to go to the bathroom or to stretch my legs. I have flown over to Europe close to 20 times or more in my life, all but 2 were in economy. A few years back I was in business class in a budget airline, I cannot remember which one, possibly Air Transat. While it was better then economy, it was really only slightly better with a bit more leg room and a slightly nicer seat, though the food was much better.

This trip over Christmas was the first time I had ever experienced the "upper class" way of flying. These were the seats in World Business Class on a KLM 747




The seats fold down flat to be a bed, so much leg room it is insane. Before flight drinks are served, they put your coat in a closet. Even before getting on the flight I was in the KLM lounge, open bar, buffet, drinks, wifi, leather chairs and clean bathrooms. I have never been as comfortable or refreshed when getting of an international flight, makes a world of difference. The best part is, it only cost me $280 more then the economy comfort seats I had, I upgraded at check in!

Anyways, back to biking! I am with Gary64, I find the first few days the hardest (not that they are really that hard) till I get into the grove of traveling. I still will push some long days to get out of Ontario and away from the places I have been over and over and over. When heading out to Colorado, I will most likely start with 2, 800+ km days to push out as far west as I can.
 
[video=youtube;d2JKXbVGq7A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2JKXbVGq7A[/video]
 
Talked about maybe vegas again for our anniversary. Baby will only be 9 months though. Don't know if we'll want to be away from her for like 5 days.
 
Another long distance newbie question:

If I was to load my bike in the back of my truck to either get thru the northern states / snow or to superslab (continuous, swap drivers) down to the southwest in a short time, what are some options for parking the truck? At a motel you stayed at, a motorcycle dealership, airport parking? Any experiences to share?
 
How about shipping a bike out West, flying out to meet it and riding back (or vice versa)?

About 5 or 6 years ago I shipped a bike via Fastfrate, and it was less than $300 to send it to Vancouver, but I had to source a crate, trailer the bike and the crate to the Fastfrate terminal, build the crate and secure the bike... so it was a bit of work.

If I could find a carrier either from here or Buffalo or something to ship my bike to Denver, then I would fly there, explore the Rockies, and gradually make my way home. I think that would make for a good use of 2 weeks off work and would save the tires for where you need them.
 
FLSTC said:
Another long distance newbie question:

If I was to load my bike in the back of my truck to either get thru the northern states / snow or to superslab (continuous, swap drivers) down to the southwest in a short time, what are some options for parking the truck? At a motel you stayed at, a motorcycle dealership, airport parking? Any experiences to share?
Click to expand...

I have not done this, but if I were you I would start plotting out what you want to do. Figure where you are staying, where you would switch from truck to bikes. Once you have that sorted, contact the hotel or camp grounds where you are staying and let them know what you want to do, they may just let you leave the truck in their lot.
 
Headed to Icleand in September..hoping its decent weather enough to rent a bike for a week.

Couple trips planned for the summer. Either ontario highlands or a trek out near Wawa.

I'm also trying to plan a trip out east to Nova Scotia late July to hit the cabot trail and then come back through the States. It all depends on how much time I can get off work...so far it's only 2 weeks and that's cutting the trip pretty short. I'd even have a place to stay in Sydney once I get there for a few days but I don't want a trip that's too rushed.
 
FLSTC said:
Another long distance newbie question:

If I was to load my bike in the back of my truck to either get thru the northern states / snow or to superslab (continuous, swap drivers) down to the southwest in a short time, what are some options for parking the truck? At a motel you stayed at, a motorcycle dealership, airport parking? Any experiences to share?
Click to expand...

That is my choice of travel (trailer the bike, taking turn at driving if I'm not alone). I research the area where I want to leave my car and select a convenient and well reviewed outdoor storage business, then call that business and reserve a spot. For the 30-50USD is well worth the peace of mind.

This way we got to Denver in 24 hours which left us with two weeks to explore the area.
 
multiphrenic said:
Headed to Icleand in September..hoping its decent weather enough to rent a bike for a week.

Couple trips planned for the summer. Either ontario highlands or a trek out near Wawa.

I'm also trying to plan a trip out east to Nova Scotia late July to hit the cabot trail and then come back through the States. It all depends on how much time I can get off work...so far it's only 2 weeks and that's cutting the trip pretty short. I'd even have a place to stay in Sydney once I get there for a few days but I don't want a trip that's too rushed.
Click to expand...

The ride through the states is really nice. I went out to Nova Scotia 2 years ago, did it all through the states and would do that again, nice country roads, very little interstate.
 
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