2025 - Ride to West Coast

shanekingsley

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
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In 2024 I was lucky enough rent a bike and ride the California coast from San Diego to San Fran, so now I'm planning a trip to ride the northern half between Seattle and San Fran. And I've also always wanted to ride to Cali and back (instead of flying and renting a bike), so hoping to finally knock this one off my list in 2025.

I'm doing this on a 2002 FZ1.

My wife is doing the Ottawa Ironman on August 3, so after cheering her on, I can do this ride from Aug 9 onward. If all goes well, she can fly out and meet me in Seattle around Aug 15 to ride the Cali coast together to San Fran, and then she flies home.

I can take at least 23 days to do this trip and possibly 30 days. I figure some days of riding across the mid-west will be higher mileage days (+1000km), while riding the coast 2up will be much lighter days (~500km), so maybe I'll average around 700-800km/day. Right now the route is around 14,500km and it will likely get longer since I typically like to avoid the slab and take backroads. It would be pretty neat to ride 21 states in 21 days.

I'll probably do the motel thing to save space on packing the tent and gear, but I'm still undecided since I can save a fair bit of coin by tenting and I really like moto-camping. At least I have all the moto-camping gear if needed.

Along the way there I'd hit up Mt Rushmore, Needles Hwy, Devil's Tower, Bighorn, Yellowstone, Beartooth, Chief Joseph, Glacier, Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens.
Coming home I'd plan to ride through Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon North Rim, Arches, Moab, Million Dollar Highway, Ozarks and maybe the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline.

If anyone has any tips for must ride roads/areas along the way - I'm open to all suggestions, including if there are any must ride mountain roads between Seattle and San Fran.
If anyone wants the GPX file once it's roughly mapped out, just let me know and I'm happy to share it.

Here's the constantly updating route:)
1734801173102.png
 
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Sounds like a great plan, i did the north western part of your plan last June. riding from Rapid City SD through Colorado, UT, Mo, Wy and then back to Rapid City (2 weeks with bikes trucked to Rapid City)

Was a big group of us with a loose plan of using motels and camping but ended up using Cabins quite frequently and probably could have left the tents at home if you are looking so save some space.
 
WOW. fantastic ride.
Can't give you any advice as you are the one that I am often asking for advice.

I wish I had the time to do at least half of this ride.

Fingers crossed, I hope to rent a bike for a day or two on a Europe trip next year.
 
Sounds fantastic. Try to see Yosemite NP if you can. That place is magical. Don’t hit Yellowstone on the weekend. If you can incorporate Hwy 14A in Wyoming from Dayton to Cody since you will be in the area. Very nice views and road. Alway good to see signs on that say closed in winter.
 
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Looks like a great trip.

I thought I heard Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline might have been under construction, possibly finished by now. I'm sure you have this kind of info researched anyway.
 
30 days would be awesome.

I'd love to do a trip like this in that sort of timeline (although knowing me, I'd be home early lol), but the thought of taking almost all my vacation all at once and then having to go ~11 months at work without any more time off, ugh, that'd suck. I like to spread out my time off, typically never taking more than 2 weeks at a time to maintain my sanity lol.
 
Wingboy said:
Mount St Helens is worth seeing.
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Thanks and added - looks perfect and pretty much right on the way.

Sunday Rider said:
Sounds fantastic. Try to see Yosemite NP if you can. That place is magical. Don’t hit Yellowstone on the weekend. If you can incorporate Hwy 14A in Wyoming from Dayton to Cody since you will be in the area. Very nice views and road. Alway good to see signs on that say closed in winter.
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Thanks and already have Yosemite included on the way home and will avoid the weekend.

Heading west from Dayton, I was going to take the northern route via the 14Alt like this: Dayton to WY-120
Is it more worthwhile to veer south on the 14 like this instead? Dayton to 52-46 WY-296

sburns said:
Looks like a great trip.

I thought I heard Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline might have been under construction, possibly finished by now. I'm sure you have this kind of info researched anyway.
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Thanks for the reminder and I'll be checking that for sure - hoping that a lot of the BRP closures in the south will have been fixed up by next summer if I do go that route.

PrivatePilot said:
30 days would be awesome.

I'd love to do a trip like this in that sort of timeline (although knowing me, I'd be home early lol), but the thought of taking almost all my vacation all at once and then having to go ~11 months at work without any more time off, ugh, that'd suck. I like to spread out my time off, typically never taking more than 2 weeks at a time to maintain my sanity lol.
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Yeah doing this over 4 weeks would be so much nicer than blasting through in 2-3 weeks. For once on a moto trip, I want to get off the bike and walk around. Every day from South Dakota onward I want to walk or hike for at least an hour or two each day. If it slows my pace down then I'll be enriched for it. It's just a matter if I can skip out on responsibilities at home for that long in one shot.

Because I took very little time off in 2024 and am finally getting credited with some of the extra work I do, I finally have the luxury of taking up to a month for this while still having some time off if I want it elsewhere in the year. Still want to squeeze in trips to Guyana and Peru in 2025:)
 
shanekingsley said:
Heading west from Dayton, I was going to take the northern route via the 14Alt like this: Dayton to WY-120
Is it more worthwhile to veer south on the 14 like this instead? Dayton to 52-46 WY-296
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I was heading East from Cody and took 14A to Dayton. I didn’t go south on 14 so can’t say. One of the locals told me that 14A was a way more fun ride. I was there at the end of May many years ago. and there was snow over 8’ high on the sides near the top at the observatory.
My avatar pic was taken on that road.
 
Sunday Rider said:
I was heading East from Cody and took 14A to Dayton. I didn’t go south on 14 so can’t say. One of the locals told me that 14A was a way more fun ride. I was there at the end of May many years ago. and there was snow over 8’ high on the sides near the top at the observatory.
My avatar pic was taken on that road.
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Perfect and thanks! I'll keep it just the way I had it then.

Also added in Death Valley and the Grand Canyon north rim.
 
Is Sequoia National Parkon the route?? Should be straight forward to hit it from Death Valley and then Yosemite if you plan your route carefully. The road from the east up to Sequoia is wildly twisted - you'll love it. You might have difficulty finding the route coming directly from the east but pretty sure it can be found instead of having to loop. Our brakes on the little Toyota were just about smoking by the time we came down from locking ourselves out of the car almost ( lucky we had a sunroof ) at 12c and running gear on then getting from 9,000' in Sequoia to below sealevel in a straight run. I'm sure there is a way to cut nearly straight across but I recall it was difficult to find - we were coming west to east.
These are the sensible routes...I KNOW there are back road twisties cutting across.
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🤪 Fit and happy in our late 20s ...
Taking a morning run in Sequoia is a total treat - you feel realllllly small.
My then wife told me just a couple years ago she considered our hike in and out of the Grand Canyon on the same the day the hardest physical task she ever undertook - I was surprised as she was national class athlete/champion in downriver kayaking. It was certainly my hardest day.
So if you are intent on hiking ......
The National Park Service does not recommend hiking from the rim of the Grand Canyon to the river and back in one day. The hike is challenging and dangerous, and the Park Service rescues hundreds of people each year who attempt it and can't make it back out
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Can you hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in one day?
17 miles. 10,000 feet of elevation change. One day. As soon as my husband, Louis, learned from a friend that it's possible to hike from the rim of the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River and back up again in a single day, he was completely on board
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Cresting the final few feet to the rim and throwing ourselves on the grass is forever embedded in my memory even some 50 years later.
 
I won't hike or go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. My folks used to spend their winters in Sedona/Cottonwood for 10 years, so I've been to that whole south side a fair bit. I've also been to the south rim and stayed at Bright Angel before, so this time I just wanted to see the north rim from the top. Short hikes only!

I didn't have Sequoia in there because I couldn't figure out how to get to it from the east. But thanks for the reminder to look at it more, because I really want to check it out and added it in anyways from the west by doing an out 'n back over the Tioga Pass. Something like:
1734819641995.png
 
Forgot to mention, stay away from the Chicago area, unless you are visiting there. I made that mistake once and will never forget it. Heavy traffic, toll booths every mile it seemed. The secondary roads at least 100-150 miles away were more interesting anyway.
 
Sunday Rider said:
Forgot to mention, stay away from the Chicago area, unless you are visiting there. I made that mistake once and will never forget it. Heavy traffic, toll booths every mile it seemed. The secondary roads at least 100-150 miles away were more interesting anyway.
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Thank you!
I’ve never been through that area and want to avoid that kind of stuff for sure.
 
There is a ferry which crosses Lake Michigan. Some people like it, but everyone says to avoid Chicago.
But if you go that far up, might be better to go a bit more south and just keep riding.
 
sburns said:
There is a ferry which crosses Lake Michigan. Some people like it, but everyone says to avoid Chicago.
But if you go that far up, might be better to go a bit more south and just keep riding.
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Thanks - this is the link to the 2.5hr express ferry:

Rates - Lake Michigan Fast Ferry - Lake Express Ferry

www.lake-express.com www.lake-express.com

Looks like for each bike + rider it’s close to $200USD.

Edit: Or this one for $140USD, but it takes around 5 hrs.
ssbadger.com

Fares | Lake Michigan Carferry Service

Discover competitive fares for Lake Michigan Carferry Service. Plan your trip affordably and enjoy smooth sailing across Lake Michigan.
ssbadger.com ssbadger.com

Might be a bit rich for my tastes, but I’d have to see how much time it could save us. If it don’t save us much or any time, we’ll just avoid the Chicago area by going about 50km south of it.
 
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The SS Badger is on my second-tier bucket list. Not at the top, but also easily accomplished and always floating around in the background.

Before the trip to WV happened with my 2 regular riding buddies last year, I had planned to shoot across Michigan and check that one off, but WV ended up happening instead. The Badger can wait.

It's a neat historic ship, the last coal powered car ferry in service AFAIK, still very oldschool, they're still using the original engine order telegraphs for that matter. If you're a ship-buff, it remains a very interesting vessel to sail on.
 
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