Need Advice -- Riding Southwest US In July/August

[marcopolo]

I need some advice on the adviseability of riding two-up from here in Ontario to California in mid-July through mid-August. What I'm wondering about is the weather, more specifically the heat. Would we be crazy, or is it doable with a little common sense?

We're looking at leaving here about 9 July. We'd head through Wisconsin, west to Wyoming, then southwest to California. I rode to Utah and Colorado mid-end June last year, and it was high 90s to low 100s in places like South Dakota and Utah, so I have some idea of what riding in those temperatures is like.

What do you think about continuing on to California (LA) in the mid-July to mid-August timeframe? And then, after California, back east via northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Any thoughts on routes that would work better in the heat?

[PAULBACH]

Riding in front of the hairdryer heat can be tiring.

1. Ride in September

2. Head East -> to the Maritimes

3.

[HFbmw]

I have ridden a few trips in the heat. Triple digits thru the dakotas and Montana and then coming home from California maybe 10 days later the temps were in the 50's! And winds. I had rain gear over the leathers to keep warm!
Either buy the wet vests or cool off with a wet Tshirt under the leathers. Nice and cool even in the triple digits!
I had one fellow at a rest stop ask me why I had a jacket on and chaps. I told him you loose alot of water via the sun beating it out of you.
Also riding at night works. Trouble with that is loosing the scenery.
Triple digit heat means stopping for fluids as much as possible!
Besides the rally after the ride out west you can embelish the stories some...

tim
columbia heights, mn

[tourunigo]

I need some advice on the adviseability of riding two-up from here in Ontario to California in mid-July through mid-August. What I'm wondering about is the weather, more specifically the heat. Would we be crazy, or is it doable with a little common sense?

We're looking at leaving here about 9 July. We'd head through Wisconsin, west to Wyoming, then southwest to California. I rode to Utah and Colorado mid-end June last year, and it was high 90s to low 100s in places like South Dakota and Utah, so I have some idea of what riding in those temperatures is like.

What do you think about continuing on to California (LA) in the mid-July to mid-August timeframe? And then, after California, back east via northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Any thoughts on routes that would work better in the heat?

type ... The trip that you describe is along the lines of one we did two up (which I also did solo) on a very loaded 1973 75/5 in 2001. The trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia return was 12,000 miles in July and early August. Great adventure which also demonstrated that you do not need some pumped up $25,000 bike to do it. Lots of gumption sure but also wits and knowledge. Weather can be a crap shoot but that's all part of the adventure. PM us if you like and we're willing to share our experience a bit. Oh yes..... you really gotta like your travel partner:fight :love :lol -Bob

[SNC1923]

My wife and I rode from Bakersfield, CA to Colorado Springs in June/July. I would advise:

Have hydration packs for you and passenger.
Have vented riding suits (you'll need cold weather gear, too, believe it or not).
Start out at 4:00 a.m. and off the road by 2:00 or so.
Post pictures on your return

:thumb

[DarrylRi]

What do you think about continuing on to California (LA) in the mid-July to mid-August timeframe? And then, after California, back east via northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado.You've already gotten lots of good advice about staying hydrated and dealing with the hot temperatures.

LA in August will be really miserable. Not only will it be hot, but that will probably increase the aggressiveness of the drivers. There are surprisingly tall mountains around LA (the San Gabriels) that reach above 10,000 feet; I would spend my days up there or near the ocean in the Santa Monica mountains, but it will still be hot once you're inland over the first ridge.

Northern Arizona is surprisingly high up, and can have much more reasonable temperatures in the summer. If you stay high, say Prescott or old Rt. 66, I think you'd miss a lot of the heat.

Good luck!

[flymymbz]

The last time I went to SoCal was this past June. It was about 97F when we came south through Reno, NV. Hit 100F when we stopped to visit friends in California City. Stayed in the high 90's in LA for the four days we were there. On the way back north we took 99 to Merced to see a friend. It was 112F through the Central Valley. I couldn't stay hydrated. We had to stop at EVERY rest stop on the route. I used to live in Mojave, and I never thought the heat would bother me. I almost crashed the bike once because I got too over heated.

Also keep in mind that if you're in LA and its hot out and its rush hour, unless you are comfy with lane splitting, you're gonna sit in traffic and roast.

Find some mesh gear, and an evap vest, keep a CamelBak or something like that on hand. Drink LOTS of water. If you have to stop and pee every 25 miles, so be it.

Try to avoid the freeways in LA during rush hour (between 0600-0900, and 1600-1900). Get good street maps of the area, there's LOTS of secondary roads you can take.


We head to MN from WA every year, we taken hwy 212, hwy 12, hwy 14 and a couple of other roads and this year we were going to take hwy 2. These are all secondary roads. Fairly relaxed pace, plenty of places to stop. No speeding semis or carloads full of families rushing to get to grandmas house. There's a pretty decent Mexican restaraunt in Huron, SD. (honest!!!)

395 is a decent route through the eastern part of CA. It turns into Hwy 14, which will continue s/b till it ends at I-5. 99 is OK, its through the farm country, but within 50 miles of Merced, the roadway SUCKS. Cracked pavement and potholes. 99 ends into I-5 just outside Bakersfield. If you want a nice twisty road between the desert and SoCal proper, try Hwy 2 (Angeles Crest Highway). Its off of Hwy 14 (east of I-5). It'll dump you out onto the freeway just n/e of Pasadena (think Rose Parade). You can also try the route south along the coast. Its beautiful and cool, but a bit crowded (during the summer).

On the way east, you can take I-15 north through Vegas and then directly to UT, or I-40 east towards Flagstaff and then up 89 towards lake Powell (with maybe a side trip to the Grand Canyon). The area around Flagstaff and north from there is gorgeous. I-15 through Vegas is OK, but then again, I kinda like the desert.

Not much in northern NV. Flat desert surrounded by mountains, on hwy 50 there's Ely, Austin, Fallon then Reno (or Tahoe). I-80 is a bit heavier traveled. I've flown over that part of the country a couple of times, there ain't NOTHING out there. Or from Ely, you could head towards Tonopah and Area 51..... ;-)

If you head up towards Lake Powell and have a couple days to burn, you might head towards the city of Green River, UT. Couple of river rafting companies there. I took a four (or was it five) day rafting trip from Green River to Lake Powell. Had a blast.

Sounds like a great trip. Have fun!!!

[salcar]

The advice is similar. If you don't care about suffering a bit is doable. I rode from L.A. to Tucson las August when i was starting my trip across latin america. I rode 800 miles with temperatures around 110F. I had to stop almost at every gas station and rest area to get all my cloth soaking wet. the gas stations and rest areas where approximately 30 minutes apart. at gas stations i would buy a gallon of cold water and take a shower with it to cool down the core temperature. I didn't have a cool vest just one of the BMW fleece jacket that retain quite a bit of water and the Airflow2 jacket on top of that.

while the ride was a bit miserable it was fun to stop at the rest area and have all the truckers and car drivers ask you questions and offer you cold drinks. it is an adventure worth doing at least one.

make sure you have good inner tubes and the right tire pressure. on a previous ride across Baja CA with high temperatures the seem (sp?) of the inner tube melted due to the heat and I ended up crashing pretty hard.

Keep us updated if you do it!

[LRider]

In 04 I drove from Ontario to Utah/Colorado and back in the first two weeks of August. Temperatures were often well above 100F in Utah.

It is very doable with the right preparations and practices. I started my day very early, in the cooler temperatures, and finished in the early afternoon.

Carry lots of water and stay well hydrated. Eat light. I wore a high wicking base layer that kept me reasonably cool. Use common sense as to when to stop.

Also, I tend to like the heat. That helps!!

[47744]

We traveled 2 up from Calif through Death Valley and then southern Nevada and Southern Utah in Mid May 2005. It was so hot that year the snow melt was creating flooding. The winds blew us across colorado and kansas and things cooled off at Deals Gap and the Smokies . We dropped off the Skyline drive into Alexandria, Va. back into the heat. It's cooler up on the ridge and that is where I used to ride a 1966 TR6 650cc Triumph years ago to cool off. Up through Maryland and Pa and NY and into your province it was pleasant. Spend a couple weeks near Pembrook in June and it was Really Nice. We used your road 18 and then 28 connecting with US highway #2 at Duluth all the way back west until a front wheel bearing went out and we dropped down to Great Falls Montana for repairs. We holed up in Missoula, Montana waiting for the traffic to calm down during July 4th because we wanted to hit Glacier National Park. Glacier was outstanding. We doubled back down to Boise, Idaho and into Nevada and of course the heat was bad again in Nevada. We arrived home on the Central calif coast in early August.
Personally I would not do the South West in June, July or August. It can just be hot as blazes. We are retired and can pick and choose when we go and after all--it's supposed to be FUN not survival school. I think June July August are beautiful in your backyard. I'll never forget the sunset at Fort William, Quebec.
But I'm speaking from the opposite end of your location.

Pick and choose and enjoy what you do. Just do it