Rally 2004

[troyf650]

I plan on riding to the 2004 rally from the Dayton, Oh area. I have about 3 weeks of time to use with the rally sandwiched in the middle. I'm open to any suggestions route wise but I am planning on visiting Glacier National Park and am thinking about riding the west coast before heading home.

[Unregistered]

MY 2 cents:

I can give you some advice on what to do when you get west.

If you've got the time, I would suggest hitting Yellowstone and the Tetons before Glacier. (Get a National Parks Annual Pass to save on Park fees.) But defintiely visit Glacier. IMO, it's the most beautiful park in the country.

From Glacier, stay off I-90 (very boring) and head across Idaho through Sand Point on your way to Spokane.

After hitting the rally, go to Sunrise and Paradise in Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. From Mt. Rainier, head to Astoria, OR to start your trip down the coast.

For riding in CA, go to www.pashnit.com. This guy has reports on just about every road in CA. Awesome site.

Personally, I wouldn't plan on riding south of LA on your coast run.
From LA or somehwere a little north of LA, pick a route to St. George, Utah. From there, hit Zion NP, then take a quick sidetrip to Point Imperial on the Grand Canyon in AZ. Head back north to Bryce Canyon NP. From Bryce NP, head up to Teasdale, then Hanksville. From there, head to Natural Bridges National Monument. Head east from Monticello to Mesa Verde NP. Then go to Durango. Head east on 50 from Montrose.

I did a 6,400 mile 2-lane tour of the West a couple of years ago and the path I just described through Southern Utah/CO was awesome.

[DarrylRi]

Riding in the SoCal megalopolis (LA, Orange County, Sandy Eggo) is not fun. But there are some great riding roads nearby. Nearly any twisty road in the Santa Monica mountains is worthwhile, and this is home to The Rock Store that the moto press talks about regularly.

CA-2, from La Cañada to CA-138 past Wrightwood (Agneles Crest) runs along the top of the San Gabriel mountains. Newcomb's Ranch is the biker spot there. Watch out for the CHP, though. Other roads worth riding in that area are Angeles Forest Rd., Big Tujunga Canyon Rd., and Little Tujunga Canyon Rd. to Sand Canyon Rd. If you check a map, you can get to all of these from CA-138 without having to actually go into LA.

CA-74, the Ortega Highway, is OC's "name" road. The Lookout overlooking Lake Elsinor is the biker hangout. I understand there's some CHP enforcement going on there, too.

In San Diego county, there are a lot of rural roads that are great. The road up to Mt. Palomar is excellent. And the road from Julian to Ocotillo Wells, where one of the big fires was this year, used to be a great ride.

I lived in SoCal for 33 years and loved riding there. Just don't go into the heavily populated areas. Most of the freeways don't have a distinguishable rush hour any more; they're always jammed.

[troyf650]

Thanks for the info. I like the way you think. Although I have been to Bryce and Zion canyons, in a car I remembered thinking these are great MC roads. Been to Tetons/Yellowstone too but never on a bike so sounds like a plan coming together.

I think I may run out of time to go too far south toSan Diego Co. but there are some good roads there too. I just need to retire to ride as much as I want.

[jerry]

Troy,
are you riding alone?
heading out myself from ohio,
may be be interested in riding along.
pm me if interested.
jerry
GS1150

[BradfordBenn]

I am thinking of riding out as well.
Safety in numbers as well.
My basic route plan is posted at http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1596

[jerry]

Driving distance: 1993.0 miles
Trip duration: 2 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes
Driving time: 32 hours, 36 minutes
******************************


Brad, looked at your numbers and....
unless i messed up this works out to a 60 mph average and allows for 10 hrs. a day for sleeping, eating, gas stops, looking around, rain delays and what-nots.

you've done this before, yes?

i'd say we'd hook up for lunch along the way but not sure you'll have the time.

well, be careful.
jerry

[BradfordBenn]

Originally posted by jerry
Driving distance: 1993.0 miles
Trip duration: 2 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes
Driving time: 32 hours, 36 minutes
******************************


Brad, looked at your numbers and....
unless i messed up this works out to a 60 mph average and allows for 10 hrs. a day for sleeping, eating, gas stops, looking around, rain delays and what-nots.

you've done this before, yes?

Nope, never done this before, just done lots of long single days. The thing I did not post is that I was planning on leaving on Saturday or Sunday to arrive on Wednesday. Also since most of the time is superslab, the speed will probably be higher than 60mph. I am debating about making the last leg a saddle sore so I can get sign off at the rally.

This routing like all things in life is subject to change.