California her I come.

[rickardracing]

Well, my daughter is moving to Sacramento in 2 weeks. Her husbands job is taking them there. So my wife and I are planning a two week bike trip out there in the middle two weeks of July. Going to head north west through the Badlands to see the heads in the mountain, maybe Devils Tower the west and down through Salt Lake City Utah into Reno. Then to Cali. Spend a few days and Hit San Francisco. Head south on the Pacific Coast highway by pass L.A., no interest at all of going through there. Head towards Las Vegas for a day or three. From there, either start heading northeast back to Michigan or head to Phoenix and see some cousins. Going to get a few routes layed out to see as much as possible. Probably an oil change sometime while I am out there. Maybe find a dealer in Cali or in Vegas and have them change it. I could always do it in a parking lot. Prefer not too. Looking at some cooling vests also. Might need those going through Nevada and Arizona. Anyone know of things to see on the way out?

[utadventure]

Be sure and say hi on your way through SLC. Depending on the timing we may have some Aussies here with us!

 

Hwy 14A from Dayton, WYO to Lovell, WYO is a great ride....almost as good as Beartooth Pass.

 

Dave

[slowrollwv]

Be sure and say hi on your way through SLC. Depending on the timing we may have some Aussies here with us!

 

Hwy 14A from Dayton, WYO to Lovell, WYO is a great ride....almost as good as Beartooth Pass.

 

Dave

 

And drop down to Greybull from Lovell and back up to Dayton is a fantastic day ride.

[Shamue]

GRAND CANYON worth the ride, North or South entrance both side worth seeing.

London brige lake Havasu near Phoenix.

[Condor]

North of Sacramento, over toward the coast on 101, we have the Ave of the Giants. If you're into big trees, this is the place. In NorCal we have a ton of great rides and places to explore. Hwy 1 is a must. Gimme a call when you get into Sac. I've got this great burger place for lunch....

[Zzyzx]

If you can fit it into your ride you have to ride the Chief Joseph Hwy out of Cody WY. Hwy 120 to 296 then into Yellowstone.

From there head into the Tetons to Jackson Hole WY. then you can head south and go into the mountains around Logan Utah then south to Salt Lake. Makes for a real nice ride until you get into the salt flats and desert heading to Reno where it is a bit warmer.

Once you leave Reno head toward Carson City on Hwy 395 then up to Lake Tahoe on Hwy 50.

If you stay on 50 it will take you right into Sacramento and for the majority of the ride it is in mountains and a great ride.

If I am here when you ride through give me a call and I will meet up with you.

Also, if you take I-80 from Reno you are welcome to swing by and we'll do the service on the bike.

Have Fun and Ride Safe!

[cowpuc]

OUTSTANDING RANDY!!! We got a couple kids out there too and have made the trip a time or two.. If you are planning on camping along the way I can probably help out with advice on places to camp.. For instance, in Blue Earth Minnesota they offer free - 2 night stay overs at their local fair grounds, comes with showers and hook ups..

That said, you guys camping or moteling? You wanna ride mostly highway or would you like to stay on 2 laners?

Ohhhh mannnnn brother,, you two are headed for some AWESOME RIDING and unbelievable scenery!!! :clap2:

[rickardracing]

No camping. Motels. Mostly Highway with some 2 lane take off for some sight seeing. Not looking to go too far out of the way. We are going to head out on 80 and go so far and head north go through the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Devils Tower, then really not too sure from there. We have 15 days. We want to spend 2-3 days with our daughter. Not looking to take more than 5 days to get there and 4-5 to get home. I want to see as much as possible, but we do have a destination to reach at some point. My biggest concern is gas in the open desert areas and the heat. We are going in the middle 2 weeks in July. Looking at cooling vests now. Gas.....I was planning on strapping a 5 gallon can to the top of the cooler on my trailer. Also...it won't be legal, but I also plan on carrying. Just in case of a breakdown out in no mans land and someone pulls up and tries something. Open to all suggestions. I like what I am hearing so far though. Any advise on the wide open desert areas is greatly appreciated.

[Max]

Randy, we ran that trail at the tail end of our rte66 annual in July 2 years ago. You can't go wrong, the views are stunning regardless where your travelling. We had no idea of what we were getting into. The many days travelling on 115*f blacktop and deserted sections of interstate caught us somewhat off guard.

A few suggestions from a couple that learned the hard way: I like the idea of the cooling jackets. Lots of spf60 sunscreen. Fortunately we had long white sleeved polyester shirts taped to riding gloves to keep the intense sun off our arms and wrists. Bottled water is a must. GPS was invaluable for finding gas stations, although we did have a few tense moments. Walmarts were best place for on road oil changes. A few friendly words with their mechanic will get you a long way to a loaner catch basin, funnel and whatever else you need to do the job.

In hind sight, we probably should have limited our windshield time to the early hours of the morning. I ended up with mild sunstroke twice and was lucky to find air conditioned hotels in time. I'd do that trip again in a heart beat...have a great trip !!

[Zzyzx]

Randy, I have run this section numerous times and you should have no issues if you fuel up and water up before you head out of Salt Lake.

Depending on how far you want to ride each day there are plenty of places for fuel, food and motels all across Wyoming.

There's an Econo-Lodge I've stayed at in east Evanston WY off 80 and Bear River Dr if you want a place to stay before heading down into Salt Lake. Exit then go left for about 1-1/2 miles. (Don't eat at the Mexican restaurant thou--Real Bad Food)

After you fuel in Evanston you can run all the way through the Salt Lake city area but before you actually head across the salt flats/desert area, there is food and "last gas" at the Clinton Landing / Hardy Rd exit. This is only about a 100 mile ride from Evanston.

Once you leave this stop it starts to get real warmer and the next gas is in Wendover on the Utah/Nevada border, roughly 110 miles west on 80.

As someone mentioned before you might want to do this section early so you have cooler weather and less sun to deal with.

Be aware that trucks and cars run 80+ MPH across this area of I-80 and there can also be some strong cross winds at times.

There are a couple of places across this stretch where you can stop but, if you pass one it will be a while before you have another safe place to pull over.

Wendover has plenty of places to stop for the night, motels and casinos. From there its another 100 miles or so to Elko, NV.

From Elko gas and food is about every 100 miles or so.

Its an easy ride thru Winnemucca, Lovelock, Fernley, then into Reno so unless you are getting real bad gas mileage no need to take extra unless you just want to have the reserve.

Hope this helps.

[Zzyzx]

CORRECTION to last post...the Econo lodge is to the RIGHT not left!

[rickardracing]

Wow guys! Getting some great info!! Thank you all. Looking forward t the ride and maybe meeting up with some of you along the way!

[utadventure]

We can always find a comfy bed and throw another potato in the soup!

[rosebud]

You might want to look at LD Comfort as an alternative to the cooling vests / jackets. We have the sleeves and the helmet liners and have ridden with them several times on long hot trips. Their website is ldcomfort.com

[eagleeye]

As long as your in SD, Crazyhorse is a must see.

[RoTorKev]

If you roll through victorville ca on your way to Vegas let me know. Also there is a small shop here called 395 customs that could probably help with that oil change, it's realy only one guy, his name is Wes and he will work on anything and is a great wrench and a great guy, and he will give you a good deal.

[Aussie Annie]

As long as your in SD, Crazyhorse is a must see.

 

Totally agree. As a tourist I liked Crazy horse monument better that Mount Rushmore !!!!!

[cowpuc]

So Randy, been thinking a little about your trip and have some opinion to share.. If I were gonna ride mostly highway and wanted to see a bunch of Cali while I was out there as well as some of SD,,, I would put up with Chicago, 80/90 around it and up thru Madison and across Minnesota and into South Dakota on 90. The terrain changes on 90 are much different and "westernish" than they are on 80 (unless you like BIG farms and miles and miles or corn/soy and sun flowers - some find that boring some like it). Minnesota welcome centers have free "vest" pins. Once you get across the Missouri River at Chamberlain things REALLY start popping terrain wise!! Before you get to the Bad Lands National Park east entrance in SD, you will see signs for a small town called "Draper". Its a little cow town with dirt main streets and lots of old cow town buildings still standing.. Draper is the closest "real" cow town to I-90 that I can think of and know of and well worth the drive thru!! By the way, if you are traveling I-90 in South Dakota and run into road repair (I have seen it go for MILES out there) always look for the frontage roads (service roads) - between Chamberlain and Rapid City they seem to run parellel for miles and can save you lots of time if you dont want to sit in traffic..

Enter the Bad Lands NP from the east gate - stop and see the Prairie Dogs and museum on way in, exit the west gate and you will be right at Wall Drug. Follow Wall Drug "Main Street" to last stop sign, you will see see signs that say "Back Yard" on the right (east side of main street). Most of the really fun stuff (other than LOTS of jewerly stores and clothes and stuff) is in the "Back Yard" area.. If your pulling a trailer, go thru the last stop sign and there is a big parking area on your right..

Staying west on 90, there is Military Base out there that allows tours of an ICBM Missle Siloh - have to sign up early -this is before Rapid City.. Not to far on 90 past this area is the short cut (so you dont have to drive thru Rapid City - I think its 14 to 16 to 16a) headed southerly that goes down to Keystone and to Rush More..

Take the 16a cut off, ride thru Keystone and follow 214 around to Rush More. Then back track a very short way back to 16a turn right and you are on 16a/Iron Mountain RD - UNREAL!! You will LOVE Iron Mountain Road!! It will finally empty into a valley and you will see a camp ground on the left - these people raise WOLVES!! Worth the stop to see them!! Small place but AMAZING people!! Across from the Wolve Campground is where the cut across to Needles Highway is at - I think its called Playground or Playhouse Rd, its all paved and a BEAUTIFUL ride!! So when you leave the Wolves you go ACROSS 16a/Iron Mountain rd that you came in on and are now on Playhouse Rd headed toward Needles Highway (by the way - WATCH THIS INTERSECTION - THE GUY THAT OWNS THE WOLVE PLACE WILL TELL YA HE SEE'S BAD ACCIDENTS THERE EVERY YEAR). Watch closely for wildlife in this area.. Follow Playhouse till it T's into 87/Needles Highway - turn RIGHT on Needles Highway/87. This portion of the trip will be unforgettable and breathtaking!! Once you are into the rugged stone face area's (dont take long) there are very few places to pull off so make sure you have a camera out and ready!! There is a small pull off right after you go thru the "Eye" BUT dont trust that it wont be overflowing!! Again, I dont know if you are pulling a trailer but even with a non trailer pulling bike - parking on these cliff side roads can be tricky..

A good 20 minute down hill coast after leaving the "Eye" and you will see a lake on your right - bathrooms are left at the entrance to the park area.. A little further on 87 and it T's into 385, turn right on 385 thru Hill City. Stay on 385 after Hill City (dont take 16 back to Rapid City), you will come to Sheridan Lake on the right hand side, there will be cliff faces on the left - watch these cliff faces VERY carefully!! I have seen BIG HORN SHEEP on the hills 3 times while I was out there and NEVER got to see them ANY WHERE ELSE EVER!!

Stay on 385 and you will come to Lead. COOL TOWN!! Turn right on 14a in Lead and follow it out to Dead Wood! When you get to Dead Wood make sure you scoot over a couple streets to the left to catch the old town mainstreet.. Follow the Old Town main street till it T's back into 14a, follow 14a and into Sturgis. You will be coming into the west end of Sturgis so you will have to once again move a into town to the right to get onto actual "Main Street Sturgis" where the Rally is always held - its worth a drive thru.. Lots of cool things in the Sturgis area too..

Go back the same way you just came and go to Lead on 14a (its not that far), now follow 14a in the other direction out of Lead. If you STAY ON 14a and DO NOT follow 85, you will be in the Spearfish Canyon!! It is AWESOME!! Shortly after entering the "Canyon" you will see a large Lodge with buildings on your right and left. THere will be a small gravel road that goes in front of the building on the left. If the sign is still there (cant remember if it was still there last time I was out there), you will see an arrow with "Water Falls" written above it - GO TO THE FALLS if at all possible - not very far in. Follow 14a thru Spearfish Canyon and you will come out at I-90. If you were to follow that the two track that the Water Falls back in Spearfish was on - they would have eventually taken you to "Sundance" Wyoming - now head west on I - 90 and you will shortly come to Sundance. This will be where you will get off for the ride into Devils Tower NP. Get gas in Sundance.

 

Getting tired..

Edited April 3, 2015 by cowpuc

[rickardracing]

Puc....WOW...pretty much the route I was thinking! You are taking all the work out of it for me!! Thanks!! Good advise from. I like what I a reading. Motels are the closest thing my wife will "camp" at. I will be pulling my trailer. A lot of planning still to do. You are making it easy though. Thank you very much my friend.

[cowpuc]

Puc....WOW...pretty much the route I was thinking! You are taking all the work out of it for me!! Thanks!! Good advise from. I like what I a reading. Motels are the closest thing my wife will "camp" at. I will be pulling my trailer. A lot of planning still to do. You are making it easy though. Thank you very much my friend.

 

You betcha Randy!! You are welcome!!

 

 

 

Soo,, now you two are all done playing around Devils Tower - you head back toward the road you came in on from Sundance, when you get to the main intersection where you would turn left to go back to Sundance - TURN right instead (there is an old abandoned gas station there)!! Its a REAL pretty ride and will lead you a good way farther west on I-90 than Sundance (closer to Sacramento). Stay on west 90 - you will come to I-25, that will take you down to 80 to head toward Cali BUT,, you need to think about something here.. Just a very very short distance further on 90 west of you lies The Battle of The Little Bighorn Battlefield NP and Sheridan. Since you already bought the NP and includes a National Cemetery,, what the heck bro!!

Get done there, ride a few more miles on 90 west to a town called Ranchester - this is where the road that comes across the Big Horn mountains comes in - I just checked Mapquest and its "14". Follow west 14 - you will come to the little cowboy town of Dayton. GET GAS AT DAYTON (there is gas at a ski lodge resort thingy up in the Big Horns but no sense in paying x4 for fuel and waiting two hours for ski guy to come turn on the pumps)!! Also, watch for mule deer crossing even when in town. Stay west on 14, get to the "Y" where 14A splits off and TAKE 14A!! Take 14A,, say it one more time - TAKE 14A!! 14a across the Big Horns is UNFORGETTABLE!! Coming out of the Big Horn Mountains on 14A will bring you down a grade that took almost 3 decades of road work to complete - DO IT !! Stop at the top and take PICTURES of the sign!! Thats all I am gonna say - just DO IT!!

Follow 14A west into Lovell, get gas..

14A will become 14 in Cody Wyoming, COOL TOWN!! 14/16 west to the east gate of Yellow Stone, around Yellowstone Lake, grab 191 south down to thru The Grand Tetons and Jackson and hook onto 26, 26 over to Idaho Falls, jump on I-15 south bound at Idaho Falls, grab I-86/84 west toward Twin Falls, at Twin Falls stop at Snake River over look where Knievel jumped - GORGEOUS area!! Take 93 south out of Twin Falls down to I-80!

5 days gone, visit daughter in Sac. Post back on here that you have arrived and seek out a couple of VR lop eared varmints out there named @Condor and @EasyRider. Those two know exactly where the best Ice Cream is!!

Ride to coast: how ever - what ever cause its all amazing except for the endless traffic (Napa Valley/ Sonoma area has LOTS of "60's" type of places - real step back in time) BUT - no matter how you get there - get to Stewarts Point on "1" and ride "Skaggs Springs Rd." back to 101 at Geyserville or the other way around.. UNBELIEVABLE!!

Out of Frisco head west and cross that nasty I-5 take 120 across thru Yosemite NP (dont go the south route under the Siearra Nevada's - it will be HOT HOT - if you decide to though - plan on riding Death Valley and Needles California at night - Death Valley NP at night is AWESOME if you can do it on a moon lit night!!) Hook onto 395 at Lee Vining on the east side of the Sierra Nevadas and go south to where 120 comes back in, go east to 6, take 6 over to I-15 (IF YOU DO THIS - YOU WILL COME TO 95 AND 6 BEFORE YOU GET TO TONOPAH - WHEN 6 AND 95 JOIN THERE WILL BE AN ABANDONED TRUCK STOP - GO INSIDE REPAIR GARAGE THERE AND LOOK AT WALL AT REAR OF SHOP - READ GRAFITTI AT BACK WALL OF GARAGE UNDER THE WINDOW - YOU ALSO WILL WANT TO POST ON HERE THAT YOU ARE IN THE NELLIS AREA - @CMCOFFEY is known to frequent that area - you will DEFINITELY wanna say hi and meet that rascal if you and he have time!! when you get to I-15 jog up to 50 - take 50 east across Connor Pass (watch for Elk) to Salina Utah.. Get back on I-70 East and get off on 191 South - visit Moab (WOW), Arches and Canyon Lands NP, back up to I-70. STOP on I-70 East bound Utah overlooks before crossing into Colorado. Grand Junction Colorado is last big town (lots of gas along way BUT if you need repair stuff - like tires - GRAND JUNCTION is it before Denver on west side.. Trip up to the Grand Mesa Over look after you go thru Grand Junction on I-70 is WORTH the effort - except its a few miles of gravel road with some loose spots.. 70 to Denver, hook onto 76 out of Denver - 76 to I-80 and head for home..

Carry extra fuel but also carry a couple gallons of water too.. Lots of sunscreen indeed but DONT forget to keep your lips covered well with lip suncreen chap stick at all times - them babies get burned your in a world of hurt!! By the way, I use lip sunscreen (the chapstick type of stuff) for my ears and above my eyes too - it does not rinse off with sweat and blind ya like regular suncreen does.. Mountain riding can be tricky - seems like most of the tornadoes we have seen or hail storms we have ridden thru happen between early after noon and 5 pm.. Just keep a close eye on those skys anytime your mountain riding.. I have no idea if you have thought about this but - I always use a rear tire going out and a rear tire coming back. I have found that the desert heat EATS tires!! If I were you I would definitly start out with a BRAND NEW tire on the back at least.. Get your riding done out in California and check it carefully (oh yea, check you tires air pressure regularly - mountain altitudes seem to really effect em too!!) before you head home.. If it looks half worn when you getting ready to leave your daughters I would change it there!!! I may be nuts but it ALWAYS seems like the last half of the tire tread always wears a lot faster then the first half!!

 

Truthfully, from my experience, I would order a new rear tire (save a bunch of money - buy online) and have it shipped to your daughters so its there waiting for you.. I always change my own but I believe that the Motor Cycle Junk Yard place in Rancho Cordova on the outskirts of Sac will swap tires for 35 bucks rim off the bike..

 

 

 

WOW,, that was fun,, hope you enjoyed it,, I sure did..

 

HAVE A GREAT, SAFE, FUN TRIP!!

 

Puc

Edited April 6, 2015 by cowpuc

[rickardracing]

Thanks puc. No place to change a tire at their place in Cali. They live in an apartment and my son inlaw.......well.....let's just say he is not too mechanically inclined. My daughter had to show him how to change oil in his car. No joke....Not sure how we are coming home yet. I have a hankerin' to scoot on down to Vegas and then ........MAYBE......to Phoenix, then home. We have to see how we feel once we hit Cali. I will have a few options planned out from there depending on how we feel by then. Thank you VERY much for your effort!! I will be following most of the route you have layed out.

[cowpuc]

Again, your welcome Rand!! Glad I could help!!

If you do decide to do the more southern route - Vegas/Phoenix stuff - keep a very close eye on both you and your wife status in the heat.. IMHO, its really easy to get disoriented and over come by heat without even realizing how bad either of you are - helmets have always made me worse for me.. I hope you folks LOVE riding the dry desert heat - its way fun but when it climbs over 110 - bad things can happen really really fast!!

There are some AWESOME folks on VR that live down there and ride those areas - maybe they will chime in and give you some guru desert advice:fingers-crossed-emo

 

Hey,, if you to do go south,, DO JEROME AZ and ride 89a from Jerome to Flagstaff....

[rickardracing]

Looking at cooling vests for the desert ride. Not interested in the kind you soak in water. Looking at the ones with the inserts that you put in your cooler.