I have a real world wish list of motorcycle tours I want to complete and while the full list has a dozen locations that I have been refining for sometime the two big at the top have have always been the alps of Europe and North West America. I completed my first ride in Europe last year and it was wonderful and I had been looking for a similar small group organised tour in the USA however besides ones in California there is very little else on offer.
So for the last 6 months I have been looking at small tours in Europe and thinking about going on one in Spain or Norway for my holiday in 2012 but my mind kept wandering off thinking about an opportunity to do something else much bigger. With the Australian dollar worth more than the green back, my hands seemingly recovered at last from painful dermatitis that has dogged me a decade and access to extended leave from work I said to myself – if not now then when.
And so I have now 12 weeks off work in 2012, 1 week either side and 10 weeks in Northern America from July to September to coincide with the shipping dates to and from Portland Oregon by the motorcycle shipping experts at Get Routed. My route so far is only a collection of ‘good motorcycle roads’ not yet compiled together however I will be riding west to east coast and back across parts of Canada in a large loop of sorts that will cover all the places that appeal most to me. Major areas of focus will be the American Northwest and Canadian Rocky mountains. The Smokey mountains and Blue Ridge parkway. The New England and maybe Nova Scotia.
I will update my tour plans along the way as things get firmed up. The route is an ongoing work which will take months. Otherwise I have started by taking the CB back to Pipemasters this weekend to have the sound volume reduced further. Sounds beautiful currently but over the course of a long day I felt I wanted it to be slightly less so the guys have said no problem.
I have a Audiovox car cruise control packed away, they make a simple cruise control popular for fitment to motorcycles. Mine is 2nd hand and has seen much more miles that the advertiser on eBay stated but includes a ton of accessory parts so I may buy a new main module and then find someone to install this as my next main job for this tour as I feel that will be essential.
I’m so excited and it is still 12 months away!
wow - how exciting :)
ReplyDelete12 months sure seems like a long time...but you know how that goes. It has a funny way of passing by before you know it.
Looking forward to reading about you plan as it unfolds.
Ten weeks of riding! You are one lucky bloke! And yet you will find that it will not be enough ;-)
ReplyDeleteA year of planning doesn't sound too much, it gives you a lot of time to make yourself familiar with the areas you will be riding in, the highlights along the road and the weather (we had already travelled through snow in the Rockies in September...).
I wish you all the best for your epic journey.
Sounds like a fantastic adventure. I do hope you keep updating your blog with all your preperations (and even pictures from the road).
ReplyDeleteI've been keen to do a big tour of New Zealand, but only have a rough idea where to start, or how to go about it on the cheap.
Thanks Fuzzy, I love planning journeys. I can look at maps and draw routes this way and that almost endlessly :)
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome IC, can't wait to hear all about the preparation, and the trip. My 12-month plan is a ride to next years MotoGp at Phillip Island.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great ride Anthony. I will do it again in the future for sure. Some excellent roads in route. I stayed in Melbourne last time but I think I definitely want to experience the local atmosphere on the island next time.
ReplyDeleteThis trip sounds fantastic. Spain would be wonderful and imagine it would be very scenic. Look forward in seeing how it all unfolds......YY
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! And the boat will be dumping you practically into my back yard.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like some local knowledge about riding the state of Oregon, let me know. I also have a standing offer of a beer or couch space for moto-bloggers passing through my town, and you'd certainly qualify. If you'd like to get in touch, you can via my blog (http://bolty.net).
Hi Stacy, thanks very much, I am reading your blog at the moment, some great countryside and would love to have a beer.
ReplyDeleteI am using motorcycleroads.com at the moment with my planning but also have copies of AMA ride guide volumes 1 & 2 coming from Amazon as a bit of a cross check and couch read.
Lots of 'thought bubbles' in my tour sketch pad so far :)
Great plan for a holiday in north-America! How many miles is the entire road?
ReplyDeleteThat will be an awesome trip. I have ridden a good amount in the Rocky Mountains and some in the Smokey Mountains. You will love it. There are some great places to visit. Make sure you ride through Rocky Mountain National Park - Trail Ridge Road is the name of the road and it is the highest continuous road in North America. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI will check out that Trail Ridge road on the web now Motoroz. Currently mapping that part so thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI am riding New Zealand in November Nothisrealname. Will give you a full report and that might be of some help.
ReplyDeleteThank you SonjaM. (your comment only just reached me - go go blogger!) There is so much to plan, I have a sketch pad for jotting down ideas and google maps with pins all over it and some draft routes in Motowhere (that crashes with routes this long) and dozens of bookmarked best road sites. Hardest thing is what to cut out as even 10 weeks means limits.
ReplyDeleteHey Chef,
ReplyDeleteIf you want any suggestions, look us up on our blog: http://www.RubberonRoad.com
I've done 3 major long distance trips around the U.S., one down the east coast, one cross country (6k miles), and one doing the whole country in a big circle (8.6k miles) including 1 month of hiking. One of my favorites was actually Montana, however the single best road is probably the Pacific Coast Highway. Then of course there's the tail of the dragon in the Smokey Mountains and Skyline Drive through the Shanandoah's (those don't quite fall in the circle in your map up there).
Thanks Buck, will check out your blog.
ReplyDeleteMy circle is not representative of my journey being something simple I made in MS paint. I actually will visit Smokey mountains on return from east coast when I travel through some more of the lower states vs my outbound journey from Portland which crosses into Canada but also covers some of Montana and Colorado.
I need someone to help make a logo for this journey!
Will be posting the first draft route soon.
regards, IC
Hi Alberto, your comment got put in the Blogger spam folder until I found it today. Trip is about 10,000km each way, maybe a little less. That is a lot but over 10 weeks breaks down not too bad.
ReplyDelete