I15 and I70

[alanmcorcoran]

I had been thinking about a longish ride multiday ride in the West. Up until now, I was going to go California coast, and I may still do that, but I have decided I will have to do a I15, I70, I40, I25 loop. On the way out I can hit Barstow, Primm, Mesquite. Utah is kind of sparse but very nice scenery. There is one stretch of 106 miles with no gas, but I think I can handle that okay on the Strat. Lot's of breathtaking panoramas (and not much traffic), possible Grand Canyon stop - and my world headquarters is conveniently located in Las Cruces NM. A good deal of it is posted at 75 mph, a big plus.

Here are some photos from my recent reconnaissance of the first part of my proposed route:

[pbss:1qhzr3fo]http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd7/alanmcorcoran/I70/?action=view&current=b8dfde2f.pbw[/pbss:1qhzr3fo]

[music man]

A good deal of it is posted at 75 mph, a big plus.


Thats what you think, after 3-4 hours straight going 75+ you won't be so eager to be on roads where you have to go that fast, it gets old quick. The whole point of owning and riding a "cruiser" is to cruise to where you are going, if you want to travel at the speed of sound yet still want to be on two wheels you should have just bought a crotch rocket.

[Sarris]

Hey MM;

I set the cruise, get a CD going and take a nap...... er... enjoy the ride. Big fairing makes the deal a lot less fatiguing.

:)

[music man]

Hey MM;

I set the cruise, get a CD going and take a nap...... er... enjoy the ride. Big fairing makes the deal a lot less fatiguing.

:)


So why wouldn't you just take your car, oh yea because your bike is as big as a car. I just don't like riding balls out like that, it takes away from the relaxing part of it, and I know I know, you bike isn't going balls out at 75 but you have to admit that going 55 down a nice highway beats going 75-80mph down the Interstate any day (no matter what kind of bike your on).

[alanmcorcoran]

75 is about 3000 RPM on the Strat and, unless it is extra windy, feels real nice. I don't anticipate doing this one on the GZ.

I haven't gone more than 300 ish miles in a day yet, so I don't really know what I will like. My last big trip was to Joshua Tree and I did quite a bit of that one at 70 plus. Biggest problem was my sore area between my shoulder blades.

[music man]

But......... You have to admit that going 55 down a nice highway beats going 75-80mph down the Interstate any day (no matter what kind of bike your on).

[trykemike]

Hey guys re: fast driving I can do that in my car and get to montreal in 4 hrs from toronto. No recollection of anything or tool along on the gz and go 120 miles to the trailer in 2.5 hrs and enjoy every minute including breaks. I take the slow way to
home when I take the car and the fast way ( 120-130 k/h) on the way up to the trailer. Bike 80-105 k/hr.

It's your time enjoy.

Music Man you are correct buy a crotch-rocket then run @ 200 k/h if speed is your thing. My buddy rides a dyna - low rider with a small wind shield like on my suzi he and I ride 80-100 all the way back to toronto from the trailer. Yes he could blow away from me easily but WHY ?

[patrick_777]

...buy a crotch-rocket then run @ 200 k/h if speed is your thing....

Sportbikes are not just for speed.

[alanmcorcoran]

As I said, I'm too new to motorcycling to know what I will prefer. I know I don't like windy, but, I'm not sure I don't like fast. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I bought the motorcycle(s) because I am modelling my life after that chick in Resident Evil (3?) (Probably shoulda went with a Beemer.) I think the movie opens with her tooling down a road that looks a lot like I70 (could be a side route.) The West is a very Big and very Empty place and it might not be best to cover at 55.

When I was on the 70 I saw some Harleys here and there - not a lot, but it's not quite yet riding season. They weren't doing 200mph but I don't think they were doing 55 either. Overall, there wasn't much traffic of any kind (yet) so if you wanted to go 55 it's not a problem. I think the Strat can go 120 before redline, but I'm not interested in that either.

Wonder if my shotgun quiver'll be legal in UT and CO?

[Easy Rider]

Sportbikes are not just for speed.

Yes Grasshopper, do enlighten us further............. :shocked:

On second though, never mind! :neener:

[patrick_777]

Yes Grasshopper, do enlighten us further............. :shocked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsKMwvsUdGE

[Moedad]

Just to mix it up, consider getting off I-15 and detour through Zion National Park then going north on Hwy 89 to I-15. Real pretty country, and enough small towns to gas up when you need to.

[alanmcorcoran]

Good idea Moe. The wife and I stopped at Bryce 26 years ago on a sort of combo honeymoon/move when we left upstate New York. Very nice, liked it better than the Grand One. Took the kids there about ten years later, I have some old video of the oldest riding her bike in the parking lot on an RV stop. Okay, I feel old and sad now.

[Moedad]

Do you have a time frame for this ride? Reason I ask is because you can get off I-70 in CO and tour through the mountains on your way south to NM if it's a time of year less conducive to snow and ice (noticed the wonderful driving conditions in your slide show). You could get off in Grand Junction and head south to Durango, or get off in Glenwood Springs and go over Independance Pass...well, heck, here I am, trying to plan your trip. And you've been to Aspen, so you know what some of that looks like, obviously. Or you could even get off I-70 in UT and go south through Moab and Cortez to Durango, which would lend itself to a more Spring-like time table...

[alanmcorcoran]

No time table. And I haven't been to Aspen yet.

[Moedad]

No time table. And I haven't been to Aspen yet.

Whoops. I thought I recalled you saying you hadn't skiied Aspen yet, but I guess I interpreted that as meaning you'd been there, just not skiied there.

[alanmcorcoran]

There's a lot of places I haven't been to or skiied at: Whistler, Steamboat, Telluride, Taos, everywhere in UT except Snowbird, the Alps. My family stopped in Jackson Hole on a summertime trip when I was 11, but I don't remember it and I haven't been back.

Despite Water's claims to the possibility, I don't think I'll be combining the biking with the skiing at any point.

[Moedad]

My family stopped in Jackson Hole on a summertime trip when I was 11, but I don't remember it and I haven't been back.

You don't remember the Tetons? Dude...:skeptical:

[music man]

Do you have a time frame for this ride? Reason I ask is because you can get off I-70 in CO and tour through the mountains on your way south to NM if it's a time of year less conducive to snow and ice (noticed the wonderful driving conditions in your slide show). You could get off in Grand Junction and head south to Durango, or get off in Glenwood Springs and go over Independance Pass...well, heck, here I am, trying to plan your trip. And you've been to Aspen, so you know what some of that looks like, obviously. Or you could even get off I-70 in UT and go south through Moab and Cortez to Durango, which would lend itself to a more Spring-like time table...


He doesn't have a time table, he just wants to go 80 for several hundred miles for the hell of it I guess. :poke2:

[alanmcorcoran]

Is there supposed to be a point to motorcycle trips? When the actual zombification starts, I might have a valid reason for getting out there, but until then it's just another pointless distraction to keep my mind off the insignificance of life and its inevitable end. Time tables are for jobs and other "have-to's."

If I have the opportunity, I intend to explore the meandering that Moe has recommended. Sometimes the best part of my trips is the discovery/revelation/novelty of places I have not been to. As it happens, I know Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs well - they are both preceded by relatively hairy sections of I-70 - I think they are both nestled at the base of RM summit climbs. I have always been a little curious about where those two laners go that cross the main artery.

[Moedad]

Do you have a time frame for this ride? Reason I ask is because you can get off I-70 in CO and tour through the mountains on your way south to NM if it's a time of year less conducive to snow and ice (noticed the wonderful driving conditions in your slide show). You could get off in Grand Junction and head south to Durango, or get off in Glenwood Springs and go over Independance Pass...well, heck, here I am, trying to plan your trip. And you've been to Aspen, so you know what some of that looks like, obviously. Or you could even get off I-70 in UT and go south through Moab and Cortez to Durango, which would lend itself to a more Spring-like time table...


He doesn't have a time table, he just wants to go 80 for several hundred miles for the hell of it I guess. :poke2:

I only asked about time frame because lots of the West gets to be 100+ degrees all day long and into the night for several months during the year, in which case getting across them quickly can be a good thing. Oh, and the snow and ice thing during the other months. But most of you guys know about the snow and ice thing, huh? :poke2:

[Tuval]

Boy oh boy....

If I take off from Eilat (on the coast of the red sea) and ride all the way to the Golan (Bordering with Syria) I dont get more than 350 miles... See, here the GZ is all you need... Zig Zag all you want - by the time you get there you only have to stop once for fuel. And the TV was buzzing like hell when they got two rice rocket riders doing 160 mph on the costal road.
The one with the R1 was arrested, his friend with the CBR wasnt clocked so he was let go - no charge. I used to be them. 60 mph is quite ok - its not when but how you get there.
As my dad used to explain to me in my (and his) younger days: "Yeah kid - in the US all is bigger & wider, but nothing gets you lower than the road to the dead sea..."
So boys and dames - how about loading the GZ's on a slow boat ant come do the compleate Holyland tour - I can pretty much arrange everything on this end. That will be a real adventure.

[alanmcorcoran]

Thanks for invite, but I don't like boats.

[Tuval]

Well... you can always swim over... but its a drag...

Still... think of a hoard of GZ parked at sunset with the old city of Jerusalem in the backround...