Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey people, Just hoping I could get some suggestions and ideas on what to pack, what NOT to pack, what to do, where to hang out, what to see, WHAT TO RIDE (as in any AMAZING roads or scenic routes), etcetera...

I'm going to be seeing my first MLB game (Blue Jays at home)
I'm hoping to catch my first NHL game since the age of 4 which I don't really remember, lol (preseason I'm guessing)
I wanted to see my first NFL game, but nothing jives with this itinerary
I'll be at Laguna Seca for the July Moto GP US Grand Prix and Indianapolis for the Indi Grand Prix
I'd love to know about awesome and friendly sport bars to watch local teams play and get in on the festivities
I would like to catch the MotoGP and WSBK races going on, and know what sports bars are the best for that
I'd like to know about bars/restaurants/hangouts where other streetbike and superbike riders might be (no track days for me, I got 20,000 km's to go and I need a working bike the whole way, lol)
I like eating the occasional good quality meal (based on preparation and not necessarily price)
I like art and architecture, and enjoying the beauty of man as well as mother nature
I love the beach
I enjoy comedy, as well as many genres of music
I like pubs, nightclubs, lounges, danceclubs
I'll be staying in hostels and couchsurfing for most of this to keep costs down

And I know it sounds grandeur, this is a once in a lifetime thing for me. I'm 28 turning 29, still single, and want one last hoorah before I take being an adult as seriously as I maybe should hehe
For those of you panging with jealousy rather than envy (there's a difference) please note I worked my "O Ring" off and denied a lot of vacation time from last year to save up, and I'm also swapping shifts to get September off meaning I work EXTRA at some other point. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm keeping the legs as short as I can so that I see as many different places, and so that I don't get too achy on my bike. Hunched over the tank of my K1300R starts to take a toll after 200 km's. I realize a day in a city doesn't do much justice to it, but my plan is to leave early, arrive and tour some of the area, and park the bike to engage in some local fun, and repeat. Unless I'm in an area I've gone to for the RIDE, then the plan is different.

I'll also be bringing the maintenance contact info so that when needed, I can take care of business along the way. I'm certain a few tire swaps will be in order at the very least.

Without further adieu:

Sunday July 4th
443 km
Edmonton
Visit Fort Edmonton (really enjoyed that movie and book The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford" and they used the train in the movie... ya, I'm a bit of a nerd sometimes.
Moto GP Catalunya Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya

Monday July 5th
Take Bike in for pretrip service
158 km
Red Deer

Tuesday July 6th
145 km
Calgary
Darn, too early for the Stampede!

Wednesday July 7th
126 km
Banff

Thursday July 8th
284 km
Revelstoke

Friday July 9th
199 km
Kelowna
See PREDATORS (All-time fave movie from the age of 11, Predator... apparently this movie is doing justice to the franchise, so I HAVE to see it)
Also, celebrating turning 29 today, probably treat myself to Cactus Club and hit up ROSE'S, that's a great outdoor summer bar.

Sunday July 11th
239 km
Hope
FIM World Superbike Automodrom Brno

Monday July 12th
154 km
Vancouver

Tuesday July 13th
227 km
Seattle
Seattle Art Museum?
Ride along Alki Ave SW near the water, apparently beautiful

Wednesday July 14th
278 km
Portland

Thursday July 15th
290 km
Roseburg
I'm not sure when I should cut over and start taking the 101, but I hear and can already imagine that it is a beautiful ride down the coast. But I don't wanna miss too much of the gorgeous treed areas either.

Friday July 16th
394 km
Redding

Saturday July 17th
350 km
San Francisco
Giants vs New York Mets 9:05 ET
Ama superbike on speedtv

Sunday July 18th
158 miles
Fresno
German Grand Prix Sachsenring Circuit
Ama superbike on speedtv

Monday July 19th
214 miles through sequoia national park, 180, to 198, 178
Bakersfield

Tuesday July 20th
180 km
Los Angeles
Dodgers vs Giants 7:10pm

Wednesday July 21st
254 km
Santa Maria

Thursday July 22nd
254 km
Salinas, Pick up my tickets to Mazda Raceway, and enjoy 3 days of MotoGP! Where's the afterparty gonna be?

Monday July 26th
264 miles
Sequoia National Park and camp at Isabella Lake (or should I camp in Yosemite seeing as I've been all over Sequoia already? It'd just be really nice to get a swim in and some cold brews on some beach)

Tuesday July 27th
306 Miles
Through death valley national park
Las Vegas
Should see a cirque de soleil show or some amazing standup comedy, Always wanted to see old fashion showgirls with the peacock outfits, but last I heard the Golden Nugget were the only guys still doing that show and they cancelled it?

Wednesday July 28th
423 miles (rough day in the saddle...)
Take 93 to Pierce Ferry Road to Stockton Hill rd, onto 66, Grand canyon village and around to flagstaff. Much longer but the views will be well worth it.
Flagstaff, AZ

Thursday July 29th
231 km
Phoenix
Diamondbacks vs Phillies 4:05pm on TV

Friday July 30th
187 km
Tucson

Saturday July 31st
440 km
Las Cruces

Sunday August 1st
359 km
Albuquerque
FIM World Superbike Siverstone Circuit

Monday August 2nd
190 km
Santa Rosa, NM

Tuesday August 3rd
277 km
Amarillo, TX

Wednesday August 4th
416 km
Oklahoma City

Thursday August 5th
337 km
Dallas

Saturday August 7th
386 km
Houston
Astros vs Milwaukee 6:10pm on TV

Sunday August 8th
432 km
Baton Rouge

Monday August 9th
128 km
New Orleans
Should I go see how 9th Ward is looking these days? Can't help but be curious after all the articles I've read

Tuesday August 10th
321 km
Pensacola

Wednesday August 11th
223 km
Panama City

Thursday August 12th
194 km
Tallahassee

Friday August 13th
248 km
Gainesville

Saturday August 14th
185 miles
Clearwater Beach
Walt Disney World, Universal Studios (it's fun to be a kid once in a while)
Sunday Aug 15, Czech Grand Prix Automotodrom Brno
Ama superbike speedtv

Tuesday August 17th
91 km
Daytona Beach
Ama superbike speedtv

Thursday August 19th
152 km
Jacksonville

Friday August 20th
197 km
Valdosta

Saturday August 21st
245 km
Macon

Sunday August 22nd
137 km
Atlanta
braves vs Chicago on TV

Monday August 23rd
189 km
Chattanooga

Tuesday August 24th
214 km
Nashville

Wednesday August 25th
281 km
Louisville

Thursday Aug 26th
183 km
Indianapolis
Indianapolis at Greenbay packers preseason aug 26th tv 8pm
Pick up my tickets for the weekend of Moto GP

Monday Aug 30th
Should I go to Columbus or should I go to Cincinnati ?
Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati
Wexner Center for the Arts

Tuesday Aug 31st
298 km
Pittsburgh, PA
Mattress Factory has some trippy modern art display
Pirates vs Chicago 8:05pm on TV

Wednesday Sept 1st
330 km
Harrisburg, PA

Thursday Sept 2nd
Fly to Vancouver for a friends wedding

Sunday Sept 5th
Fly to Harrisburg, PA
San Marino & Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix Misano
FIM World Superbike Nurburgring

Monday Sept 6th
272 km
New York City
Museum of Modern arnt (Ellsworth Kelly’s “Sculpture for a Large Wall”, James Rosenquist’s “F-111”)
New Museum of Contemporary Art? (at least see the building)
Yankees vs Baltimore in Queens (6th and 7th) So little time.. for such a massive city... should I go to see this game? Something iconic about a baseball game in New York.
Guggenheim could be interesting, but I think this would be better;
Whitney Museum of American Art
“Shadow Machine” by Santiago Calatrava. Located in the Scultpure Garden of the Museum of Modern Art
Should I see The Statue of Liberty? I know I'll be disappointed by the scale as it's not as large as one thinks, but I'm sure it's grand nonetheless.
Should I go to the site of the former twin towers? Being a former member of the military and having a tour to Afghanistan, it might be something I should do and would appreciate.
Apparently there's some incredible street art at a place called 5 Points

Wednesday Sept 8th
256 km
Albany,NY

Thursday Sept 9th
367 km
Montreal, I love this town...


Friday Sept 10th
289 km
Kingston

Saturday Sept 11th
261 km
Toronto
Jays vs TB 1pm I’m GOING TO THIS GAME!
Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation
CN Tower
Hockey Hall of Fame maybe

Sunday Sept 12th
195 km
London

Monday Sept 13th
194 km
Detroit, MI
Stop at Toledo Museum on way to Detroit
Deigo River’s Mural @ Detroit Institute of Arts

Tuesday Sept 14th
225 km
Kalamazoo, MI

Wednesday Sept 15th
235 km
Chicago
White Sox vs Minnesota
Cubs vs Milwaukee 1:20 pm

Thursday Sept 16th
388 km
Tomah,WI

Friday Sept 17th
278 km
Minneapolis
Twins Vs Oakland 7:10pm
Rogue Budha Gallery and Creative Electric Studios

Saturday Sept 18th
378 km
Fargo, ND

Sunday Sept 19th
312 km
Bismarck
Hungarian Grand Prix Balatonring

Monday Sept 20th
314 km
Glendive, MT

Tuesday Sept 21st
357 km
Billings

Wednesday Sept 22nd
226 miles
butte, MT

Thursday, Sept 23rd
119 miles on Highway 12, which is apparently pretty badass
missoula, MT

Friday Sept 24th
327 miles through Glacier National Park on THE HIGHWAY TO THE SUN... should be outstanding
Lethbridge, AB

Saturday Sept 25th
223 km
Calgary

Sunday Sept 26th
145 km
WSBK Imola
Red Deer

Monday Sept 27th
158 km
Edmonton

Tuesday Sept 28th
493 km
Fort McMurray

And that's everything. Hopefully everyone with all their amazing riding experience will be able to point me in the right directions. All the highways I've made note to travel on were told to me by various riders from all walks of life, and I thank them for that.

Wow, quite the ambitious itinerary... I hope you're able to stick to it, but don't use it as a bible, be smart enough to know when you have to cut a few corners and maybe take a few extra days off here and there. I've travelled a fair bit in my time and every time I get back from a trip, I swear I'll never take an itinerary with again. yet everytime I head out, there it is, either written down or in my head. I find they just don't work. I say, pick the main places you want to see, then be as flexable as you can and want while on the trip. If you can't quite make it to a destination, then there's always an excuse for another road trip...


As to packing, put everything you want to take on the frontroom floor, cull away an even half of it. Now, take a good look at what you have left and cull another 50% of it away. Now see if you can fit what's left on the bike, if not, cull, cull, cull... Hint: take old clothes you're not afraid to toss in favour of that new jersey you bought at the game, decide if camping is the way to go or maybe cheap motels and TMW friend's couches...

Scale back in your thinking, Long Rider - radically. There is no way you will keep this up. If you fail you will feel frustrated and if you push yourself you will not get much pleasure out of it. What you imagine now will change the moment you hit the road. If there is one thing a journey like this will teach you, it is that you are not in control.

Travelling is simple...

Make plans, but don't plan on sticking to them.
Let things happen.
Take opportunities as you find them.
It's the surprising and unexpected that you will remember.
Talk to people wherever you go.
Listen to their stories.
Let yourself become whatever the journey wants you to be.
Whatever you take with you (in every sense), it will always be too much.
Keep an open mind.
Slow down.
Take time off the bike.

Above all: enjoy the moment for itself. The stories you tell yourself and others about it are something else.
Don't let your camera shape your experience. Leave it at home, or use it sparingly.


Life is short and sweet and the journey is everything.

Have a great time!

When do you stop for new tires? Your milage total is more than many sets of tires last by average isn't it?
Do you have a day a week to wash your clothes?

AT 29 I could do a lot more, but 5-6 hours of riding a day plus rest stops? I wonder. Will you have time to
enjoy the trip or just be pushing to reach each destination. Are there alternate locations to stop for a night
in between or are you carrying camping equipment too. Can you make the same distance if it rains?

If you are stuck in the area give a yell.
Wish you luck with the trip.

Pete

I have lingering thoughts of a major road trip myself, but I'm not sure if I'm really up to it and I keep struggling with my wife about time away. I've done a SS1000 once - 18.5 hours for 1000 miles. But the trip back took me 3 days. Although 1/2 of one of those days I spent in Cape Canaveral.

My next challenge - would be to ride out to Las Vegas for a SAP convention from New Jersey. I want to plan 3 to 4 days each way for about 2,600 miles (want to swing straight south and then west as the time of year is end of October).

But it would mean a lot of miles in a short period of time and a destination that I have to be at both at the convention and back to home. So, I'll probably fly out and rent a bike out there, but the thought still lingers at what a challenge it would be to just go on my bike.

Sounds like a lot of fun.

When you leave Pheonix ride the salt river canyon...its just east of superstition mountain and beautiful and twisty.

Get ahold of me when you are in Indy and I will by you a beer to listen to your travel stories.

dr_bar wrote:Wow, quite the ambitious itinerary... I hope you're able to stick to it, but don't use it as a bible, be smart enough to know when you have to cut a few corners and maybe take a few extra days off here and there. I've travelled a fair bit in my time and every time I get back from a trip, I swear I'll never take an itinerary with again. yet everytime I head out, there it is, either written down or in my head. I find they just don't work. I say, pick the main places you want to see, then be as flexable as you can and want while on the trip. If you can't quite make it to a destination, then there's always an excuse for another road trip...


As to packing, put everything you want to take on the frontroom floor, cull away an even half of it. Now, take a good look at what you have left and cull another 50% of it away. Now see if you can fit what's left on the bike, if not, cull, cull, cull... Hint: take old clothes you're not afraid to toss in favour of that new jersey you bought at the game, decide if camping is the way to go or maybe cheap motels and TMW friend's couches...

Great advice Dr Bar. I wish I could toss the itinerary, but the way I am, I'd get sidetracked and be lazily enjoying Vancouver while missing the Laguna Seca Moto GP.. and then find myself in Orlando still while missing the Indianapolis Moto GP (both of which I've paid for) and then be exploring New York while ... getting fired from my job, lol So I HAVE to have a plan. One day, I will retire and just float around on two wheels I hope.

Good advice on the packing. Although I'm not planning on buying any clothes. Not even any jersey's. I would have bought an NFL jersey, but I can't make any games.

sv-wolf wrote:Scale back in your thinking, Long Rider - radically. There is no way you will keep this up. If you fail you will feel frustrated and if you push yourself you will not get much pleasure out of it. What you imagine now will change the moment you hit the road. If there is one thing a journey like this will teach you, it is that you are not in control.

Travelling is simple...

Make plans, but don't plan on sticking to them.
Let things happen.
Take opportunities as you find them.
It's the surprising and unexpected that you will remember.
Talk to people wherever you go.
Listen to their stories.
Let yourself become whatever the journey wants you to be.
Whatever you take with you (in every sense), it will always be too much.
Keep an open mind.
Slow down.
Take time off the bike.

Above all: enjoy the moment for itself. The stories you tell yourself and others about it are something else.
Don't let your camera shape your experience. Leave it at home, or use it sparingly.


Life is short and sweet and the journey is everything.

Have a great time!

Very Zen, SV-wolf, and I admit, I agree with you 100%.. unfortunately, like stated above, I need something guiding me. About the camera, when I toured eastern europe, not a single picture was as beautiful as what I saw with my own eye. I would take a moment to just gaze at it, THEN allow myself the picture so friends and family could share. But yeah, from the architecture of Bucharest to the hillside city of Valika Turnova... the photos did not come close

pchast wrote:When do you stop for new tires? Your milage total is more than many sets of tires last by average isn't it?
Do you have a day a week to wash your clothes?

AT 29 I could do a lot more, but 5-6 hours of riding a day plus rest stops? I wonder. Will you have time to
enjoy the trip or just be pushing to reach each destination. Are there alternate locations to stop for a night
in between or are you carrying camping equipment too. Can you make the same distance if it rains?

If you are stuck in the area give a yell.
Wish you luck with the trip.

Pete

Hey thanks for the offer Pete! I'm couch surfing for most of this journey, http://www.couchsurfing.com so I should definitely have a place to wash clothes and get some good rack and talk to good people. For roughing it, I have a slip with pegs and lines, and a multilayer compressable snugpak sleeping bag system. 5 years in the infantry make this difficult but doable. Riding in the rain is never fun, but I have a really reliable suit, and hand warmers. The only thing that would suck is sleeping in the rain. that is never ever fun, lol

As for tires and servicing, whenever i start to think my treads are getting low, I'll call a week ahead to a major center using my service contacts card and schedule some servicing. Shouldn't be too bad.

RhadamYgg wrote:I have lingering thoughts of a major road trip myself, but I'm not sure if I'm really up to it and I keep struggling with my wife about time away. I've done a SS1000 once - 18.5 hours for 1000 miles. But the trip back took me 3 days. Although 1/2 of one of those days I spent in Cape Canaveral.

My next challenge - would be to ride out to Las Vegas for a SAP convention from New Jersey. I want to plan 3 to 4 days each way for about 2,600 miles (want to swing straight south and then west as the time of year is end of October).

But it would mean a lot of miles in a short period of time and a destination that I have to be at both at the convention and back to home. So, I'll probably fly out and rent a bike out there, but the thought still lingers at what a challenge it would be to just go on my bike.

Hopefully one day something works out for you to experience a bit of a trek. I alluded to it earlier, but as a single guy at 28, I feel like this is one of the last summers I'll be able to do whatever the hell I feel like for this amount of time and not have to worry about anyone I care about being emotionally dependent on me being there. That is a great idea to rent a bike in Vegas. There is a wide variety in price and type, and the grand canyon viewing area is 50 km's away I believe. Just be ready for the heat.

Maybe you'll be able to pick up some pointers from my blog? USAbyK1300R.blogspot.com

KingRobb wrote:Sounds like a lot of fun.

When you leave Pheonix ride the salt river canyon...its just east of superstition mountain and beautiful and twisty.

Get ahold of me when you are in Indy and I will by you a beer to listen to your travel stories.

You are the third dude to tell me to hit these mountain passes... it's decided... "fudge" TUCSON and LAS CRUCES, I had nothing there I wanted to see anyway, just wanted to pass through and sleep... but I will hopefully do as google says and do 8 hours one day from phoenix and 10 hours the next zig zagging around north thorugh 288 to show low and then south on the 60 to globe, and then north on the 191 to Albuquerque lol.. I will be losing my mind! but it will probably be worth it!

I'll see ya at Indi, bro

Thanks everyone. this is gonna be.. ball busting from time to time, but in the end, this should be absolutely amazing.

Here's a link to the topic for the travel blog

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=38652