Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 10: Giant Trees and the road back home

I started out the last day of my trip on the coast in Northern California. I left at the crack of dawn and headed North on 101 into a dense fog. It was surprisingly cold and everything was covered in a layer of condensation. I stopped a few miles in and put on my warmer …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 9: Apex Hunting in California

Starting out the day in Atwater, I knew I had to head Northwest, but that meant going through at least one city during a weekday morning rush our. It was either going to be straight West through San Francisco, which would maximize my time on the Pacific Coast Highway, or North through Sacramento, then West. …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 8: Yosemite

I left Mammoth Lake early in the morning, and headed North toward Lee Vining and the Eastern entrance to Yosemite. From here I’d gain about 2000 feet in 10 miles hitting my highest elevation right at the entrance to the park. I hoped that the dense cold morning air would make the bike run a …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 7: Not Dying in Death Valley

Originally, I’d planned to cross the valley at night and watch the sun rise from the Western side, but that seemed like a waste. Every other national park I’d been through had been impressive enough that it seemed a shame to mostly skip this one for fear of discomfort. I left Beatty around 6, just …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 6: Sandstorms in Nevada

I woke up early and headed out of the Kaibab forest, hoping to beat the inevitable desert heat as much as possible. Bike was still running rough at first, but it smoothed back out as soon as I got below 8000 feet elevation. I headed west on 59 which gave me one last morning look …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 5: Grand Canyon

I started out day 5 just north of Kanab and blasted south toward the North Rim of the Grand Conyon. It was a relatively short ride down 89 and then 67 through the Kaibab National Forest. It was really neat, after days of riding though desert and desert like climates, to be back in a …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 4: Zion

I started off day 4 saying goodbye to the folks who had traveled down to Bonneville with me. From here they would travel back up to Portland, and I’d travel south. I wasn’t sure from here exactly where I wanted to go. I had a general idea of places I did not want to miss, …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Days 2 and 3: Bonneville!

We started out the day in Mountain Home and continued our trek eastward on I-84. We got to twin falls and headed south on our first stretch of two lane highway. My mood instantly improved, no other cars around, just a group of bikes in the middle of nowhere, what I had pictured for the …

Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 1: Slab, slab, and more slab

I barely slept the night before leaving. Between excitement for the trip and apprehension about taking a largely unknown bike to some really remote areas, I probably got about an hour or so of actual rest. The first part of my trip, down to Bonneville at least, would be with a group of three friends …

I didn’t die in the desert! Motorcycle road trip stats.

I’m hoping to do a separate write up for each day of the trip over the next week or so. Each day had it’s own personality and almost felt like a vacation in itself. But I really liked AMGtechs trip stats so I’m going to shamelessly rip it off. Total miles: 3050 Average miles per …