Ride from Ontario Canada to California

Planning to ride from Toronto area to Ozaraks , then west sort of to California. Will be leaving Early to mid May, & flying by the seat of our pants for 5- 6 weeks. Want to ride US # 1 up coast then back down & thru. US mountains . Any suggested routes !! Want to be back before kids & tourists are about.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks ; Jethro.

I'd love to know how you plan something like that. Im not trying to be snarky, but this is something I would love to do and I have no Idea how to accomplish something like this. The most I can get out of work is 2 consecutive weeks. Are you taking vacation time off, how much are you budgeting ETC? Any details would be appreciated.

I am planning a similar trip. Right now the plan is for Cherie to fly to Denver and ride with me till we reach Calgary about 3 weeks later and I will do the last few days home on my own.

@Ricochet I think the key to planning a long trip is not to be to rigid with your itinerary leaving the ability to add or subtract portions of your journey. There will be some dates that will be fixed but most of the trip will be determined by the weather, how we feel and if there are interesting events we might want to attend. In the past this has been concerts and tickets to a theatre that would only occur on Friday night or something. You have to determine the pace, I know when I travel on my own I will go anywhere from 800 to 1200 or more km but when Cherie is on the back I would cut that in half and try to arrive at a destination that will have non motorcycle activities to look forward to.

Gerhard

In general, the thing that jumps out at me for a cross country trip via bike at that time of the year is the likelihood of weather issues, specifically cold and snow in the mountains and possibly severe weather on the plains. I don't know what routes you're considering, but May is still very early in the year at high altitude, particularly in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, where heavy snow is still common in May. Some of those northern tier non-Interstate passes don't even open until June.

I've gone cross country many times by different means over the years, including half a dozen times so far by scooter, and the weather was always very changeable and unpredictable coming through the mountains even in June and July (my cold weather riding gear always got a lot of use even in mid summer). For example, my son and I were in Colorado on a camping and hiking trip in late June last summer, and we stopped to have a snowball fight in the residual drifts just off I-70 above the Eisenhower Tunnel (elevation 11,112' - average annual snowfall = 26 FEET).

It's doable at that time of the year, but be prepared for a wide range in temperatures and precipitation, and the possibility of heavy snow and/or sleet in the mountain passes from Colorado north.

If you want to enjoy the many different roads available to you, go out and purchase "Motorycle Journeys Through North America" by Dale Coyner. It's a great book that you'll reference for many years. Great for both rides close to home and far away. Hopefully you'll get some "local" experts chiming in. Certainly US #1 up the coast is a must. I've done it 3 times by car, but never by bike. Maybe some day!

Just for a reference, these were on June 24th last year............Bear Tooth Pass and the Bighorns....ff

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/michelin-north-america-road-atlas/9782067191860-item.html?ikwid=atlas+north+america&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

Jethro, this road atlas is very good and available now.
Grab this and start planning a rough route, pencils/post-it notes/highlighters help.
As others have said, be flexible and dont force yourself into set times/distances/mileage days.

As you enter each state, stop off at State Visitor Centers, they are a wealth of info and will give you great info/brochures. Take a break and plan for siteseeing.

Best motorcycle trip I ever took was from Ontario south to Louisiana, even rode the Natchez Trace (well worth the time).
Just went day-by-day, started planning hotel rooms early in afternoon and just called ahead on the toll free numbers.
Had planned to go to New Orleans but a hurricane came in from the gulf so we changed plans, turned left, went through Alabama then up eastern seaboard. Did it in 13 days and had a blast. Didn't have gps back then, just had fun! Take the paper atlas and a gps.

Dale

Do you know any Harley riders? Every year the Harley Owners Group publishes a road atlas that includes the scenic roads in USA and Canada. I have used mine when planning my trips. Great resource.

I endorse being flexible but don't leave home without researching the opportunities along your expected route. A few years ago my brothers and I rode right by Antelope Canyon in AZ. I wish I had known it was there.

Some of my favorites.

Colorado
Big Thompson canyon hwy 34 Loveland to Estes park
Rocky Mountain Nat'l park
US6 over Loveland pass
Independence pass
Colorado Nat'l Monument in grand Junction
hwy 141 thru Gateway

Utah
all the NPs and any hwy between them
hwy 12 south of Torrey

NorCal
east from Fortuna on hwy 36, north on 3, west on 299 (see the rides tab on http://www.westocxix.org)

OR
Coast hwy 101 is ok, lots of scenery, RVs, and touristy towns jammed full of traffic.
Crater Lake,
any of the state hwys over the coast range inland from the coast (42, 38, 126, 36, 34)
Mckenzie hwy 242 to Sisters and back west on US20

With 5 or 6 weeks, you can certainly cover a lot of territory. If heading to the Ozarks, then be sure to hit the Skyline and Blue Ridge Parkway's and Deal's Gap. Keep heading south into Georgia, where it will be warmer riding. Maybe visit New Orleans and cross westward through the southern US states over to Texas. That way you stand a better chance of missing tornado alley through the midwest. From Houston, head northwest towards the Grand Canyon area to see the sights in that area. I highly recommend Kanab, Utah and the Perry Lodge there as a base for three or four days of touring the area. See Monument Valley! From there, head southwest again to go through Nevada and Northern California. Lassen volcanic national park is a must see in that area and then you can head north along the coast on #1 as far as you want to go.

By then, if taking your time, it should be June and weather in the northern US or even Canada should be good for a return to Toronto. If you have never ridden the Trans Canada around Lake Superior, you could consider that too.

I did this continental "circle" myself 20 years ago on my '95 ST1100 in 7 weeks, through July and August, but I also spent 3 of those weeks staying at relatives along the way and my route also included a trip down Florida to West Palm Beach, where I had an uncle living at the time. That trip was 16,000 kms, so you have plenty of time to do a trip like that. Get out the maps, keep the early time of year and potential weather conditions and threats in mind and start planning. Good luck!

I've ridden Ozarks-Calif. numerous times, both east and west bound versions.

Think Eureka Springs as the jump off point west. From there you'll have to decide the more northern tack thru Colorada, or more Southern across Texas, NM and Az.

If it were me, I take the southern route west bound, and visit Monument Valley, and Grand Canyon. Pick up old route 66 in the Seligman, Kingman area into Calif and ride on west San Luis Obispo to pick up the Coast Highway. Just get out your atlas and find roads to connect those places.

Set aside one full day to make the ride from Big Sur to Bay Area. Not many miles but lots of beauty and good riding, do it justice by giving it the time to soak it all in.

I suggest turning east out of the Bay Area. If your plan is to keep riding north to Oregon on the Coast I'd revisit that. You can do it that way, but its ALOT of riding. The best is south, and you'll have to add more than a few days to the tour to work it in. You can't do it all on a single tour. My long term strategy on that would be a west tour next year using a high north route through Montana, and Washington then back south on 1 to San Luis.

Anyway I'd ride back east through Yoseminte, Tahoe and U.S. 50 across Neveda. I'd ride the mountains of Utah and Colorado working my way east. Many roads and ideas to do that, just pick. Once out of the mountains, I'd just work my way back to Ontario on routes that fit my mood on that day.

You're looking at 6,000 plus miles. Some fail to forget how much goes into a 2-3 week ride. It can be a blessing or endurance test. I find the latter to not be much fun. Many fall victim to the too ambitious trap. Linking a series of 600-700 mile days looks easy on paper. I strongly suggest varying the daily milegage. I might 5-600 miles 3 days in a row, and then throw in a 250 easy day to break the routine. After 6 days of riding I take the 7th off, or maybe the 8th, depends. On that day I don't ride. I spend the day washing my clothes, visiting friends, and enjoy where I'm at. On my cross country rides I took that day before heading back east.

It makes all the difference. I got back on the bike recharged and ready to ride.

The amount of riding and scenes out west can be overwhelming, guys tend to try to do too much, and wind up not seeing anything and not having a good time.

YMMV.

Jethro here! I really appreciate all the input.Keep it coming.It sounds like a 2-3 separate tour thing. You are right about not setting a firm agenda--see it on the fly.15 miles in NC can take 45 minutes; I'm sure the mountains are similar. We try to stay with the Motorcycle travel Network or the Evergreen Club ;Both bed & breakfast networks. $20-$25 nite.
Well time to draem of our bike & not the tractor snow-blower.

I am now retired.
I usully pick a destination,look for squiggly roads in-between,acces the Motor Cycle Travel Network & try to tee up available people for the time I'm away. Most need 1-2 days notice , which allows me a bit of flexability.We have done this several times in the past to Asheville area , Arkansas etc for 2 week trips.Can work out to 10 plus stays at different homes (private homes) as B&B's.25$ a nite!
As I said we do tend to wing it abit;but as you travel & stay with other Motorcyclists they tell you more local info etc which changes your itinerary.
Lots of riding in Pa NY to keep you busy for 2 weeks.

I budget for $100 a day--we like a good meal at the end of most days--the odd hotel with hot tub etc. There are times we go to a grocery store & make a salad yogurt etc for lunch & go to a park to eat,stretch walk.We remain FLEXABLE-some folks have you stay for supper-as it cheaper for them to feed the 4 of us than it is to pay for the 2 of them at a diner!