[Jmason]

It seems like there are folks on here that have quite a bit of experience with long-distance traveling over multiple days. I have a few trips with friends under my belt, with the longest being a six-day, 1,800 mile ride From Denver through Utah, and a three-day, 1,050 ride from Denver to Mt. Rushmore and Devils Tower.

Now I am trying to plan a trip with the same friends to ride to Glacier National Monument in late June 2021. This is currently looking like an 8-day, 2,700 mile journey, with several longer days (+/- 400 miles) plus one 500 mile day in the mix, as well as a short day in Glacier (day hike planned) and a short day in Yellowstone (ride through the park, hike, etc.).
This is all mostly state 2-lane roads, all paved. I'm not worried about any of the daily legs - I've factored in rest stops, gas stops, etc., I'm just hoping to hear from others whether or not this plan is too aggressive.

Day one - 535 miles. Denver to Cody, WY. Long day, but we start early, and even with lunch, breaks and rests, we end around 5 pm.

Day two - Rest from the long ride yesterday by spending a good part of the morning at the Cody Firearm Museum. Then ride 391 miles including Beartooth Pass, see a couple of waterfalls, and end in Helena, MT around 630pm.

Day three - 263 miles. Scenic drive north to Glacier, partly over Going to the Sun Road. Includes a few stops/short hikes in Glacier. Spend night 3 and 4 in a Glacier National Park Campground (tents).

Day four - Minimal Mileage - plan a day hike to Grinnell Glacier (depending on snow depth), or other backup hikes if needed. General sightseeing and tourist day.

Day five- 439 miles. Ride through Going to the Sun Road, then head down to Yellowstone for tent camping.

Day six - ~100 Miles. Canyon hike plus scenic loop ride, hikes and tourist stops throughout Yellowstone - spend the night camping in Yellowstone again.

Day seven - 425 miles. Drive south through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, lunch in Jackson Hole. Continue south to Rock Springs and spend the night in beautiful Vernal, UT.

Day eight - 458 miles. Visit Dinosaur National Monument, then skirt through Northern Colorado down to Winter Park then back home to Parker.

It seems like another day in somewhere would help, but honestly, that would me we are stopping in the middle of Montana or Wyoming and sleeping on the side of the road 🤓

 

[Grumpy]

Hey Jmason. Former Parker resident here,. I'm in Castle Pines now.
Your plan does look a little agressive for me. But that really depends on your personal ability to handle multiple back to back days in the saddle.
Attend to the basics, frequent breaks, keep hydrated and stop if you become too fatigued and you should have a great time.

I've done thousand miles days in my young and dumb past, but these days about 300 miles and I'm done for the day.😏

 

[JRW2007]

not too aggressive if you have a good seat!!! my longest day is 800 miles. and the trip was 3600 miles in 8 days. of course that was all highway trying to get from Kentucky to Colorado. We start very early so we can finish before dark. We ride tank to tank and try to minimize time at stops so not to fall behind and run out of daylight. the other savior was electronic cruise control. a Throttle lock is more mentally draining because always adjusting speed slightly. ear plugs.... and some music in the helmet helps!! Sounds like a great trip. I am jealous.

 

[twowheeladdict]

I am going to say that it depends on the stamina of the riders. My yearly trips were more in the 4000 - 7000 mile range and I was very used to 400 mile days due to work trips. Several of the guys who rode with me required more rest days and shorter mileage days towards the end of the trips

I have also had to replace a rear tire on several trips because it looked like I had plenty of tread left before starting out. Finding a tire on a trip can be difficult depending where you are. I've had to detour up to 250 miles to get a compatible tire.

Build in flexibility. Trying to make every hotel reservation ahead of time could lead to risky situations.

On one trip my riding buddy was just worn out, but it was too early in the day to get a room. We decided to go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway so we could ride slower with less traffic and many overlooks to pull over and walk around. At one of the overlooks he just zoned out and ran into a square curb and up on a grassy island in the middle of the overlook. Somehow he kept the bike up but jostled the oil drain plug loose. Could have been much worse.

People push themselves too far when driving cars all the time and with bad results. On a motorcycle even a slight mishap can be fatal.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

IF it works into your plans - I can HIGHLY recommend Hwy 89 S from St Mary (E end of Going to the Sun) because it is SUPER TWISTY, but it's OPEN RANGE, so watch for cattle. I've camped just W of 89 (into Glacier Park) around where it intersects w/ Hwy 49, just to be able to ride 89 more often.

 

[Jungle Phantom]

Hey Jmason. Former Parker resident here,. I'm in Castle Pines now.
Your plan does look a little agressive for me. But that really depends on your personal ability to handle multiple back to back days in the saddle.
Attend to the basics, frequent breaks, keep hydrated and stop if you become too fatigued and you should have a great time.

I've done thousand miles days in my young and dumb past, but these days about 300 miles and I'm done for the day.😏

I did Melbourne-Perth in 3 days (1100 Katana) in 1982.

I leg was Eucla to Perth with Norseman-Esperance return thrown in... 1140 miles... Young and very dumb

 

[AmbientMoto]

That's a lot of miles per day. Not unrealistic, but I see that and wonder what you might experience if you slowed down a bit. Of course, the destinations may be the draw, so if everyone is in agreement and able to do that kind of pace, it can be done.

I would build in some flexibility; if you miss one day's goal, all of a sudden the entire trip is "behind"... and perhaps one rider will be the "culprit"... leading to other potential issues.

 

[Grumpy]

I remember one trip where we got caught in very cold weather in July and we had a 350 mile day planned. We rode about 50 miles and checked into a hotel with a hot tub.
It pays to be flexible!

 

[Jungle Phantom]

I did Melbourne-Perth in 3 days (1100 Katana) in 1982.

I leg was Eucla to Perth with Norseman-Esperance return thrown in... 1140 miles... Young and very dumb View attachment 181536

Correction:

It was 1983 not 1982.

 

[Emmanuel]

Hi,
From my point of view, 250 miles/day (400 km/day) is a good value for a road-trip.

On Google Map, it always seem easy to ride much more.
But in real life, avoiding the boring fast highways, it's just too much.
More than that for several days, and you will be exhausted.
You won't have the time to stop, have a good dinner, take some photos, ... and simply enjoy your trip.

Last advice : don't forget to take a small notepad with you.
Write down your feelings, describe the places, ...

See you later
Emmanuel

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

Last advice : don't forget to take a small notepad with you.
Write down your feelings, describe the places, ...

VG advice!!!

 

[Emmanuel]

VG advice!!!

Hi,
I always do that for my road-trips !


We are all running against time in our everyday life.
Writing down things is a good way to regain the control of our life.
Taking time to watch around us, seeing things we forgot : people, nature, weather, feeling, ...
The small notepad is much more efficient for that, than a thousand pictures taken with a smartphone.

It may sound pretty "mystical", but in my humble opinion, it's the difference between a road-trip, and a travel going from point A to point B as fast as possible.

See you later
Emmanuel

 

[Jmason]

Hey guys - thanks for all the responses. I've been away for a while, wrestling with some work-related accounting issues (anyone up to speed on troubled debt restructurings, debt extinguishments, and accounting for complex financial instruments 😵

Anyway, I thought I'd tackle a bunch of the responses in one place.

Hey Jmason. Former Parker resident here,. I'm in Castle Pines now.
Your plan does look a little agressive for me. But that really depends on your personal ability to handle multiple back to back days in the saddle.
Attend to the basics, frequent breaks, keep hydrated and stop if you become too fatigued and you should have a great time.

I've done thousand miles days in my young and dumb past, but these days about 300 miles and I'm done for the day.😏

I'm way past young and dumb, but our trips to Utah and Rushmore last year pretty much confirmed that we (I) can handle longer days in the saddle. Most of the long days on those trips were challenging in some respect - either nursing sore knee/ankle, riding in strong cross/headwinds after some exhausting hikes, and one day of cold-to-cool weather.

We are pretty good about reminding each other to stay hydrated, and carry a couple of quarts of water at all times.

The 'good' thing about heading North to Montana in June is that we get the advantage of long days. Stopping for a break in the mid-afternoon still gives plenty of time to ride. With rest stops, gas, tourist stops, etc. I have still planned to be done riding before 6PM on most nights.

I have layered in lots of stops - even if just too look at a roadside attraction, like this one in Bynum, MT (middle of nowhere).

not too aggressive if you have a good seat!!! my longest day is 800 miles. and the trip was 3600 miles in 8 days. of course that was all highway trying to get from Kentucky to Colorado. We start very early so we can finish before dark. We ride tank to tank and try to minimize time at stops so not to fall behind and run out of daylight. the other savior was electronic cruise control. a Throttle lock is more mentally draining because always adjusting speed slightly. ear plugs.... and some music in the helmet helps!! Sounds like a great trip. I am jealous.

I have most starts between 7:30 and 8AM. We are predominantly on 2-lane roads, but a two-lane road in the middle of Montana and Wyoming is pretty much like highways in other parts of the country (lots and lots of wide open spaces on the sides of the roads, minimal traffic in most parts). Tank to tank rides also work on our favor - while my V and my buddy's Multistrada will get close to 250 miles on a tank, our other riding partner's Buell Ulysses sets the bar quite low at around 160 miles. TADA - built-in break with a purpose! I have a set of good Loop earplugs, and we generally have the Sena's hooked up for occasional conversations (which also help to keep us alert).

I am going to say that it depends on the stamina of the riders. My yearly trips were more in the 4000 - 7000 mile range and I was very used to 400 mile days due to work trips. Several of the guys who rode with me required more rest days and shorter mileage days towards the end of the trips

I have also had to replace a rear tire on several trips because it looked like I had plenty of tread left before starting out. Finding a tire on a trip can be difficult depending where you are. I've had to detour up to 250 miles to get a compatible tire.

Build in flexibility. Trying to make every hotel reservation ahead of time could lead to risky situations.

On one trip my riding buddy was just worn out, but it was too early in the day to get a room. We decided to go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway so we could ride slower with less traffic and many overlooks to pull over and walk around. At one of the overlooks he just zoned out and ran into a square curb and up on a grassy island in the middle of the overlook. Somehow he kept the bike up but jostled the oil drain plug loose. Could have been much worse.

People push themselves too far when driving cars all the time and with bad results. On a motorcycle even a slight mishap can be fatal.

We are pretty good at keeping the bikes ready to run, and talk to each other before trips to make sure we haven't forgotten any basic maintenance, including tires.

I understand the thoughts on flexibility - but there just aren't a whole lot of populated stopping points on some parts of the trip. We will be taking camping gear - right now we plan on tenting in Glacier and Yellowstone - so if we really can't make it, we can find a field or pullout for sleeping.

I did Melbourne-Perth in 3 days (1100 Katana) in 1982.

I leg was Eucla to Perth with Norseman-Esperance return thrown in... 1140 miles... Young and very dumb

I spent some time in Perth 10 or so years ago. Height of the mining boom. Every day I was there, all I could think about was stealing someone's motorcycle and riding AWAY from that place. 😲

That's a lot of miles per day. Not unrealistic, but I see that and wonder what you might experience if you slowed down a bit. Of course, the destinations may be the draw, so if everyone is in agreement and able to do that kind of pace, it can be done.

I would build in some flexibility; if you miss one day's goal, all of a sudden the entire trip is "behind"... and perhaps one rider will be the "culprit"... leading to other potential issues.

We have some outs we can take - it might cost us a night's hotel reservation, but that is pretty cheap insurance. For this trip, the destinations are the draw, and like I said above, there are lots of empty miles to cover on some of the legs, without a lot of viable lodging options.

 

[Jmason]

Hi,
From my point of view, 250 miles/day (400 km/day) is a good value for a road-trip.

On Google Map, it always seem easy to ride much more.
But in real life, avoiding the boring fast highways, it's just too much.
More than that for several days, and you will be exhausted.
You won't have the time to stop, have a good dinner, take some photos, ... and simply enjoy your trip.

Last advice : don't forget to take a small notepad with you.
Write down your feelings, describe the places, ...

See you later
Emmanuel

Great idea on the notepad. I might need to figure out how to keep from losing it. I might also consider transcribing my thoughts into the note app on my phone. That might make it easier!

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

Great idea on the notepad. I might need to figure out how to keep from losing it. I might also consider transcribing my thoughts into the note app on my phone. That might make it easier!

I carry my notepad in my tank-bag, and take a few minutes to write-up the day BEFORE hitting the sleeping bag, while the ideas are still fresh.

 

[twowheeladdict]

I carry my notepad in my tank-bag, and take a few minutes to write-up the day BEFORE hitting the sleeping bag, while the ideas are still fresh.

I haven't used a writing utensil in so long I would probably get cramps within a few minutes.

I used to carry a digital recorder to capture my thoughts, and use notes on my smart phone and an excel type app to log daily information I am tracking.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

I find it handy to be able to refer back to that notepad every now-and-then to refresh memories...!