D-Mac
Distance Rider
It’s been snowing/raining here for about 2 weeks now. To reduce the pain of not riding (it’s just too icy), I’ve done some maintenance, done some mods, and read a few more ‘biker/riding’ books. Still no sign of a thaw…..so now it’s time to plan a TRIP! I’m gonna use this thread to think out loud about my plans for next year, which may or may not ever happen (it’s still fun to dream though!)
As some of you know, I did an Iron Butt Association ride on my FZ6 this past summer – and loved it. I’ve been bitten by the long distance riding bug and I’ve spent a lot of time preparing my bike for longer trips. I have a lot of flexibility during the summer from my job, although I don’t like to be away from home without the wife/kids for more than a couple of weeks at a time (and work already takes me away a few times a year).
Where to go? I dug out a map of North America and started thinking about the places I’d like to ride and the riding events I’d like to complete. Here’s where I am now… (see this map link for details) from:albion, mi to:moscow, id to:blaine, wa to:US-101 to:US-12/E Wishkah Blvd to:OR-101 to:OR-101 to:OR-101 to:I-5 S to:I-805 S to:CA-78/CA-86 to:I-75 S to:I-75 S to:Collier Blvd/SR-951 to:key west, fl to:US-13 to:Ocean Gateway/US-50 to:Ocean Gateway
(1) I started with a trip from here (Michigan) to Idaho. I’ve never been to the north-west or the plains before, but I’m giving a speech at a conference there next June, so I thought maybe I’d ride there rather than fly (work will pay mileage up to what a flight there would cost). It’s about 2000 miles away and I hear the roads in Idaho are amazing.
(2) I’ve also thought about doing another Iron Butt ride. My last one was 1000 miles in under 24h (Saddlesore 1000 – their easiest ride). The next one up from that is a BunBurner 1500 (1500 miles in 36 hours). It’s a bit over 1500 miles from my part of Michigan to Bozeman, Montana, so I figured maybe I’d ride the first 1500 (across the plains) as an Iron Butt ride and then take a day to do the last 500 through the Idaho hills.
(3) Then I started dreaming BIG. After a ‘rest’ in Idaho, what if I took a different road home? My first thought was to take a day and ride west to Vancouver, BC (Canada) and then back across Canada – maybe all the way to the Atlantic coast! I’ve got family in several places in Canada and it would be a great way to visit everyone. Ending in Nova Scotia would also allow me to visit friends as well (I grew up there). I looked into doing the Iron Butt ‘TransCanada Quest/Gold” (Vancouver to Halifax in 90/60 hours, but I’d have to average close to 1000 miles for nearly 4 days to complete the ‘easier’ version! Perhaps too much riding pressure on one trip (on top of a long ride west to start and a ride home at the end).
(4) Then I started looking at a larger map and searching the web. I’m now thinking about doing the 4 corners U.S. tour. This consists of riding to the 4 far corners of the continental U.S. (Blaine WA, San Ysidro CA, Key West FL, Madawaska ME) in any order and in under 21 days. Yeah, it’s a LOT of riding (over 10,000 miles total), but there’s plenty of time to complete it. I came up with a schedule of about 600 miles per day that would have me back home in about 21 days (including my trip west from Michigan, my time at the Idaho conference, and the trip back from the last corner in Maine- all of which wouldn’t count against the 21 day limit of touching the 4 corners). Doing this ride would also give me a chance to visit a friend who lives in the Florida Keys, catch up with some close friends who just moved to Maryland, and visit my family in eastern Canada on the way to the last ‘corner’ in Maine. It would also be my first visit to much of the country.
An FZ6 would seem to be the smallest displacement bike to do the ‘official’ 4 corners ride since they started listing bikes on the website several years ago (an SV650 did one a few years ago and a couple of V-stroms and smallish cruisers have done it). I’m sure it’s do-able on an FZ6.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
As some of you know, I did an Iron Butt Association ride on my FZ6 this past summer – and loved it. I’ve been bitten by the long distance riding bug and I’ve spent a lot of time preparing my bike for longer trips. I have a lot of flexibility during the summer from my job, although I don’t like to be away from home without the wife/kids for more than a couple of weeks at a time (and work already takes me away a few times a year).
Where to go? I dug out a map of North America and started thinking about the places I’d like to ride and the riding events I’d like to complete. Here’s where I am now… (see this map link for details) from:albion, mi to:moscow, id to:blaine, wa to:US-101 to:US-12/E Wishkah Blvd to:OR-101 to:OR-101 to:OR-101 to:I-5 S to:I-805 S to:CA-78/CA-86 to:I-75 S to:I-75 S to:Collier Blvd/SR-951 to:key west, fl to:US-13 to:Ocean Gateway/US-50 to:Ocean Gateway
(1) I started with a trip from here (Michigan) to Idaho. I’ve never been to the north-west or the plains before, but I’m giving a speech at a conference there next June, so I thought maybe I’d ride there rather than fly (work will pay mileage up to what a flight there would cost). It’s about 2000 miles away and I hear the roads in Idaho are amazing.
(2) I’ve also thought about doing another Iron Butt ride. My last one was 1000 miles in under 24h (Saddlesore 1000 – their easiest ride). The next one up from that is a BunBurner 1500 (1500 miles in 36 hours). It’s a bit over 1500 miles from my part of Michigan to Bozeman, Montana, so I figured maybe I’d ride the first 1500 (across the plains) as an Iron Butt ride and then take a day to do the last 500 through the Idaho hills.
(3) Then I started dreaming BIG. After a ‘rest’ in Idaho, what if I took a different road home? My first thought was to take a day and ride west to Vancouver, BC (Canada) and then back across Canada – maybe all the way to the Atlantic coast! I’ve got family in several places in Canada and it would be a great way to visit everyone. Ending in Nova Scotia would also allow me to visit friends as well (I grew up there). I looked into doing the Iron Butt ‘TransCanada Quest/Gold” (Vancouver to Halifax in 90/60 hours, but I’d have to average close to 1000 miles for nearly 4 days to complete the ‘easier’ version! Perhaps too much riding pressure on one trip (on top of a long ride west to start and a ride home at the end).
(4) Then I started looking at a larger map and searching the web. I’m now thinking about doing the 4 corners U.S. tour. This consists of riding to the 4 far corners of the continental U.S. (Blaine WA, San Ysidro CA, Key West FL, Madawaska ME) in any order and in under 21 days. Yeah, it’s a LOT of riding (over 10,000 miles total), but there’s plenty of time to complete it. I came up with a schedule of about 600 miles per day that would have me back home in about 21 days (including my trip west from Michigan, my time at the Idaho conference, and the trip back from the last corner in Maine- all of which wouldn’t count against the 21 day limit of touching the 4 corners). Doing this ride would also give me a chance to visit a friend who lives in the Florida Keys, catch up with some close friends who just moved to Maryland, and visit my family in eastern Canada on the way to the last ‘corner’ in Maine. It would also be my first visit to much of the country.
An FZ6 would seem to be the smallest displacement bike to do the ‘official’ 4 corners ride since they started listing bikes on the website several years ago (an SV650 did one a few years ago and a couple of V-stroms and smallish cruisers have done it). I’m sure it’s do-able on an FZ6.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
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