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Long distance touring...How do you stop to smell the roses?

5K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  crownfire 
#1 ·
I have done a number of week long trips two-up with my wife on a GL1800 but I'm now retired and am planning my first long distance solo trip. My vision is to ride from North Carolina to Santa Fe, pick my wife up at the airport there, ride to Denver, CO (visit a brother not seen in many years), drop the wife off at the Denver airport, ride down the Million Dollar Highway, and the work my way back to NC (15 days is my preliminary estimate). My problem is that I am a Point A to Point B rider. I often regret not stopping at something that looked interesting.

When long distance riding, my priorities are to stay off the interstates as much as practical, have a motel reserved for each night, be off the road between sunset and sunrise, and avoid being too tired to ride safely. I suspect these priorities (conditions?) contribute to a sense of urgency in getting to the daily destination but I don't consider any to be negotiable.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has overcome the Point A to Point B mentality. Actually, I welcome all thoughts on how to overcome this.
 
#2 ·
The way my wife and I do long distance riding, we don't book a motel room in advance, the reason for this is it puts you under a time constraint. When we are ready call it a day we find a motel, so far we haven't had any issue in getting a room, but that doesn't mean it will not happen. This way when we see something along the way that we want to check out, we do it.
 
#10 ·
I totally agree wife and I have done all the lower 48 and have never booked a hotel in advance because as the saying go (the best layed plans of mice and men) we see something we want to see or do, run into a traffic jam and have to re-route, are told of something to see or do from a local. And in all our travels we have me never been unable to find a room for the night. You are retired so enjoy the ride and stop to see the sights and smells the roses there will be a room waiting for you at the end of the day.👍
 
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#3 ·
For my long trips starting out from Kansas City I usually leave at 12:30 AM. Since driving across Kansas is so boring and that I know all of Missouri's roads I'm not missing anything (hopefully wildlife!) during the dark hours. I usually get in over 800 miles on the first day. With that in mind, I usually make only one hotel reservation for the first night. Then, I use the travel apps on my phone to make hotel reservations in a location I think that I will be in that evening. With this strategy, I have no deadlines and have never not found a room at a particular destination. May not receive a lower rate by not booking in advance but there's less stress to be on a schedule.
 
#4 ·
Awww yes, stress due to the constraints of time. I could consider doing the return trip without creating time constraints but don't see how making a motel reservation each day for that evening helps unless it's being done very late in the day. That makes me nervous after seeing some of the distances with no lodging available. There must be a balance. Hopefully I can plan an amount of saddle time each day that will allow for stops without worrying about time. Right now I'm considering 6-7 hours.
 
#5 ·
Small tent, inflatable camp pad, supply of water/food for a couple days. That gives you the freedom to stop wherever the day's activities land you. If a hotel room doesn't pan out, then camp for a night. The biggest thing here is to be open mentally to the adventure and spontaneity of the trip.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 
#29 ·
Small tent, inflatable camp pad, supply of water/food for a couple days. That gives you the freedom to stop wherever the day's activities land you. If a hotel room doesn't pan out, then camp for a night. The biggest thing here is to be open mentally to the adventure and spontaneity of the trip.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
Amen. People don't realize that you can free camp in any Nat'l Forest, most BLM lands, etc. Once you set up camp in the middle of nowhere you ARE stopping to smell the roses.
 
#6 ·
I suggest looking at attractions or distractions along your general route. If you find some that would interest you, research them a bit and try to figure out how much time you would like to spend at them and adjust your saddle time for that day accordingly. Some days might be 6-7 hours and others might only be 3-4 hours. Some might be zero so you can spend all day sightseeing. You are retired, relax and go for it.
 
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#7 ·
I have done a number of week long trips two-up with my wife on a GL1800 but I'm now retired and am planning my first long distance solo trip. My vision is to ride from North Carolina to Santa Fe, pick my wife up at the airport there, ride to Denver, CO (visit a brother not seen in many years), drop the wife off at the Denver airport, ride down the Million Dollar Highway, and the work my way back to NC (15 days is my preliminary estimate). My problem is that I am a Point A to Point B rider. I often regret not stopping at something that looked interesting.

When long distance riding, my priorities are to stay off the interstates as much as practical, have a motel reserved for each night, be off the road between sunset and sunrise, and avoid being too tired to ride safely. I suspect these priorities (conditions?) contribute to a sense of urgency in getting to the daily destination but I don't consider any to be negotiable.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has overcome the Point A to Point B mentality. Actually, I welcome all thoughts on how to overcome this.
I've got the same compulsion. End up at your destination and you say "Yes! It's done!" and then realize that you didn't see much of the land. I am going coast to coast in May/June and back and I think you just need to find things along your route and set those as stops and then make sure you go out of your way to hit them. Is your wing a 2018+ or older model? Tripplanner.honda.com is a very handy site for planning routes, it finds things very effectively, almost google like and exports to GPX format so just about any GPS should work.

If you have time you can visit Angelfire, NM in the hills outside of Taos. First major Vietnam memorial. Dedicated May 22, 1971
Memorial History – Vietnam Veterans Memorial
A very peaceful place but it can get cold, even in late May. Snowed on us in 2019 on the run for the wall.

Basically, pick places like this, get a GPS and plug them in. Let the GPS force you to take a preplanned trip you normally would have just blown by. You can set yourself a rule that you can ADD stops but not remove them from your trip to make sure you hit what you planned but can add stops as well.

As to WHAT to visit, I usually add things to my list based on watching youtube channels. "Shadetree surgeon", "Maikeli7", "Adam Sandoval", etc.
 
#27 ·
I've got the same compulsion. End up at your destination and you say "Yes! It's done!" and then realize that you didn't see much of the land. I am going coast to coast in May/June and back and I think you just need to find things along your route and set those as stops and then make sure you go out of your way to hit them. Is your wing a 2018+ or older model? Tripplanner.honda.com is a very handy site for planning routes, it finds things very effectively, almost google like and exports to GPX format so just about any GPS should work.

If you have time you can visit Angelfire, NM in the hills outside of Taos. First major Vietnam memorial. Dedicated May 22, 1971
Memorial History – Vietnam Veterans Memorial
A very peaceful place but it can get cold, even in late May. Snowed on us in 2019 on the run for the wall.

Basically, pick places like this, get a GPS and plug them in. Let the GPS force you to take a preplanned trip you normally would have just blown by. You can set yourself a rule that you can ADD stops but not remove them from your trip to make sure you hit what you planned but can add stops as well.

As to WHAT to visit, I usually add things to my list based on watching youtube channels. "Shadetree surgeon", "Maikeli7", "Adam Sandoval", etc.
This is a good strategy but I'm not sure how you'll cover the ground you need to cover in the time allotted, riding only 6-7 hours with stops at attractions. I always figure that no matter what road I'm taking or how fast we're travelling (within reason), I expect no better than 50 miles per hour of riding. This is partly because gas stops and bathroom stops, etc. really eat away your day, more than you'd think.

I'm in PA and have been through all the surrounding states numerous times and though they all have their charm and places to see, I'm in love with big mountains and so always gravitate West. With that in mind and given that I've been taking long cycle trips since 1982, there's just not that much of interest until I get a few days away from here so I try to put on as many miles on days 1, 2 and sometimes 3, typically at least 650 not usually more than 800 to get through the more familiar territory and also away from the mass of people between here and Chicago!

I study info about the areas that I'll be riding through and those I want to stop for a day or more, pick stuff I want to do or see and just plan it out that way. Like you, I prefer the 2 lanes, ESPECIALLY when I'm in places I really love. There are beautiful sections of both I 70 and I 90 in CO and MT respectively but if I'm not near those sections, I'll be on a 2 lane, for sure. This year's ride we will be taking US 2 from the U.P. of MI all the way to Glacier and then on to Libby. It is mostly a 2 lane road.

For me, it's worth riding a couple really long days in order to have more time to explore places like Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP or Grand Teton NP. This summer we'll be spending two nights in East Glacier and will only be riding to Libby, MT, about a 5 hour leisurely ride where we'll spend the next 4 nights and 3 days visiting a friend and doing some cool side trips from our base there.

Anyway, that's how I mix getting there with seeing stuff. If there's stuff along the way to NM that you'd like to see more of, plan a future trip to go to some or all of those places. Enjoy yourself, regardless!

Not to get too long-winded here but years ago I camped on cycle trips. As I got older I decided that a real bed, a good hot shower and air conditioned sleeping quarters were more important than saving money plus my back bothered me more after riding all day and sleeping on the ground, guess I'm getting soft!!! Anyway, now I make reservations and don't find that it hurts the experience. Barring any unforeseen, more serious issues, I can guess pretty closely by now how long a ride will take and I don't mind if I have to ride a few extra hours to get to where I'm going versus where I "felt like" stopping. If it's that cool of a place, I'll try to remember it for next time. That being said, some guys don't want to consider a 14 hour day on their bike but, we have Goldwings so, we don't mind!! ;-) Making reservations is a must at some places too, like close to Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetons, Yosemite, etc., even sometimes for campsites, from what I've heard.
 
#8 ·
I have done a number of week long trips two-up with my wife on a GL1800 but I'm now retired and am planning my first long distance solo trip. My vision is to ride from North Carolina to Santa Fe, pick my wife up at the airport there, ride to Denver, CO (visit a brother not seen in many years), drop the wife off at the Denver airport, ride down the Million Dollar Highway, and the work my way back to NC (15 days is my preliminary estimate). My problem is that I am a Point A to Point B rider. I often regret not stopping at something that looked interesting.

When long distance riding, my priorities are to stay off the interstates as much as practical, have a motel reserved for each night, be off the road between sunset and sunrise, and avoid being too tired to ride safely. I suspect these priorities (conditions?) contribute to a sense of urgency in getting to the daily destination but I don't consider any to be negotiable.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has overcome the Point A to Point B mentality. Actually, I welcome all thoughts on how to overcome this.
Also, to do it safely make sure you plan around your time of day and direction of travel. If heading east, start later so your eyes aren't heading directly at the sun. If heading west, start earlier and finish later so you don't have the same issue the other direction and make sure you stop before the animals come out after dark. Check the weather often.
 
#9 ·
so you've got your motels lined up along the way so why not when you have your lunch break why not explore the town you are in for a few pic's. when you arrive at the motel go out and get a few pic's in those towns. if you read one of my ride reports you can see what i'm looking for on a long or short ride
 
#11 ·
I think there's an awful lot of us that fall into the same habit of getting to the destination without stopping much for all the reasons listed. I think the big one is the hotel issue. With my wife being a teacher, our only time for travel is peak holiday time (July/August), which just compounds the problem. We've ridden into too many towns with no vacancy signs everywhere to ever depend on being able to get a room. In some of the more populated places in the US that might not be such a big issue, I don't know, but it is here. At least in the places I want to travel. I'm really looking forward to getting retired and taking some off-peak trips and not booking everything in advance. I also have a bad habit of not doing enough research ahead of time, so I know I miss out on things that are there - but off the beaten path.
 
#12 ·
I learned my lesson after a full day ride from southern California up to San Jose, where every hotel was booked. Called and called around and finally ended up riding another two hours in the dark on heavily trafficked highways to find a hotel in Sacramento, and was extremely tired by the time I got there.

Now, I start looking at around 3 PM and adjust my route accordingly.

On long trips when I'm ground pounding between cities I'll stay at hotels near the airport, as they're outside the populated areas, less crime-prone, near restaurants, there's usually more than one to pick from, and they're usually near good roads in and out of town.
 
#13 ·
Here's what works for us.......... We book our places (we have a trip coming up and all the hotels are booked). The main reason for this, much like @tamathumper -been there done that, and my wife vowed never having to search for a hotel at 8 pm again. Now what we do is we calculate what we would like to see along the way, factor an extra hour or two for something that may come up as far as sites to see, then determine where something we want to see coincides with the end of day. That way the next morning we are going to see something as soon as we awake.

There are a few things that guide our trips every time:
1) Wife needs to know that we have a hotel for the end of the day
2) We need to be eating supper at 5-6 pm or else things become a bit unedgy
3) A site needs to be at the end of day destination for quick access in the following day am (if possible)
4) Hotel needs to have a hot breakfast in the am, this one is so we can eat before we even get on the bike for the day (doesn't seem like a big deal but believe me saves a ton of time).
5) Don't push the mileage thing (Anymore that is). Ride a comfortable 250-350 miles a day. That alone will take away most of your "destination anxiety". This one is tough because there were many a 600-750 mile days in our history but now that we are older, we have slowed it down.
 
#14 ·
As previously mentioned, you are retired! Congratulations!

Numero Uno: Take your time, enjoy your trip.

I drive a truck for a living and fully understand the point A to point B thinking. Because of enduring that all the time, I truly relish the spontaneity of a trip with a limited number of 'targets' to be met. You make time for those special target locations, and allow time for other, unplanned places that you find along the way.

When our kids still travelled with us, our trip planning began a year in advance. We figured out what sites we wanted to see, roughly how much time we would spend at each one, and where we wanted to end up each night. We always built in a little free time each day which gave us a 'cushion'. In this way, even though our trips were quite structured, we still had the flexibility to make the trip more relaxing for everyone.

Now when my wife and I travel, (car or bike, no RV) we plan the first couple of days including hotel reservations in advance. We plan the stops we will make and build time in for them, scheduling our overnights accordingly. For the remainder of the trip, we start travel each day no later than 7:30 AM, and figure out where we think we will land for the evening so that we can call for reservations by noon or 2 PM. The exception to that is if we will be in a 'high use' area, prone to large numbers of travelers, especially during tourist season. If we plan to be in those areas, we figure out well in advance when we will be there, and we try to plan them early in the trip. Doing so gets them off the list, leaving things much more relaxed for the rest of the journey.

We religiously keep a journal of our trips. My parents did the same when they traveled, and I now am in possession of those journals and would not part with them for the world. They make for some of the best reading ever! We also know that we cannot possibly see everything there is along the way. So, we take note of things that we would like to see if we are ever in the area again. In that way, trips that cover certain areas more than once are never the same as previous trips.

Even though we now stay in hotels instead of an RV, we always carry basic camping and cooking gear. All too often our trips take us to areas where camping for a few days just to relax and maybe even spend time in a given area is a great advantage. Since I am just getting back into riding after a 15 year hiatus, I just purchased a small trailer for behind the wing so that we can easily carry the camping gear we need.

There is so much more that I could add to this, but I believe responses of reasonable length actually present better material than those that delve into all kinds of detail. Further detail can always be requested by other readers if necessary.
 
#15 ·
If you have a hotel chain you like to stay at, create an online account and download their app. If you set your room preferences 1 room 2 adults, king bed , nonsmoking, etc it will show you hotels in your area with a room available that meet the criteria or the nearest one. IHG and Choice are the main low cost ones and using those two I can quickly home in on my options
 
#16 ·
My wife and I never booked any hotels in advance either. Only out west one night did the whole family have to sleep in the car. We also, always had the time for those that wanted to talk at a gasoline stop to that couple on a Goldwing. We use to laugh at how long it took us to get somewhere sometimes.

But, I have been wondering lately, if some of the best riding is in our own states or those that border our own. We seem to think that further away is always better and spend so much time getting there and back, when we could have used those days for really enjoying some great rides more locally and have the time to stop when we saw something interesting.

Don't get me wrong though, there are some fantastic destinations in this country and the world, (I have been in all 50 states and 60 countries,) but we may be missing the ones right in our own back yard.

And too, I never find any road boring. Getting there and back was almost always much our enjoyment. We enjoyed even the corn and wheat fields.

And, we would stop about 1-2 hours form home, to reflect on the trip and the fun that we had. Otherwise getting home will consume most vacationers and it is ruined at the end. Most rush home so they can plan next year's trip. Funny stuff.

Anyways.... lets see, about that trip out west that I want to make this summer if God allows.....
 
#17 ·
My wife and I never booked any hotels in advance either. Only out west one night did the whole family have to sleep in the car. We also, always had the time for those that wanted to talk at a gasoline stop to that couple on a Goldwing. We use to laugh at how long it took us to get somewhere sometimes.

But, I have been wondering lately, if some of the best riding is in our own states or those that border our own. We seem to think that further away is always better and spend so much time getting there and back, when we could have used those days for really enjoying some great rides more locally and have the time to stop when we saw something interesting.

Don't get me wrong though, there are some fantastic destinations in this country and the world, (I have been in all 50 states and 60 countries,) but we may be missing the ones right in our own back yard.

And too, I never find any road boring. Getting there and back was almost always much our enjoyment. We enjoyed even the corn and wheat fields.

And, we would stop about 1-2 hours form home, to reflect on the trip and the fun that we had. Otherwise getting home will consume most vacationers and it is ruined at the end. Most rush home so they can plan next year's trip. Funny stuff.

Anyways.... lets see, about that trip out west that I want to make this summer if God allows.....
If you’re coming to California and on a motorcycle let me know if there’s anything in particular you wanted to see. I have a couple of places that I like to go and can pass on the spots
 
#18 ·
Thank you TowedJumper for the gracious offer.

My jobs and the Air Force back in the day have taken me to California quite a bit and still do, but as of yet, I have never been there on a motorcycle. I don't think though that California will be on the itinerary this trip. That pesky time thing, like the OP stated, and... if I can even go. I am wanting to do a, Lord willing, going home again trip back to a place I was stationed in 1970-71.
 
#20 ·
For those of you that are Veterans (whether you retired or not), remember that you have access to the National Park System for free. Make double sure you are hitting the parks on your way through wherever you are roaming because there's no reason not to now.

Stop by your local veteran's service center with your full dd-214 and get an ID made up if you aren't a part of the VA medical system with a VA ID Card.
 
#22 ·
It would nice to visit the museum part anyways. Thanks, I have my ID. In California, I was only TDY to George and left for SE Asia out of Travis.

.
Its kind of cool, they even have a former nuclear missile (decomissioned of course) on static display. Bell GAM-63 Rascal Air Missile
Castle Air Museum | Atwater, California

Open cockpit days this year are 5/31 and 10/02 and they have them every year.
 
#23 ·
Although I have participated in a number of motorcycle gatherings over the years and enjoy three - four up group rides, but for long distance multi-week trips I've always preferred solo travel. With no schedule to adjust, it allows me to keep my own hours in the saddle and set up camp when and if a place interests me. Taking the old two lane roads that cuts through the historic "Route 66" type towns are my favorite back country to see. One beautiful Bozeman Montana road I remember kept turning into a dirt horse trail and then dead ended against a barbed wire fence but after backtracking each time, I finally rode it all to a falling down 1850's mining town. As I passed an abandoned old dilapidated ranch house I stopped to eat on the front porch. In the remains of the yard there were a bunch of oversized rusty metal Tonka Toys. It looked like the kids had just left them in the dirt long ago when they quit playing for the afternoon. At one time you could stop in at a small town gas station with a bench out front to chew the fat with the local retirees and hear all the town gossip. Now the old timers gather at McDonalds for coffee and talk about the neighbor's dogs barking all night. For the last 6 months I haven't signed on to this site and kind of kept to myself after I lost a good friend. We'd been in Nam together in what seems like 100 years ago now. I knew it was his time to go but still struggling with him passing on.

Keep your friends close, they are hard to find - ride safe and stop to smell the roses every chance you get....

Michael
 
#25 ·
Michael, so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Those friendships are forged in stone and last forever. I have an Army friend who saved my life and he's been ill for a while. We talk often and have for the last 35 years but the opportunities to see him are few since he lives in Alaska. I need to do better while we can still get together.

Steve
 
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#28 ·
Only once did i have a room problem ,,i was up in Arkansas riding the hills with a friend on a Memorial day holiday,,,we could not find a room and road way to many miles got way to tired and finally made our way to Branson Missouri just to get a room .. so be careful as you know we love our machines but they require following good safety rules and getting to tired will get you killed on these things ..
 
#30 ·
I have done a number of week long trips two-up with my wife on a GL1800 but I'm now retired and am planning my first long distance solo trip. My vision is to ride from North Carolina to Santa Fe, pick my wife up at the airport there, ride to Denver, CO (visit a brother not seen in many years), drop the wife off at the Denver airport, ride down the Million Dollar Highway, and the work my way back to NC (15 days is my preliminary estimate). My problem is that I am a Point A to Point B rider. I often regret not stopping at something that looked interesting.

When long distance riding, my priorities are to stay off the interstates as much as practical, have a motel reserved for each night, be off the road between sunset and sunrise, and avoid being too tired to ride safely. I suspect these priorities (conditions?) contribute to a sense of urgency in getting to the daily destination but I don't consider any to be negotiable.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has overcome the Point A to Point B mentality. Actually, I welcome all thoughts on how to overcome this.
My husband and I used to do a fairly regular trip to Texas, to visit his side of the fam. We eventually got a specific route for it, and stayed at the same hotel each time. When we rode up to Washington state to see my side of the fam, we really only booked one hotel in advance, as it was in a HUGE tourist place, just outside of the Grand Teton national park, and we knew that there would be no rooms available if we didn't. We also did one on the way home. It was in Oregon, and I think that the hubs knew how far he could ride that day, and there wasn't anything we hadn't already stopped to see on the way up. Now, my sis in law did get on line on our second night out (I'd called her to let her know we were in for the night) and she gave us recommendations for the general vicinity we might be in by the end of the next day. We only ever had one problem getting a room, but we did get one. It was in Wisconsin, first home game for the Packers. We started out trying to get a room about 35 miles south of Green Bay. Ended up down near Oshkosh by the time we found one. And it was the last one in that hotel. Most of the time, we would just start looking at billboards (pre smart phones) for hotel ads. Most give all the important info on the billboard; amenities, location, etc. We found some really great hotels that way. That would give us an idea of where we might want to stop for the night.
 
#31 ·
On our way from near Knoxville to Williams, AZ I made the mistake of planning well over 400 miles a day (all on US70 until it ended in Globe). We arrived worn out. The next day and train ride to the canyon refreshed us, and I planned our route home via US60 to be less than 400 miles per day, only reserving rooms one day in advance. The return trip was much more relaxed and enjoyable. Four primary mistakes - too many miles a day, destination having a tight schedule, not building in an in-case day, thus not allowing weather to cause a wait-out day. We still had a ball and ~4300 miles of travel, but it could have been better for both of us. I was really proud of how the wife didn't complain.
 
#33 ·
Believe me, if my wife wanted to go on these trips, my high mileage, long hour days would come to a screeching halt! :LOL: I tend to push it to get where I want to be and where I'm usually heading is somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, an area that I never tire of being in and seeing. I'm in love with the mountains and with limited time, I want to get there, what can I say!

Ever since my first cross country motorcycle trip, long days to be able to spend more time exploring my destination has always been our/my M.O. and as I can still do it and don't really mind (benefits outweigh the cost-to me at least), I'll probably continue to do it. After my ride to Alaska next year, I'll probably go in a lot more leisurely manner and stay under 500 miles a day or maybe even try the 400 days some of you talk about. (y)
 
#32 ·
Well, my wife just lost her job so she's coming along for my North Carolina to Colorado trip. I am now re-planning the trip based on her 6 hour/day saddle limit. We still have a time constraint (dog sitter availability) which will require a couple of longer days if we are to stay off the Interstates. My wife isn't a complainer either, BUT, I know how much she hates 2 star hotels so I'm still thinking it is best that I make hotel reservations for the entire trip before we depart. I've been planning the trip using Garmin BaseCamp and am very surprised how often the 6 hour saddle time results in being a long way from anything (west of the Mississippi). The result is that it is very time consuming to plan each nights stay. I can't imagine trying to do that from a motel for the next night, especially from one with lousy wi-fi. I believe the 6 hour limit will provide enough time to stop where we like and prevent exhaustion. I have one day off the bike and one short day planned so that will help as well.
 
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