I've been fortunate to take a couple of trips lately. Last summer I was able to tour for two weeks in the southwest with my son Mickey, and a couple of good friends, Ron Napier, and Jim Hadley.

More recently, I made a trip to Carson City, Nevada for business. Of course my chosen mode of transportation was motorcycle. (The story of that trip will be up soon) This one was over 5,000 miles with eight days of actual riding time and five days spent in Carson City. Okay, so you think you also want to go on a motorcycle trip? How long would you like to be gone; three days or three weeks? You probably don't need much advice for a long weekend trip, but maybe this is your first long trip. How do you pack and what should you take? How many miles can you plan to ride in a day? What about lodging and cost? Well, let's take a look at these things.

Our first trip was probably over planned. We had originally hoped to ride the southwest in the spring of 2002. Whenever anyone would come into C&S and ask, "What's up?" I would tell them we were taking a trip. "Where?" would be their next question? When I mentioned we were going to the southwest, they would volunteer places we "just had to visit!" Thus was our route planned. We tried to include as many wonders and roads as our route would accommodate. As it happened, we were unable to take that trip in 2002, but we were extremely fortunate that everything came together to do the same trip in 2003. A year and a half to plan a trip is much longer than necessary, but it did add to the anticipation. So our route was set. We were going to trailer the bikes to Amarillo Texas, to cut down freeway time on the road, then ride through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, then back through New Mexico and Texas. This would give us the maximum amount of riding time available for our two weeks.

Miles Per Day

I drew on Ron's experience for this one. Rule number one is that you should not try to drive the same amount of miles on a bike that you could in a car. Riding a bike is more fatiguing than driving a car, and unless you are experienced and used to long mile days, you should not try to make too many miles per day. And trying to pound down miles to arrive somewhere is not fun. You want to allow yourself time to stop and see things of interest and take pictures. You may not be able to come this way again! We allowed for 350 miles per day. We had some days where we did over 500 miles but we also had a day where we only went 75 miles. That was a holiday weekend. We had stopped at Bryce Canyon and did quite a bit of sightseeing. We deemed it wise to get a room early and not try to press out luck. It was fortunate that we did. You should also allow for a day were you may travel no miles. You need to allow for a bad weather day so you do not have to ride if you choose not to. Also you will probably need an afternoon to do laundry or just rest and relax.

Packing

This falls into two categories; your clothing, and your riding gear. Let's take the clothing first. Again, deferring to Ron's experience, here is how we packed. Wear one pair of jeans, pack two. You will usually ride a couple of days in each and this works out well. For shirts, I packed one dressy shirt for a nicer evening if needed. I tend to go through a t-shirt per day so I packed accordingly. Again remember you can do laundry at a motel when needed. Here's a word of advice for underwear and socks. Considering how inexpensive they are, pack all of your old stuff and throw them away each night. When you are low, spend $5 and replace with new. When you get home, you will have all new underwear and socks. You have solved your drawer problem and also made your wife happy (she's been after you to clean out that drawer!). You can pack most everything you need into a pack about the size of a helmet bag. This becomes important if you are traveling two up! A word of advice. Each time you go for a ride, look at the things you took that you didn't need, and think if you could have done it with less. Most of us overpack!

Check out your bike closely;
change tires and other replaceable items prior to leaving on that longer trip...

An electric vest is essential for very cold weather riding...

...and don't forget your tool kit! Preventive Maintenance

Of course your bike should be in good shape. Check your tires for damage; cuts or nails. Check that the tread is good. If they need changing, do it now, rather than on the road somewhere. And it goes without saying that you should have that oil changed before you leave. I normally change my oil every 3,000 miles, but on a road trip like this where you are driving many miles at a time, I will sometimes wait until I get back. You will find many owners' manuals allow 5,000 miles between changes, as long as they are highway miles.

Riding Gear

Take it all! Not really, but you need to plan for any weather you may encounter. Hot in the desert and snow on the mountains. My Aerostitch allowed me to pack lighter as I didn't need so many combinations to cover weather extremes. I took it and a rain suit, and layering clothes for cold days. An electric vest and a fleece top allow you to pack less layering clothing. A jean jacket was packed for hot days. If it becomes extremely hot, you can wet down the jean jacket. This will work like an air conditioner as the water evaporates. I always carry two pair of gloves. A leather pair and a pair of dirt bike gloves made with synthetic leather. The leather for cooler days and the dirt gloves for hot days. The dirt gloves also work well in the rain, as the synthetic leather will dry easily.

We took a very basic tool kit with us, (not needed, thankfully). You may need a flashlight. You should also take sunscreen and Chapstick as the sun and wind will take a toll on your face. A few band aids, aspirin, and a couple of female pads such as Kotex are also a good idea. If you should happen to have an unplanned get-off and are bleeding, they make great first aid items. I keep a couple of water bottles and some granola bars in the trunk. Every time we stopped in hot weather, we would drink water. It's very important to guard against getting dehydrated. It is not fun and happens very easily. It will give you very bad flu like symptoms.

Cost

Plan on $100 per day (or less) just as any other vacation. I found that figure allows for motels, food, gas, sightseeing, and even a few inexpensive souvenirs. We have found that many times room rates are negotiable. Motel cost can also be cut by sharing rooms. We did two in a room most of the time, but we even did three a couple of times and four one night (only one room was available). We would also try to stay at motels that offered a continental breakfast. We would have an early breakfast, grab a lunch on the road, and after we had gotten our room for the night, we would relax and have a 'good' dinner (as in steak!). This worked well. Oh yes, count your change! We were shorted four of five times on the trip. We caught them all, (I think!) so all was well. A couple were accidental, a couple were not, so be warned.
Unexpected weather and unknown roads, even when unplanned, always add to the adventure... This is what I found in a Nevada mountain pass in September, three inches of snow and slush!

Don't forget to take lots of pictures, especially those that prove a point or help you remember just how much fun everybody was having.... even if they are old and slow!

Other Items

You may want to call ahead for reservations if on a weekend. AAA is wonderful for that. Call their reservation line and tell them where you expect to be and what your price range is and they will find a room for you and confirm the reservation. We used that a couple of times.

Also be aware of unplanned opportunities. When we stopped at Boulder, Utah, folks at Boulder Mesa Restaurant highly recommended a ride on the Burr Trail. We had never heard of it. So at their recommendation, we rode it. It was a wonderful experience, riding a twisting road through shear rock walls. But we could have missed it! The point is to be open to having your plans adjusted a little. That's okay on a bike!

Take lots of pictures

We quickly found that a digital camera was great for trips. With a bigger capacity chip installed, you can take all the pictures you wish, edit some at the end of the day, and keep the rest. If your camera gets full, you can download it to a CD and start shooting again. I'm a scenery person. I love lots of pictures of unspoiled scenery. But I've found that some of the most interesting stories I encounter are about people. So I need to remember to take pictures of people as I go. I also learned to keep the camera available as I was riding. Occasionally I would shoot a picture over the windshield of the bike (carefully and safely) where stopping was not an option.

Ride safe.

-LC