So here's the plan....

stoney · #1 03-13-2017, 03:27 PM

I think I have my route laid out for the trip to Texas this spring. Gonna ride from home to Dzlftr's house in Michigan on day one.... spend the night and visit with them. We plan on hitting the slab to the Nashville area the next day, then we'll spend two days riding the Natchez trace. From there, we'll head to New Orleans for a couple of days - we want to see all the sights there. We'll leave on the Tuesday, and ride down to Galveston, then backroad it across to San Antonio - want to see the Alamo and the riverwalk. We plan to leave there early Friday, and ride across to Eagle Pass to see the Rio Grande, then back across to Ingram for the Cloudrider run.
Once we leave Ingram, we're thinking of heading up to Carlsbad to see the caverns, and Roswell for the aliens. Depending on how much time we have, we'll either head west to the Grand Canyon if time allows, or we'll go north to Tucumcari and catch route 66 to Amarillo, then cut down to see Palo Duro Canyon before heading back towards Chicago. Hoping to catch up with some friends from the Chicago area for dinner before we point the front wheel towards home. I'm looking for any and all suggestions on what to look for on the trip - I have 3 weeks off, and I may extend it for a fourth week, just to take everything in. Any special roads I should take, or ones to avoid? Help a brother out!

vafatboy · #2 03-13-2017, 03:32 PM

I got nothing, but I'm jealous!

orbit · #3 03-13-2017, 04:46 PM

That's a mighty fine plan. Ambitious to boot.

I got nothin' to add......

Fe Butte · #4 03-13-2017, 05:02 PM

Sounds like a great ride!

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Backroad Mike · #5 03-13-2017, 06:17 PM

How much advise you want, I could easily turn this into a 6 week trip.

stoney · #6 03-13-2017, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backroad Mike

How much advise you want, I could easily turn this into a 6 week trip.

I'm listening......

Backroad Mike · #7 03-13-2017, 09:01 PM

Don't miss Carlsbad.. Decide which way you want to get down to the Big Room. Option 1 is Elevator down and back up. Option 2 is hike down the upper cavern the 1.25 miles and drop in 750 feet. Warning. This is more arduous than you think. Patti didn't think she had any issues, but by the time we reached the bottom her knees were aching. I found it funny that me with replaced knees was fine.

It's a steep decent of approximately 20-25 %. I'm glad we did it now, as 10-15 years from now probably wouldn't happen. Some interesting things to see, but if at all you think ankles, knees or hips might not like it, then take the elevator. It adds about another hour to your overall tour. Take the self guided tour, you'll see enough anyway.

The rest of my suggestions are assuming you decide time will allow a visit to the Grand Canyon.

Take 70 west from Roswell through Las Cruces and then take 10 west to save some time to Lordsburg. From here get back on 70 and angle NW to Duncan then 75 to Three way. From here take 191 North to Alpine

. Stay on 191 to Springerville. From there decide if time allow to take 260 through Show Low and on to Payson. In Payson stay on 260 NW to Camp Verde. Then take 17 north to 179 north through Sedona onto 89 Alt north to Flagstaff. From here choose whether you want to visit the North or South rim of Grand Canyon. The North rim is 1000 feet higher, so weather can be cool and could still have snow in May.

If you visit the North rim, it's not that far away from Bryce Canyon in UT.

If you visit the south rim and need to head back NE, take 160 east towards Cortez, Colorado. East of Cortez is Mesa Verde National Park. This are cliff dwellings. Further east is Durango where you can take 550 north which is the Million Dollar Highway. Be warned though, this is high elevation and may not be bike friendly in May.

If you decide not to go the Durango way, and go to Moab, take highway 128 from Moab NE along the upper Colorado River to I-70. Here you can jump on the interstate to Grand Junction. From here you can superslab back to Chicago depending on your time left.

Don't ride around out there without filling up before leaving EVERY decent sized town. You may find places where 100-150 miles between gas is not uncommon. Especially on 128 from Moab to Grand Junction.

High elevations also equal cold morning temps. Dress accordingly or wait until later in the day.

Patti and I never had a reservation. That way we were flexible for route planning and the occasional rerouting due to weather. We were there in the late summer which is the monsoon season. You should likely have the drier period. However, Texas, Louisiana and the gulf can have extremely violent spring storms that you may need to detour around or wait out. When I say extreme, I'm talking storms with tornado's.

Our first trip to Cloud Riders was through the south and it was a tornado dodging event I don't ever care to experience again, and we were in the truck to Ricky's house before unloading the bike.

Margarita · #8 03-13-2017, 10:14 PM

If you decide to go north out of Carlsbad instead of west to Grand Canyon...

http://www.turquoisetrail.org/

Fe Butte · #9 03-13-2017, 10:27 PM

Yep out West, if not sure of next gas distance don't miss gassing up every hundred if you can. Yes! North rim big ditch, near Bryce and Zion

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Sleeveless · #10 03-14-2017, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backroad Mike

Don't ride around out there without filling up before leaving EVERY decent sized town. You may find places where 100-150 miles between gas is not uncommon. Especially on 128 from Moab to Grand Junction.

Guess how he knows that!