A route from New York to San Francisco on a trusty KLR 650 is starting to emerge, looks something like the map attached below. I'm very keen to hear from people about this route for suggestions and route adjustments.
Be patient at the Google Maps below loads and be more patient for the route data to load in.
Rough list of cities and places I plan to visit and or pass through:
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- Baltimore
- Washington DC
- Monongahela National Forest
- Charlston
- Daniel Boone National Forest
- Hooster National Forest
- St Louis
- Kansas City
- [long boring ride]
- Denver
- Colorado Springs
- Capital Reef National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Las Vegas
- Death Valley National Park
- Santa Barbara
- Highway 1
- San Francisco
UPDATE: Jan 09, 2009 -- I got some good questions from Jay the other day asking if I'd found any good tools for planning such a journey and in short the answer is not really, but I've not really spend a load of time looking into it either.
The way I came up with my route was quite literally to request from Google Maps a route from New York City to San Francisco avoiding highways and tollways to make things interesting. From there I've observed the map and tried to bend the route so I go through as many forests and green parts as possible.
The only problem I've run into is that I seem to have hit a limit in terms of the points Google Maps will allow me to add to the route, for the technical people out there they'll understand me when I say it looks like the HTTP string is simply getting too long and won't take any more additional GET parameters. I intend to resolve this my simply splitting the route into two sections.
There is a useful Google Maps thing feature I've discovered recently though and that is the ability to save (and even share) maps with routes into "My Maps". This turns out to be rather useful and more manageable than generating a route and saving the URL that defines the map.
I guess the other tool I expect to be very useful is the Garmin Zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator because while the route I have posted here appears very exact with lefts and rights and turns all calculated out it's surely not the way the ride will happen. I plan to get on the bike and roughly set my course and speak with people on the way to find out about things to go and check out and find my way there using a bit of suggestive help from the Garmin.
N
looks an interesting route.
looks an interesting route. What is your estimated time and where are you planning your overnight stops? You have avoided main cities- was this intentional?
You'll want to see this for
You'll want to see this for the route I actually did:-
http://www.nicholasdejong.com/onamotowhere
Hey Nick, I am planning on
Hey Nick,
I am planning on doing the same thing. I am moving from NYC to SF in July/August this year. When are you headed out? I will be on a Ducati Monster 900ie Dark. Any advice on what you have experienced in preparation or advice. I am open to advice by anyone. I have friends along the way and I was thinking of going through my home state of Minnesota which could be more interesting than heading through the middle part of the country where it is really flat. I myself am interested in all the green I can see and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am allowing myself time to enjoy the trip. Ping me off the list and I would be really interested in suggestions. Safe travels, Tim M. NYC
Looks like a great route,
Looks like a great route, Nick. If I were you, though, I think I would go AROUND West Virginia. Haven't you seen deliverance?
You might add twisty to your
You might add twisty to your forest and green criteria. KLR650 falls asleep on too many straight roads.
Also, consider getting Corbin seat upgrade. Stock seat isn't really made for human posterior to linger on too long. Some like the high windshield upgrade as well. Cuts down on free protein meals (bugs) so maybe not the best way to go.
Gord
And why a KLR650? Are you
And why a KLR650? Are you into masochism now? If so, I recommend riding a pogo stick across the country, or just tying yourself to an 18-wheeler and letting yourself be dragged cross-country. Either of those would be more painful than 4,000 miles on a KLR650 -- albeit only marginally.
Driving across Kansas is only slightly less interesting than watching paint dry. You probably knew that. In any case, be prepared with some tactics to keep things interesting and keep yourself awake (e.g. good music, frequent coffee stops, fishhooks in your eyelids, etc.).
Lastly, personally, I would rather see Memphis than St. Louis, and would alter the route accordingly. After Elizabethtown in Kentucky, head south to Nashville, then west to Memphis. From there you can make your way to Wichita and then rejoin your existing route on the way to Denver. I think I would prefer that, but that's just me.
Looking forward to catching up with you soon, Nick. Come visit Toronto!
Jay
Looks like a great route,
Looks like a great route, Nick. If I were you, though, I think I would go AROUND West Virginia. Haven't you seen deliverance?
Jay
Hi Nick, I really like the
Hi Nick,
I really like the route you have chosen. I see that you are going through Torrey, Utah. I highly recommend stopping and eating at Cafe Diablo (http://www.cafediablo.net/) for dinner. Torrey is a small town of about 650 and this restaurant is only open about 6 months out of the year. It was one of the best dinners that Lindsey and I had on our honeymoon in Utah.
Also, I hear that Salida, CO is gorgeous.
Doug
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