- Joined
- May 4, 2015
- Messages
- 192
- Reaction score
- 111
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
NOTE: While publishing my 2022 report (https://wilddog.net.za/threads/american-southwest-loop.283789/post-5208621), I noticed that the URLs to the pictures in this ride report are no longer working. I find the report a bit lame without images...almost like looking at an old Scope magazine 
. After adding photos to this thread, I will ask the moderators to delete the previous one.
My route planning for this trip was minimal and I only booked the first night (Portland, Oregon) and last night (Baltimore, Maryland) in advance. The rest of the trip was planned on a day-to-day basis. There were only three places that I really wanted to see or visit:
• Mt Rainier
September/October was chosen for two reasons:
1. The daily temperatures would be ideal for me when it comes to full ATGATT motorcycle riding, meaning temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius or lower. Going over the higher mountain peaks, the temperature occasionally dropped to about 3 degrees Celsius (37°F) but it was never uncomfortable (thanks to heated grips, of course…)
2. “Fall” with the associated change in colours in the forests, was something that I always wanted to experience. On a bike trip, of course, you do not only see, you also experience with all the senses: sounds, smell, changes in temperature, etc. To quote a Dog on this forum: “When you do a motorcycle trip, you are not watching the movie, you are in the movie”. The fall col
ours did not disappoint, especially towards the Eastern side of the US….
I made the decision to fly with my helmet, boots, jacket, and GPS just in case my luggage went in a different direction. Since I would be travelling alone for most of the trip, I also carried some basic tools, such as a tyre repair kit, a compressor, duct tape, etc. This made packing and staying within the airline’s baggage weight limitations quite a challenge.
Trip Overview and basic stats:
According to Google maps the most direct route from Portland to Maryland is 4,520km long. But my thinking was almost as primitive as a student that argues that “the more beer he drinks while it is on special, the more he saves”. Thus my (primitive?) biker mind argued: “The longer the route, the better my R/km rental metric will be…”.
The actual GPS route that I followed was plotted onto Google earth and in the end, I managed to stretch the 4,530km to 7,986km….
As a general disclaimer to this ride report I must say that this was by no means a “tough adventure riding trip”, but rather a “scenic trip”. I did take the occasional dirt road but 99% of the trip was on good quality tarred roads.
The pictures were taken with my trusted Olympus TG2 compact camera. (This is the type of camera that Johan Bakkes refers to as a “Kiekiekakker”). A small number of pictures were taken with my iPhone but I found the Olympus to be perfect. Most of the shots were taken from the seat of my bike and I now have a tremendous amount of respect for guys willing to travel with a proper SLR and tripod!
I saw some familiar faces along the way…
And met some really interesting people….
. After adding photos to this thread, I will ask the moderators to delete the previous one.My route planning for this trip was minimal and I only booked the first night (Portland, Oregon) and last night (Baltimore, Maryland) in advance. The rest of the trip was planned on a day-to-day basis. There were only three places that I really wanted to see or visit:
• Mt Rainier
- Yellowstone National Park, and
- Mt Rushmore.
September/October was chosen for two reasons:
1. The daily temperatures would be ideal for me when it comes to full ATGATT motorcycle riding, meaning temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius or lower. Going over the higher mountain peaks, the temperature occasionally dropped to about 3 degrees Celsius (37°F) but it was never uncomfortable (thanks to heated grips, of course…)
2. “Fall” with the associated change in colours in the forests, was something that I always wanted to experience. On a bike trip, of course, you do not only see, you also experience with all the senses: sounds, smell, changes in temperature, etc. To quote a Dog on this forum: “When you do a motorcycle trip, you are not watching the movie, you are in the movie”. The fall col
ours did not disappoint, especially towards the Eastern side of the US….
I made the decision to fly with my helmet, boots, jacket, and GPS just in case my luggage went in a different direction. Since I would be travelling alone for most of the trip, I also carried some basic tools, such as a tyre repair kit, a compressor, duct tape, etc. This made packing and staying within the airline’s baggage weight limitations quite a challenge.
Trip Overview and basic stats:
According to Google maps the most direct route from Portland to Maryland is 4,520km long. But my thinking was almost as primitive as a student that argues that “the more beer he drinks while it is on special, the more he saves”. Thus my (primitive?) biker mind argued: “The longer the route, the better my R/km rental metric will be…”.
The actual GPS route that I followed was plotted onto Google earth and in the end, I managed to stretch the 4,530km to 7,986km….
As a general disclaimer to this ride report I must say that this was by no means a “tough adventure riding trip”, but rather a “scenic trip”. I did take the occasional dirt road but 99% of the trip was on good quality tarred roads.
The pictures were taken with my trusted Olympus TG2 compact camera. (This is the type of camera that Johan Bakkes refers to as a “Kiekiekakker”). A small number of pictures were taken with my iPhone but I found the Olympus to be perfect. Most of the shots were taken from the seat of my bike and I now have a tremendous amount of respect for guys willing to travel with a proper SLR and tripod!
I saw some familiar faces along the way…
And met some really interesting people….
