Bucket List Trips
I used to say I don’t have a bucket list. While that is probably still true today, I have developed a list of adventures I would like to go on and time to do things gets shorter every year. As this year draws to a close, the possibilities of adventures to be had next year begin to swirl in my head. Maybe this is my version of a vision board. Call it whatever you want but here is a (short?) list of the trips I’d like to take.
SHOULD BE EASY
Saddlesore 1000 or 1k in a day
Most people have at least heard of the IBA (Iron Butt Association). They host a 11k mile/11 day rally that you have to qualify for by being an IBA member and win a place in the rally via lottery. In order to become a member, you have to complete a SaddleSore 1000 which is a solo ride of 1000 miles or more in 24 hours. There is more to it than that. It is pretty regimented and a little uptight with all of the documents and requirements you have to adhere to but I like the idea. I’m not particularly interested in the actual rally but I am interested in the Saddlesore. The IBA is a little uptight for my taste. It is their organization and can run it how they like but there is another option.
Ride1k In A Day is a smaller effort with the same idea. The @Ride1k_inaday account popped up on my Instagram feed one day and I thought it was interesting. The requirements for them to accept your 1k ride is only 5 pictures of your gas receipt next to your odometer and another 3 pictures of your bike on the ride. There’s no giant rally. No special app on your phone. It is much more my speed.
Of course, you don’t have to tell anyone you rode 1000 miles to actually ride 1000 miles. When I’m riding, I prefer to just ride. Fulfilling entry requirements isn’t really a top priority. My ultimate goal is to do 1k on every bike in the garage. I should be able to accomplish at least one in 2023. Maybe I’ll just point a bike East to ride until 24 hours is up and see where I stop.
LAB2V
The annual event sponsored by AMA District 37. Starting in Palmdale and ending in Las Vegas via Barstow on dirt over two days, this one is pretty local. All I need is to be an AMA member, have an appropriate bike and Mrs. Bald Rider letting me disappear the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had considered taking the Ural but I really don’t feel like pushing an 800lb bike through deep sand for two days. It can be (and has been) done but that is a level of physical effort that I’m not really interested in. This one will require another bike in the garage. I have an idea on that.
Loneliest Road in America
U.S. Route 50 stretches from Sacramento, CA to Ocean City, MD. A portion of it, 409 miles through Nevada, has been on the map since Life magazine called it the Loneliest Road in America in 1986. That’s not really the case anymore. Time moves on. There are lonelier ones out there and it is a bit of a tourist destination these days.
Also local-adjacent, this trip shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off. A long weekend would make it easily doable. I don’t know what it is about riding a motorcycle down a deserted highway that is so appealing but it draws me in.
California Coast
Nearly everyone has heard of the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). When people refer to the PCH, they are talking about State Route 1 and they think it runs the entirety of the state. While SR1 technically has different names depending on which stretch you’re referring to, the entirety is 656 miles long beginning in Dana Point at the Southern point and ending in Leggett to the North.
The trip I’m interested in taking is longer and the complete length of the California coast. I would start this trip from the Southern-most point in California (Friendship Park) on the border of Mexico if it wasn’t closed. If it is open by the time I make this trip happen, I’ll start from there. Otherwise, the most logical place to start the trip would be San Ysidro. Ending in Smith River and hugging the coast as much as possible, the trip will be over 1000 miles.
After reading the distance of this trip and having a Saddlesore 1000 before it on the list, you might be saying…hey dummy, just combine the two. I could do that, sure. The problem is riding this route at night. There is nothing inherently (more) dangerous about riding this route in the dark. it somewhat defeats the purpose since all the coastline views will be hidden in the darkness.
PROBABLY FEASIBLE
Scooter Cannonball
Small-displacement scooters and transcontinental adventures. They go together, right? This event sounds like a lot of fun. I had forgotten about it until recently but, now that I remember, I can’t get it out of my mind.
Essentially, a bunch of people gather at one side of the country and ride scooters to the other. It is a competitive event but not a race. There are checkpoints and bonuses. Handicaps are assigned based on displacement and age of the scooter. I have no interest in being competitive. I just want to finish.
It is probably too late to register for the 2023 event. Registration is capped at 250 and there were already 200 registrations a week or so after it was opened. I also don’t own a scooter. It might be an excuse to acquire yet another two-wheeler to add to the fleet. Maybe I can shoot for 2024.
A BIT OF A STRETCH
Africa
Wow. Prices for motorcycle tours in Africa have skyrocketed in recent years. There was a time where you could book a spot on a dual-sport group tour for relatively cheap. For a modest fee, you could fly in and ride a KLR or equivalent with 14 other people through the wilds that are Africa. Nowadays, it seems as though these tours are geared more towards the upscale, luxury crowd. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Give the people what they want.
Price is the number one hurdle to this adventure. Number two is the level of sophistication. I don’t want to ride a BMW over 80% paved roads for $10k (including airfare). There just isn’t enough ‘adventure’ in that adventure trip for me. I’ll keep looking for options in hopes that, one day, the right group of people, equipment and atmosphere make it fit my image of what the trip should be.
Himalaya
There’s an outfit based in Nepal that does what groups in Africa used to do. For a reasonable fee, you get to ride a Royal Enfield around Nepal/India/Tibet (depending on the tour) and have an adventure. It isn’t just the motorcycle adventure, though.
Ever since I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, I’ve wanted to visit the region. You can hike to Everest Base Camp through a number of tour companies but that is probably not likely given my aversion to physical activity.
The problem with this trip is time. It would probably take a month from start to finish.
Flying into Kathmandu from LAX takes roughly 30 hours and crosses the International Date Line. There is no question that ‘shattered’ would be a reasonable term to describe the feeling when you land. Not exactly the level of energy you want to have before taking off on a two-week motorcycle trip. So add several days of recovery before the trip is scheduled to start and several more after returning before being in a condition to return to work.
US Border Loop
I’m sure I am not original here but I haven’t seen, heard or read about anyone else doing it. The idea for this trip is to ride the closest highways around the contiguous US border. The 9,000 mile trip begins and ends in San Diego and travels through various cities around the country getting as close to the border as the interstate allows.
Google Maps Border Loop Route
Time is the main hurdle of this trip, as well. I would have to find a year that I have saved enough vacation to burn a month of days while still taking time for Mrs. Bald Rider.
The early planning of this trip is primarily made of traveling on super slab. Since Google estimates 138 hours of road time on the interstate by car, leaving the slab will increase an already long trip. Choosing “Avoid Highways” adds 45 hours and 400 miles. Just riding a motorcycle for the trip will increase overall time. Averaging 400 miles per day makes it a 23 day trip. The focus of this trip is to lap the United States and not sightseeing. Interstate travel is probably the way to go.
There are a couple other hurdles outside of the enormous time commitment.
Finding a willing, equally-insane rider to join me is a challenge. I may do this trip solo but I think doing it with someone else would add a level of adventure. When I mentioned this trip to Mrs. Bald Rider, she asked if she was invited. While that would count as adding to the adventure, she would only want to ride pillion and I’m not sure I want THAT much adventure.
Motorcycle maintenance is a lesser challenge. I can avoid scheduled maintenance if I start off with fresh tires and oil change on the Goldwing. I’d arrive back in San Diego with oil that is overdue by 1k miles but that’s not a problem. Unforeseen road maintenance is something else entirely. That’s just part of the adventure.
This list will be revisited in the future. I’ve got to get off my rear end and start crossing some of them off before then.
