Where is a Canadian to go for a Ride?

[Motoaxe]

Yupp....this is a fairly open ended question but if I dont ask I may never know!.. Im looking at taking a trip down to the southwestern parts for a fly in and rent (like a GS or something) week long trip. Would like to do some gravel but it isn't necessary so long as the vista and temps are good...... and by good temps I mean anything above 55 F ish and bare roads... Im Canadian afterall!
Thinking about late feb or early march...

My only real restrictions are that I have to be able to rent a bike wherever i land....


Any suggestions??

[mikerd400]

There's a place in SF that rents GSs. From there, you can head south or north. South towards Death Valley, or North towards the lost coast. Lots of good riding in between both.

[DaveBro]

If you haven't been to that part of the world, I highly recommend you ride though southern Utah. Las Vegas has good flight connections, and bike rentals AFAIK.

You could do a great week working your way across Utah (Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches), and dip down to Monument Valley and Grand Canyon, loop back to Vegas. Southwestern Colorado is also amazing, highly recommended if you have the time.

However, Feb/March might be a little early for this (and definitely too early for Colorado), since a lot of it is at pretty high elevation. So either delay or consider a different base, like Phoenix for example. You could stay in the lower desert areas where the weather will be warmer (but you'll run into a lot of Canadians, eh). I don't know a lot about southern AZ, so I'll let someone else chime in. Have fun.

[A.Vern]

I've seen quite a few posts from people that flew into Vegas, rented a GS and the di up Death Valley. Temps will be nice in Feb-March and there are alot of GS friendly roads to choose from.

[TUCKERS]

Fly to Long Beach. Get a GS from LBBMW. Head south then east. Just hang around the lower quadrant of Southern California for a week. Early March can still be cold, but there are tons of lower mountains and high desert to ride. Saturday it was 80F in Claremont! If you decide to do this I have a 850 mile five day route that takes you not more than 150 miles from Long Beach but which includes some of the finest riding for the time of year, all paved, some of it roughly paved, lots of it seldom seem by even local riders. SNOW is still a consideration above 4000 feet.

[Salsa]

Famous James

"If you decide to do this I have a 850 mile five day route that takes you not more than 150 miles from Long Beach but which includes some of the finest riding for the time of year, all paved, some of it roughly paved, lots of it seldom seem by even local riders. SNOW is still a consideration above 4000 feet."

A lot of us would like to hear about that route.

Don

[TUCKERS]

Ok. This is what we did in November. trying to do as little freeway.

Leave at 9am
210 fwy east from Towne Ave Claremont
Exit Cherry
Take Lytle creek Rd.
Turn right to Devore
get back 15 fwy at Cajon Blvd exit 129
15 fwy north
exit 131
take 138 east
to crestline
take 18
to left on 38
to Fawnskin
to Big Bear
have a donut and coffee in Big bear
take 38 down mountain
take 79 to Yuciapa in Cherry valley
take 10 fwy to Beaumont/Banning
exit 100 get motel and dinner
9am start
take 243 to Idyllwild
get donut and coffee
right on 74 in Idyllwild
left on R3 in Hemet
right on 79
left on S16
left on 76
left on S6 over Palomar Mountain
right down towards Lake Henshaw
left on 76
after lake left on 79
right on S2
bear left on S22 towards Borrego Springs
get motel and dinner. Leave luggage at motel
leave at 9am
S3 out
right on 78
coffee and breakfast in Julian
back to 79 south out of town
left on S1 Mount Laguna
8 fwy west
exit 40
left/south on 94 to Jamul
head for Barrett Junction and Potrero/Campo
follow U.S. side of Mexican border
turn rightish at Cameron Corners
head for Boulevard
go rightish
go through Jacumba
go to exit 77 8 fwy east
8 fwy east to exit 87
at Octillo
left on S2
right on 78
left on S3
back to Borrego Springs and same motel/dinner
leave at 9am
take 79 out north
at Aguanga right on 371
right on 74 Alpine Village
to Palm Desert
take 111 find motel/dinner
leave at 11am
go home.

[Marius356]

Originally Posted by TUCKERS

Ok. This is what we did in November. trying to do as little freeway.

Leave at 9am
210 fwy east from Towne Ave Claremont
Exit Cherry
Take Lytle creek Rd.
Turn right to Devore
get back 15 fwy at Cajon Blvd exit 129
15 fwy north
exit 131
take 138 east
to crestline
take 18
to left on 38
to Fawnskin
to Big Bear
have a donut and coffee in Big bear
take 38 down mountain
take 79 to Yuciapa in Cherry valley
take 10 fwy to Beaumont/Banning
exit 100 get motel and dinner
9am start
take 243 to Idyllwild
get donut and coffee
right on 74 in Idyllwild
left on R3 in Hemet
right on 79
left on S16
left on 76
left on S6 over Palomar Mountain
right down towards Lake Henshaw
left on 76
after lake left on 79
right on S2
bear left on S22 towards Borrego Springs
get motel and dinner. Leave luggage at motel
leave at 9am
S3 out
right on 78
coffee and breakfast in Julian
back to 79 south out of town
left on S1 Mount Laguna
8 fwy west
exit 40
left/south on 94 to Jamul
head for Barrett Junction and Potrero/Campo
follow U.S. side of Mexican border
turn rightish at Cameron Corners
head for Boulevard
go rightish
go through Jacumba
go to exit 77 8 fwy east
8 fwy east to exit 87
at Octillo
left on S2
right on 78
left on S3
back to Borrego Springs and same motel/dinner
leave at 9am
take 79 out north
at Aguanga right on 371
right on 74 Alpine Village
to Palm Desert
take 111 find motel/dinner
leave at 11am
go home.

Sounds great. Could you tell me the earliest time of the year to do that trip? Since I am in construction January to Feburary are good times to get off work - the rest of the year not so much :p