First of all the ride is a bit longer, something on the order of 4,100 miles instead of 3,500 miles. It also means I'll get so see some new territory that I haven't explored on a bike - some places I've never been to at all. The way the ride is split up the extra miles really happen on the way out to the race since I tend to wander around on the return trip anyway. In order to make it all the way to the coast in two days I'll be doing a marathon 1000+ mile day to get things started. I figure if I'm going to do that many miles I might as well go for an Iron Butt certification.
Another difference is that I won't be riding alone on this trip. John, a friend that I met through my wife is joining me for this one. He rides a BMW K1600 GT which is the sportier version of my bike. I've ridden with John before and I think we have similar enough styles that it's going to be an easy change for me. Plus he knows what he's doing with that bike so I'm not at all worried about having to 'manage' his riding - if anything it will be the other way around!
We are still tweaking the route a bit but so far it's a combination of a non-stop blast straight west through New Mexico and most of Arizona on day 1 then another full day to Carmel California. The ride back hits San Francisco, Yosemite, and Vegas the first couple of days. After that we get into some of my old favorites and visit Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Moab, The Million Dollar Highway, and finally Santa Fe New Mexico.
A map view of the plan as it stands today. The purple line is the outbound route and teal is the return trip...
Hotel Reservations are made and today the last variable was taken care of when the tickets for the event showed up...
I'm already getting psyched up for this ride.
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