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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | I had mentioned this in a post to Varyder, during the "fuel pump" demise, but I am referring to US Highway 50. Varyder made reference to trips West from Virginia, on the "Loneliest Highway". I am planning a trip West. I have travelled both I-80, I-90 & I-40, and really dislike I-80. My question to anyone who has traveled US 50, 1) Are there areas to avoid (Heavy congestion for example or a traffic light every block) ? 2) How is I-70, as an alternate for the areas mentioned in the previous conditions. and 3) Any suggestions? and/or pointers?
Also I am leaving on the 4th of July with a must arrive date in NorCal by late the 9th,.......then it's kewl and I will return by the 22nd. Plan on 600+ days with KOA Kabins or whatever.........
Thanks,
Gandalf |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I've taken I-70, but not on a bike, to Colorado, then veered off to Fort Carson. 70, as I recall was a good highway and ample places to pull off. I probably won't be able to do a leisurely trek on RT 50 until I get to be a geezer like some on here. 
I look forward to the reviews as well Gandalf, and hopefully yours if nobody elses. Sound like you're one of those forementioned folks that I want be like when I grow up.
Edited by varyder 2010-05-26 8:48 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 215
orrick, mo | I-70 isn't too bad. Boring if you don't like the open plains of Kansas. Winds can be a problem. I've heard of both cages and bikes running out of fuel becuz of the head winds going west. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | I'll be careful with my response (you work for the IRS?) Anyhow, Growing Up is different from Growing Old. It's an experience thing........there are TT riders (Tavern to Tavern), TQ riders (Trailer Queens), PR riders (Profilers, ya know, "image is everything"?. But believe me the JOURNEY is half of the adventure and should be taken as often as possible. Life is either a Merry go Round or a Roller Coaster, I prefer the latter, BUT without TAR Snakes!! DOT requires that when tar snake patching is used the DPW or Road Dept are SUPPOSED to throw sand over the hot soft tar. That way when it drys it has texture for traction! BUY WHERE is that done!!......... just saying, anyone gets hurt from TAR Snakes and they weren't "sanded", there's liability!...hmmm
Chris you had mentioned US 50 and it got me thinking. Then I was invited to a retirement party in NorCal up by the Oregon border so I got out the maps!! My concern is the ability to make time, I'll be on my 08 Tour and the wife will be on her 03 Road King. We went West in 08 on the 4th of July (a special way to celebrate Independence) and by the early evening of the 6th we were in Deadwood. But that was on I-80 & I-90. Superslabbing is boring. Thus my inquiry of US 50. I suppose I may be using more of I-70 (at least it's a different slab) in order to make the time. Then we can pursue the more visual "eye candy" ride back..........So yep I'll let ya know. I'm a native NorCal and will retire there in about 2 years.......Then I'll see New Jersey in my rear view mirror!! Shall not return nor miss it. Oh by the way riding season in NorCal, it be velly velly much long time, GI.  |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | Buzz thanks. That's why my wife is now on a HD RK, in 08 after we jumped from Deadwood to Cody, we had a day of 50/60 mph side winds and her 02 Dyna was changing lanes w/o any rider input!! For her to say to me that she'd rather ride in the rain than high winds was significant. SHE HATES the rain!  |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | no I don't work for the IRS and I wish they would take me off their mailing list. It's interesting you bring up a lot of great points and tar snakes. My ability to travel is always limited due to the location of work and frequency there of. I'm not a big vacation guy, yet, and the wife and I rarely can synch up to take it at the same time. That is why I made the decision to be an everyday rider. I love each ride and every ride is a vacation to itself, regardless of distance travel. I have more rides than I can take in a lifetime rolling around in my head, but it seems like everytime I hit the road I'm at full-bore to get where I'm going and back again. Actually, that is also the way I like to ride, but when I retire, ahhhh, I'll slow down and enjoy the scenary, but until then...got to go...ride safe |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Funny was just having this same conversation today. Basically the fellow I was chatting wih said if you don't mind being bored out of your mind my long stretches of nothing, take 70. If however you like something a little more scenic take 80. Now I hae I 80/90 but I'm heading out to Yellowstone with the Mrs at the end of June and we'll be super slabbin on I 80 going and looping back on 90 to 80 again upon return. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 101
| Gandalf
I did the northern Cal 1 year ago on the way back did 50 out of california and it was a great ride. You have 4 towns in the state of Nevade about a hundred miles apart so gas is no issue and a lot of history as it was the old pony express route. One warning, 80 out of Reno was all under bad I would check to see if it is done yet.
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | Hey BASSMAN, Thanks for that info. I will be in the Mt Shasta area and will head from there (on the return) down thru Susanville, Cal to Sparks, NV.....this is now the GRAY area.......I want my wife (an East Coaster) to see the "curvature" of the Earth at Wendover. But I also want to do the trip to Tonopah to Vegas to Grand Canyon to the 4 corners,.....etc, etc So I may have to incorporate the I-80 in order to catch Wendover while Westbound. My wife (I got to experience her excitement going West of the Mississippi in 2008, so I'm tryin to "show" her a lot of eye candy that I have seen". She is a RIDER! We linked up in 2000 after a divorce, she had a sporty then that she clocked 37K miles on. She then got her 02 Dyna which has 57K on it's clock as we speak.......She's a very capable rider, I guess that's why we hitched up in '06! Nothing like sharing the passion with your partner. But with the responses I'm getting I need to be realistic and not try too cRaM too much into the ride and focus on the Quality rather than Quantity.......yeah, that's the ticket, kinda like the Vision, it's the Quality of the Ride instead of the Quantity of the Brand! (if you read between the lines) I mean I traded up from an '07 Ultra,.......even at the last Victory open house at my Dual Dealership (HD & Victory) when I saw my old Ultra, not a tinge or pang of regret! I love this Vision!!! So this "10 trip is now code-named "Eagle Vision West"....... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | US 50 is a very interesting highway across Nevada and Utah. I would recommend it. Also, west of the Mississippi, use the US highway instead of the Interstate highways. You will see some very nice areas of the country that you may not have seen before. Over the last 20 years, a lot of the US highways have been converted to 4-lane high access highways from the old 2-lanes and many have by-passes around some of the little towns. On the US highways you have less traffic to deal with and you still can make good time. Just this last Monday I rode from Kansas City to Houston, ~800 miles in a little over 13 hours. Only Interstate riding was about 60 miles on I-44. Enjoy your Eagle Vision journey. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | Vision Tex, Thanks for the info, I enjoyed a return trip from the Blue Ridge and travelled along HWY 11(paralleling I-81) it was great very little taffic and a few lights but all 'n all a great ride back to the PA border. So I imagine it will be a "play it by ear" type of thing. If it gets too slow and backed up we can jump to the Interstate, but I really enjoy the parts of America not normally travelled. I do need to try and do about 620 miles a day and try to do the 7am to 7pm or 8pm or 9pm....ha!  Checkin out KOA Kabins for the nights along the way. Whatever it takes to accomplish the mission.......My "Kitchen Six" will dig deep and probably push me!!! Half the ADVENTURE is gettin there...........
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Cruiser
Posts: 172
Prescott, Az | We are almost finished with our Hwy 50 trip from Az to PA & back. Our plan was to pick up 50 & ride it to Scranton PA or close to it and back. Our plans got scrapped on the way to PA due to weather. We had to hopscotch all over the west to keep from riding into hail and tornados. We lost time so we hit interstates in Kansas & rode them all the way to PA. Boring as hell but we met up with my friends kids as planned and decided to take 50 back to AZ. It didn't take us long to see that taking backroads and scenic routes was preferable to taking 50 just for the sake of taking 50. Our trip back has taken us thru some very nice places. My advice to anyone considering such a trip is keep your options open and study the map each day to get the most out of your trip. Flexibility has made this trip of ours very memorable. One could be out there for years and not see all the USA has to offer. VMC'rs along the way gave us tips on what to see via posting messages each night and some even met up with us and rode with us a bit. Just my $.02 |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | this may be my route home if I decide to go to reno when I'm done. I just dread I70 back though, but due to time I may have no choice. At least I'll be leaning in the other direction through Kansas. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 15
Winchester, Virginia | Rt. 50 goes right through my hometown of Winchester, VA. I have traveled it to Ohio, but never any further. GREAT roads through West Viriginia IF you love the twisties!!! Lots of fun!! Someday I will ride Rt. 50 from Ocean City to California. I just need the time and money!! Hmmmmmmm........where do I find that........I'll check ebay!!! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | rebel, I frequent the little Big Apple often. Handley or James Wood, and what year? |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | Hey Varyder...... Well we leave at O dark thirty on the 4th! The anxious anxiety and thrill of it all is building. What was it about I-70 that is so bad? Reason I ask is that our time "push" is going out to be in Yreka California by the 10th, but also to see some stuff along the way also. Initially (AAHGH) I-80 to State College, PA to drop South onto I-70 to Strasburg, Colorado......then a nice route onto CO 14 for eye candy then onto 40 into Utah and onto I-80 through the Salt Flats, stopping in West Wendover, NV to show my wife, from that elevation looking back East, the Interstate and railroad tracks paralleling as far as you can see but also you can "see" the curvature of the Earth from there. Then I'm not sure how I'll continue as it will depend on the DAY and time remaining.
I hope your trip has been a good one!! Oh and by the way to ALL......HAPPY Fourth Of JULY and a SALUTE to ALL VETS......it's this FREEDOM that so many take for granted that allows such adventures!!! Not to mention the FREEDOM V-Twin!!!
EAGLE VISION WEST !!!!!! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | There is nothing per se bad about I-70, it is Kansas, which is miles of plains that does not hold back any wind. I rode a few hundreds miles with a wind out of the south and the temp was about 103 degrees so it felt like a furnance. Also, the storms can be be quick and bad so you need to keep a n eye on the weather. Overall, it was just part of riding and it was the quickest way to get west and get to the eye candy, so that is good. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | OK Thanks, it's just a more Southren version of Nebraska!!!! Corn to the left and corn to the right.. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | corn fields would have been a plus, it is more like wide open ranges. And then when you get to the western end it gets real windy, you know by the miles of windmills along the route and the tractor trailer rigs laying on their side. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | ALL righty then, .... hmmmm, ...I won't tell my "Kitchen Six" (she's riding her Road King) and hated the wind in '08 in Wyoming.....(but then that was on her Dyna)....... we'll hope for a "light gentle breeze out of the North" HA!! I know every time I've been through Rock Springs, WY that the wind blows, so I guess we'll add Kansas to the list as well. But ya know, half the adventure is gettin there!!!! (usually followed by "is this a good time to tell me how much you love me??" ....... NOT!!!!)
So it goes.....but we'll be makin memories and experiences for the 'ol bench racin in the future. TAKE care Chris, as I think you'll be Eastbound by the time we go South from NorCal.
Gandalf (Jeff) |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | if may plans work out, I'll roll north to Reno on the 8th about mid-day, or early evening from Barstow. Where does that put you at the same time frame? |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | On the 7th (tentatively) we should be in West Wendover, NV ......so potentially we could make Reno on the 8th........ I don't plan to take my laptop so we would have to communicate by cell phone or cell text. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 54
| I live just south pf 50 in southern colorado. eastern half of colorado 50 sucks, flat, straight and boring, but you can hoot and scoot, western half is spectacular! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | jeff - I live off the same schedule, tentative. I won't know much until wednesday or even thursday, but the perfect world will put me south of Reno where my Uncle actually lives the evening of the 8th. We can always play it by ear, my best meeting so far was Tex and his BMW buddy at the four corners in the middle of nowhere. I'm still wondering what are the odds of two Vision riders from totally two different regions of the country traveling hundreds of miles and meeting in the middle of the desert at the same time. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 38
NW Jersey | Well we are 8 hours and counting, all packed except for some toiletries for use in the am. Then we are off to the WEST. Varyder you have my cell # so if you text or call I will eventually get it. As the 8th approaches we'll see how the "tentative" schedules work out!!!
R O A D T R I P!!! |
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US 50
