I haven’t travelled a lot in my life and have never taken a long MC trip, always been a commuter and single day rider.
Family and I went to Utah last year and we all loved it. With kid’s swim team commitments and difficulty getting time off that coincided with my wife’s, I decided to go it alone on the F6B.
The trip started a day late due to storms in the St. Louis area, they hadn’t moved through yet so I wrapped my bag up and rode through them. They had to stop eventually.
Took the southern route from St. Louis area, 44 south through MO, through OK, and on to Amarillo, TX for KOA camping.
I like camping at KOA because it’s cheap, they have showers, and if you arrive after hours you can check yourself in.
In the past we’d always start a fire for breakfast, which is a major undertaking, so I finally “discovered” alcohol stoves. They pack small, use very little fuel, and will heat up a can of chili or gumbo in a few minutes. A cheap wind guard is a must.
There’s no sleeping late when camping for me, no room for a blow-up mattress so my 1/4” exercise mat had to do, that and the birds and roosters crowing get me up at sunrise.
From there I took 87 to 25N to 12 in CO, the Highway of Legends. Beautiful ride. Lost lots of time taking pictures and talking to folks along the way.
Stayed at the Alamosa KOA.
Next day it was 160 to 491 to 191N in Utah to Moab. Rode a little through Canyonlands and up 128, but needed to get checked in. Stayed at a Motel 6 in Moab for a couple days rather than camp. Was nice to have a place I didn’t have to button up in the morning.
Rode the La Sal Mountain Loop/Castle Valley, which was breathtaking. Explored Canyonlands (Grand View Point and Dead Horse).
The ride back from La Sal on 128 is hard to beat. I was racing to try to ride La Sal again in the other direction at the end of the day for some different views and sunset photos, but it is not a road for anything less than 100% if riding after dark. I almost wrecked when pulling over for some shots, went with my gut and headed back to the motel.
Had planned on heading up through Yellowstone and then east through SD and home, but was missing wife and kids badly so decided on the quick but scenic 70E through the Rockies. So beautiful, but stay alert because traffic really moves and there’s very few straightaways.
Wanted to ride straight through to St. Louis but I stop far too often and always find myself chatting with other travelers. Wicked storm in KS with golf-ball sized hail held me back. Stayed in a KOA in Goodland KS that had grass that I could actually drive a tent stake into, a necessity as a storm rolled through that woke me up to my tent trying to lay flat from some extreme winds blowing through. I awoke thinking a bear or marauder was attacking the tent.
Rolled in to Columbia, IL late Friday night.
There were MANY things I didn't get to see, most notably Zion National Park, but I intend to go back with the family and see it all with them.
Things that helped me:
* A place for everything, and everything in its place. Used CC for most transactions so I kept that in inner velcro pocket in jacket, wallet in another. Always check that they’re in place before taking off.
* Getting hydrated at every gas stop. Amazing how much water you lose through sweat.
* I don’t have the radio knob keys made yet so I used a neck lanyard with a retracting reel with a spare on it for gas and bags. Also zip-tied a spare in an out of the way place just in case.
* A gallon of water in the side case was useful for drinking water, wetting a microfiber towel for windshield cleaning, or for cleaning up cooking gear.
* Spare cables for any devices and a fully charged USB power pack if something needed a charge at night.
* Ample supply of Walmart bags and Ziplock for my cheap, but useful GPS.
* Backrest, in the form of my back seat bag. OMG I never knew, thought “how could a little support at your lower back help?”. I was so wrong.
Honestly, if you’re wanting to put on some miles, a backrest is a must. If you’re dubious, so was I. Now I know. I carefully packed my tent and pad in the bag with my fleece blanket at the front every morning.
Things that would’ve helped me:
* I don’t deal with toll roads in my life and the tolls in OK killed me. When do they end? If you need to get off the road for gas they give you a refund then take it right back when you get back on! I would’ve come up with a little coin purse for $1 and quarters and kept it handy. So. Painful.
* A hi-def helmet mounted camera and/or a smaller DSLR that would fit in a cubby. I only had my iPhone (1st world problem for sure) but some of these places are so darn scenic it would’ve been nice to have nicer pics and video.
* I underestimated the sun and had a nice burn on my face early on, only then started using the sunblock. Dark spots on each of my hands show where the little sun gets through where the velcro strap opening is.
If you’ve never been to Utah, look around on the web and some of the State and National park sites for info, it’s an amazing place to visit.
Also, official state snake of Utah? The Tar.
There's a Welcome to Utah sign where 491 enters UT and the road goes from normal to covered with tar snakes. Got squirrely a couple times, stay alert.
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