Two Wheels and Two Weeks: Before the Road

Riding across the country is on the bucket list of many a motorcycle rider. I finally had the chance to tackle this undertaking over 13 days from the Midwest to Southern California and back.

The Primary Objectives:

1. Ride from southeastern Wisconsin to southwestern California and back on my Harley-Davidson Softail Slim.

2. Attend the 2024 Babes Ride Out Central Coast women's moto-camping event in Santa Barbara.

3. Ride through National Parks on my way out and back.

The Day by Day Plan:

Day 1: My friend and I plan to meet for breakfast and ride hard for the day. We want to make it to a state park campsite outside of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Day 2: We plan to finish riding across the plains reaching the eastern side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Sleeping arrangements to be determined.

Day 3: A busy day, we plan to ride through the Rocky Mountain National Park, then hit the Independence Pass, make it through Colorado and stay overnight at a hotel in Moab, Utah.

Day 4: I plan to work in the morning before we hit the road to see Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park before working our way across the state to stay in a campsite closer to Capitol Reef National Park.

Day 5: Ride through Capitol Reef National Park and then make our way south to ride through Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park on our way to Las Vegas where we are to be hosted by a friend of my friend.

Day 6: Cut our way across California to Santa Barbara where we will set up camp for the weekend at Babes Ride Out.

Day 7: Babes Ride Out.

Day 8: We plan to ride together to Orange County California where she has a work event she plans to attend and I will stay with some family. We'll go our separate ways for the trip.

Day 9: I plan to work in the morning and ride through the afternoon through Joshua Tree National Park and stay as close as I can to Grand Canyon National Park.

Day 10: Take in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon before getting as close I can to Mesa Verde National Park to stay in a hotel.

Day 11: Use the morning to work, and then visit Mesa Verde National Park and then work my way across to Great Sand Dunes National Park before finding a place to stay for the night.

Day 12: Riding hard, work my way across Kansas and stay near Kansas City.

Day 13: Cut over to St. Louis to see Gateway Arch National Park and then finish my trip home.

Over 5,000 miles.

At least 13 Days.

Up to 11 National Parks.

A big ask for sure - especially considering the longest trip I had done on a bike so far was only about 900 miles over two days. And I had a lot to think about in preparation for this trip.

Things I had to consider:

No. 1 - My motorcycle is not made for Touring.

The bike I'm using for this trip is my street bike - a Harley-Davidson Softail Slim. For those who may not be familiar, this model is considered a Cruiser which is most often used for cruising (ergo the name) such as casual local riding, commuting, or 'bar-hopping'.

If you're wondering, "So, what's the problem...?"

This model is NOT comfortable on long rides. I can only travel about 45 minutes before my back, butt and hips start to hurt. Additionally, my throttle wrist and hand become fatigued after a point (I don't have cruise control) and my body is worn down by wind pressure.

The Solution:

These are mostly rider triangle issues: hands, seat, and feet. To relieve wind fatigue, I add a detachable windshield and an engine guard to which I attach soft lowers. To relieve seat and spine fatigue, I place a sheepskin over my seat (bonus: this also is great for temperature control). To relieve my right hand and wrist, I add a throttle paddle so I can use the palm of my hand instead of gripping the throttle constantly. To relieve my joints, I add passenger pegs so that I can move my feet and change how my skeleton is positioned.

No. 2 - I'll be camping along the way and at Babes Ride Out.

Packing for camping trips always requires an extra level of thinking for me. What's the weather at night? What kind of terrain might I experience for my tent and sleeping pad considerations? What are things that I want to have versus things I need to have? Also, I'm on a motorcycle, so I don't want to be packing things with big sizes or heavy weights.

The Solution:

I tackled this by writing a list over the weeks leading up to my trip that included anything I thought I might need. Then I compared that list to what I had available at home from previous trips. I also was able to use some of my partner's equipment from his days as a backpacking instructor - which definitely helped on the weight and size aspect. Anything I thought I'd need but didn't have, I went looking to purchase. Anything I wasn't sure I'd need, I tried to think through use cases and make a choice one way or the other. And lastly, anything I felt like was a want only got cut from the list.

No. 3 - I'm on a bike the whole trip.

In a few words: Limited Luggage Capacity. This is a bit exacerbated by my model again. I have a tall sissy bar, a solo rack, and a swingarm bag, but that's it for storage capabilities. (I don't have saddlebags and I don't want them - I don't like the look and I find soft saddlebags a little cumbersome during travel anyway.) And as noted by the previous item, I was going to need a fair amount of different items to cover the types of experiences I expected to have.

The Solution:

Deliberately planned bags. I planned to have a limited number of bags that each had a specific function. The categories I landed on: Camping, Tools, Personal Items, Food & Cooking, and Emergency Bag. These bags were then loaded in such a way as to provide access to things I might need during a ride, and be able to leave things I didn't need (like my camping equipment if I was in a hotel) on the bike without having to repack things.

No. 4 - I'm planning to strategically work during the trip.

The obvious point here is that I'll need more stuff to do this, namely basic equipment to do a good job. But additionally, I'd need reliable internet to be able to use most of that equipment.

The Solution:

I filtered down a list of equipment that is sufficient to do my job without becoming frustrated by too many limitations. I also picked which days I planned to work and built into travel - in general location and time - to have reliable access to internet to support an ability to work. Namely, no camping in the mountains on days I'd need to run video calls.

No. 5 - It's nearly two weeks of travel.

No small feat on any adventure really, but packing for two weeks of travel while working and camping was a significant point of consideration. Two weeks of clothes alone in environments ranging from 112 degrees Fahrenheit to near freezing at night is a big ask. Plus, again, I'm on a motorcycle - so space is limited.

The Solution:

Layers and laundry. Since I already had to plan for internet access, I planned too to have laundry access opportunities as well. The goal was to place for 4-5 total days worth of clothes with daily outfits including layers of the same items. When I had the chance, I would do laundry and start with a clean cache of clothing once more for a stretch.

Here's a recreation of the pieces I used to plan this trip:

Create a canva pdf of my packing list

create a canva pdf of my travel points

Next stop - Adventure!!