Saturday, August 3, 2013

NJ to CA : 8/3/2013 Trip Analysis and cost

4741 miles in 10 days.  It wasn't all even days either.

Here's the approximate mileage break down:

Day 1: 207 miles
Day 2: 871 miles
Day 3: 773 miles
Day 4: 230 miles
Day 5: 436 miles
Day 6: 225 miles
Day 7: 762 miles
Day 8: 343 miles
Day 9: 319 miles
Day 10: 473 miles

I will say this.  Mileage doesn't matter.  Endurance riding is all about hours in the seat.  You could put a bike on it's center stand and sit on it without getting off, except for simulated fuel stops for 12 hours and feel the same way as if the bike were moving.  Also, how far you can go depends a lot on the scenery.  The worst riding places were from Fort Collins Co to Cody WY and Petaluma CA to Redlands CA, where the landscape changes very little.  In contrast, places like the Rocky Mountain State Park, Yellowstone, Nebraska and Iowa and the Redwood forest, which are all simply gorgeous, were very easy to ride.

Oh, if you're in Oregon, make sure you pronounce it Ore*gun.  If you pronounce it Ore*gone, the locals will have a fit.  Who knew.  Also, if you're going to ride the coast in this state, ride it when it's warm.  I'm told they get their summer in September, when the temp gets up to 70 degrees...or simply bring heated clothing for the ride.  The segment from Hillsboro OR to Crescent City CA was also very hard.  I'm sure it's fantastic in the sun; but, the constant gray skies, cold and mist made the segment less enjoyable than I had hoped for.

I left 2 days of contingency, which I did not use.  I'm not sure I would have used them if I had it to do over again.  The first 2 days, I was doing an Iron Butt Association Butt Burner ride, so I was glad to not have to use them during that.  I could easily have spent another day in either the Rockies or Yellowstone or the Redwood forest; but, they wouldn't have been days off the bike, so that wouldn't have been a good use of the contingency time.    Also, once I got to Loveland, CO, I was starting to move away from my final destination, so holding the contingency time was the right thing to do.  Lots could happen between there and Redlands.

Here's the cost breakdown:

Dining Total: $  310.37
Fuel Total    : $  474.97
Hotel Total  : $1094.31
Tolls Total   : $   39.25
Grand Total : $ 1918.90

Need to save money?  Start with the hotels.  I didn't chose fancy hotels - Super 8's, Best Western's and Sleep Inn's.  You could easily go with motels or even camp.  I didn't camp.  I had too much to carry to begin with - a tent and sleeping bag were out of the question.  Also, the tolls in the northeast  could be avoided, and probably with an increase in scenery, if you're not in a time crunch.  You'd pay more in gas; but, it's all about seeing stuff, right?  As for the fuel, my bike can handle 89 octane just fine.  I choose the highest octane I can fine.  You could save a little there.  My gauge was reading 39.5 mpg most of the way.  I think BMW's claim of 56 mpg at 55 mph is a big stretch.  I never saw those kind of numbers.

Here's the final route.  I had to split this up in two maps because Google limits each maps to 25 way points.  I chose Atwood, CO as my split and had to omit two stops in southern California.




...Off to plan the next set of trips.  I need to plan a trip that gets me Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona to complete the states I haven't ridden to in the West.  I may also ride my bike back to NJ when this contract is up.  I would take a southern route then and ride in more states.

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