long trip - endurance ride at beginning or end?

[Motocentaur]

This summer, I plan to take a trip out west but my time is limited to maybe 7-10 days. My highly detailed plan is go west for about half that time and then turn around. There will be at least one 1k day involved to maximize my time riding somewhere away from home. No certifications or anything this time, just a mile-munching day.


Would it be better to do it at the beginning of the trip to get away from familiar territory, or at the end of the trip to hurry back home? I can think of pros and cons either way.

[nwconk]

Practically speaking you are more rested and ready for a long ride at the beginning of a trip.  However, for me, the last getting home day is typically the longest day.  You have a destination and don't need to look for a place to stay.  The idea of just x 100 more miles to home, I can do that, seems to work for me.  My basic cheapness, just x more miles - I'm not going to pay for motel when that is all I have to do.  For me all this stuff adds to the last day push .

YMMD  

--chris

[torags v2]

Some of it depends on the topography or weather. Not considering those I would recommend doing the Iron Butt on the first leg when you're freshest. There are two stages of planning for weather. Consider planning your route (the rough out), then verify your trip legs with the national weather service site two days before departure.

I'm doing a 50CC SF-Daytona for bikeweek in early March. I'm roughed out and equipped for freezing weather. I'll do my final departure time on Thurs (5 day forecasts are not reliable).

I'm shooting for 3000 mi in 48hrs, wish me luck (I didn't make it in '04).

BTW, watch your paperwork.

[Motocentaur]

BTW, watch your paperwork.

Nope, not this ride - no certifications this time . . . unless I decide I have a BBG in me . . . but that would probably burn me out for the rest of the tour. . .

Oh - anyway, I'm thinking of blasting along the slab on my first day out and getting to Indiana at least. Then, more liesurely riding towards South Dakota or Montana before heading back across Minnesota, Michigan, and Ontario.

[torags v2]

Have a good trip.

[Cal24Master]

I have done it both ways.  I prefer to do the hard riding on the first couple days so I can relax the last day before I get home.  It can be a pain to get up the morning of your last day of vacation and realize that you have to a 1000 mile day to get home, so you can get up and go to work the next morning.

[AGirl]

This summer, I plan to take a trip out west but my time is limited to maybe 7-10 days. My highly detailed plan is go west for about half that time and then turn around. There will be at least one 1k day involved to maximize my time riding somewhere away from home. No certifications or anything this time, just a mile-munching day.


Would it be better to do it at the beginning of the trip to get away from familiar territory, or at the end of the trip to hurry back home? I can think of pros and cons either way.

As a high mileage rider (did 65k mi last year) I'd say variables like weather and traffic/congestion typically make the decision for me. A 1k day in western states (like SD/WY/MT/UT/AZ/NM/TX) where speed limits are higher and traffic is non-existent is very different from a 1k day east of the Mississippi. If everything is equal, I usually prefer to get out of the gate quick (higher miles earlier) not only because I am the most rested but also in case I encounter delays during the trip (like weather, mechanical, etc.,) I have a bit of a time buffer.

Best wishes on your journey.

AGirl

[David Morrow]

There are good points to do it at the start or end of your vacation noted above. Being fresh at the beginning as noted or being more mentally tuned into your bike after a couple of weeks are both good things.
 
Here's a couple more.

If you're going East to West or west to east consider that riding east you only have the sun in your eyes for a short time as you and the sun are going in opposite directions; going west, the sun could be in your eyes for a very long time.  

The other consideration is hours of daylight. I attempted a Transcanada Gold in 2005 West to east and had about 3 hours of riding in the dark each day. I had a minor technical problem with the bike so did rode on to Halifax and rode it East to West. Then I only had about 1 to 1.5 hours of riding in the dark. If you hate riding in critter country in the dark, it may be important if you're doing 1200+ mile days.

[torags v2]

There are good points to do it at the start or end of your vacation noted above. Being fresh at the beginning as noted or being more mentally tuned into your bike after a couple of weeks are both good things.
 
Here's a couple more.

If you're going East to West or west to east consider that riding east you only have the sun in your eyes for a short time as you and the sun are going in opposite directions; going west, the sun could be in your eyes for a very long time.  

The other consideration is hours of daylight. I attempted a Transcanada Gold in 2005 West to east and had about 3 hours of riding in the dark each day. I had a minor technical problem with the bike so did rode on to Halifax and rode it East to West. Then I only had about 1 to 1.5 hours of riding in the dark. If you hate riding in critter country in the dark, it may be important if you're doing 1200+ mile days.

And the wind in the US is usually from west to east. If you're route is east to west consider reduced gas mileage and slower speeds (like airplanes)

[Motocentaur]

My route would be a sort of clockwise circle with the east-to-west part in the beginning. The long first day would be from Connecticut to Ohio or Indiana somewhere. This was basically the route of my SS1k a couple of years ago (although my turnaround was near Erie, PA).

If I do the long day at the end, it will be through Ontario, which is unfamiliar territory to me, so I'm becoming reluctant to do it at the end.

[1moreroad]

What's a typical mileage day?  Why not spread the 1000 miles over the whole 10 days?  That's only about 90 minutes of extra riding a day.

For my big trip last year, West to East our miles got shorter every day.  Our shortest day was our last one and we were very tired after just 250 miles of riding (compared to 600+ miles on day 1).  Throughout the trip we were leaving the hotel in the morning later every day.  I'm wondering if we wore ourselves out that first day.  Day 1 was also the hottest with temps reaching 110.  We did very little interstate West to East, just 1000 of 4000 miles.

East to West by myself, the miles stayed pretty constant -- around 600 miles/day after the first day.  The first day was just 350 or so because I traveled from my parents' home to visit my grandmother so my start and stop points were fixed.  Given that it was just me, I found myself keeping a pretty constant daily traveling distance from OH to AZ.  I also did a LOT Of interstate on the return (2000 of 3000 miles) so the distance went by pretty easily.

Surprisingly on the E2W leg, temperature had little effect on distance covered.  Temperatures varied from the 50s to the 110s, and I still covered about the same distance every day.

One little "bonus" riding E2W is that you do get a little extra sunlight and the time changes mean more services are open "later."  This can be an issue in small towns where restaurants and gas stations aren't 24/7.

[DNA]

I would plan to do the big mileage first - but then poor planning and interesting side trips, and my desire to get home would usually require a long stint at the end as well, so I usually end up doing both.  One think to think about - I hate riding east in the early AM and west in the PM, but if you have a very long piece of slab to cross, there are not too many options.

[county]

Get up early and haul ass for 800-1000 miles that first day.  Get away from what you are familiar with and into something new immediately.

[REAPER]

Motocentaur, I did a BBG the first day last year, then spent the next 5 days riding the Rockies and then a 850 mile day home. Best vacation of my life.  
 
 

[egads1]

Why be concerned with mileage?  Why not ride until you want to stop--for pictures, meals, something you want to see, really bad weather or just because.  There is no law that says that you have to cover so many miles a day.  If you have a destination with a timetable, that is different.  But if you are just going for a ride, why not just enjoy it?  My .02

[REAPER]

egads1 - you missed the point - This is about a LONG DISTANCE certification, ya don't have time to "ride until you want to stop--for pictures, meals, something you want to see, really bad weather or just because".

"There is no law that says that you have to cover so many miles a day"  
The rules state that you cover X amount of miles in X number of hours.

[1moreroad]

Why be concerned with mileage?  Why not ride until you want to stop--for pictures, meals, something you want to see, really bad weather or just because.  There is no law that says that you have to cover so many miles a day.  If you have a destination with a timetable, that is different.  But if you are just going for a ride, why not just enjoy it?  My .02

To add to Reaper, Motocentaur might have chosen to spend lots of time riding somewhere like Colorado but first needs to cross  Kansas or Nebraska to do so.

I'd hate to think of the things I would have missed seeing and doing if I hit the road without a plan of where I wanted to go.  The best places have been those places near the places I planned to stop.  Would have missed everything if I had just ridden aimlessly.