well for the summer at least.

I will be riding from NYC to Grand Junction Colorado for a summer internship up till August.

I need to be in GJ on the 28/29th of May, so i have about 4-5 days to get there and I'm wondering what the best route to get there is.

I was thinking about NYC to Indianapolis to Kansas city to Denver to Grand Junction, taking about 4-5 days. I might end up borrowing my dads E-250 and throwing my bike in the back and just drive there with all my belongings ( i was going to mail them).

How does that route sound? Im not sure of the weather conditions ill be going through since the weather has been absolutely nuts lately.  Anything to see and do on the way that can fit in my time frame?

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Part 1: http://kuixihe.com/node/44

DitR is calling you...

Im already looking into time off for that weekend.

damn, no advice but that sounds like a awesome road trip... and then being in colorado for the summer with a bike... freaking jealous now haha.

That's a decent route, and with those as stopover points you won't be pushing yourself too hard. New York to Indy will be your longest day at around 12 hours of drive time, and that's assuming you don't have to sit in construction or traffic. I prefer the I-70 route to the I-80 route as you avoid both Cleveland and Chicago.

I would definitely take the van. The weather across the plains states can be iffy at best that time of year, and this year's tornado season has been more active than most.

make the beast with two backs it! Ride!!!!

If you keep us posted could take you through some pretty pristine Missouri roads when you get out this way.  I found one a week or two ago that could have easily been track quality asphalt with nary a straight road in sight for 30 or so miles. 

Advise on Kansas:  ride/drive it at night or do it first thing in the morning.  It's like 5 hours across (if memory serves) and it is a DULL RIDE.  You won't want to be fully cognisant for that leg.

Indy south of Indianapolis is ok if you want to take some of the local highways (mom and I did a trip out to NYC a few years ago that led us through some ok country), but most of Indiana and Illinois is pretty shitty as well (grew up in Central IL).  St. Louis to KC, however, is a pretty fantastic ride and if you want a layover in Columbia, we have good local beer and food stuffs

Quote from: NAKID on April 30, 2012, 04:39:16 PM
make the beast with two backs it! Ride!!!!

seriously thinking about it!!!! I was going to ride it in 6 days until my dad offered to loan me the work van which isnt used anymore. One of the reasons i dont want to ride is because its a straight long boring road out west. It would be easier to just drive.

i was hoping to drive in the middle of hte night. drive off around 3am, and stop around 4-5pm. check out the local scenery and then repeat.

A) Plains thunderstorms. This was last Friday. Gets interesting about 25 seconds in. 4/27/2012 Cloud, Co Kansas Tornado and Hail Video

B) Any money you might save on gas would be spent on the tires you'd have to buy to replace the ones you rode out on.

I would avoid the northerly route if I were you.  Swing through Knoxville area via the dragon and run to Nashville on the back roads.  I'd then swing to the AR or MO route.  AR has absolute incredible roads and you will enjoy the hell of the pig trail.  You can then jump on I-40 and haul ass to CO.

Quote from: Buckethead on April 30, 2012, 07:56:57 PM
A) Plains thunderstorms. This was last Friday. Gets interesting about 25 seconds in. 4/27/2012 Cloud, Co Kansas Tornado and Hail Video

B) Any money you might save on gas would be spent on the tires you'd have to buy to replace the ones you rode out on.

WHAT THE make the beast with two backs

well...not like you haven't ridden through deathly provoking storm situations before....

not golf ball sized hail atleast. should that be added to the list??

my only experiance with driving across KS ended in 100 mph crosswinds. the car was being blown all over the road.

not to mention the tumbleweeds.

also, if you have the van, you have a place to sleep for a couple of hrs and then get back on the road.

If you take 70 your welcome to crash in Columbus at my place.