Explore the Best of the Southwestern USA

Here are a few pictures from the ride

Join me for a motorcycle ride to explore the Red Rock Canyons shaped by the Colorado River.

During this week's adventure we will explore 6 national parks and 4 National Monuments in 3 states.

It's about the beauty of the Southwestern USA.

The desert southwest is a magical landscape, shaped by the forces of nature over million of years. Now a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River.

This area is home to the Grand Canyon known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

About this ride

This is an 8 day adventure motorcycle ride around the southwestern USA. The ride starts in Las Vegas, Nevada and makes a 1300 mile loop around the desert. Each evening we will be staying in hotels and eating in local restaurants.

This ride is designed for experienced riders on larger adventure bikes. There is no support vehicle so riders will need to carry their own gear on their bikes. The weather this time of year is most often great, but it can change and affect the routes we take. Riders need to carry gear to be prepared for cold and rain. Just in case.

About the Routes

Our routes are a mix of dirt roads and paved roads with several levels of difficulty options.

This adventure includes the following Parks:

Grand Canyon National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Zion National Park

Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Mon

Glen Canyon National Rec Area

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Mon

Riding for 1 week can be hard and long for even the best riders. I have worked hard to create daily options so that if a rider is fatigued or simply needs a break, there are route options. Each day there are Easy, Main, and Hard options. In this way, I am able to design routes that work well for riders with a range of experiences. All riders do not take the same routes.

Riders will group up with others wanting similar experiences.

View the ride maps

OK since many of you like to study more detail about the ride, below are the ride maps.

I put these ride maps on the web page because I know a few of you love looking at the ride detail and dreaming about the ride. At first glance these maps do not look so impressive, but they are way cool. If you start zooming in, you can see the ride in incredible detail. I have spent a ton of hours sorting through the details of the ride for each day, so for those of you that enjoy this sort of thing, well enjoy!

Legend:

The Blue lines are MAIN routes

The Red lines are Harder routes

The Green lines are Easy options

The Black lines are the out and back viewpoints

Do this ride yourself: Purchase Rider Packet and GPS microSD Card for this ride

Note: A Full Rider Packet consists of printed ride descriptions and paper ride maps and a custom GPS microSD card for your Garmin or BMW GPS unit.

FAQ's

Q: What bike will I (gpsKevin) be taking on this ride?

A: I will ride my Yamaha Super Tenere

Q: What bikes are good for this ride?

A: Almost any Adventure bikes can work well. The routes have options suited for bikes from the Vstrom to the 1190 Adventure.

Not recommended are dual sport bikes unless you are an excellent rider and ok with back pavement.

Q: What gas distance range should my bike have?

A: I would suggest that on some days you carry enough fuel to make 200 miles due to the fact that sometimes the route can have issues and it is good to have a little margin.

Q: What is the total distance of this ride?

A: total ride distance is 1,300 miles and can vary by your personal route choice options.

Q: What are motel room arrangements?

A: Rooms are double occupancy, meaning each rider shares a two queen bed room with another rider.

Q: How does the ride navigation work?

This is a self-led GPS ride; all riding is on your own. You are responsible for your own riding. You will be given a GPS map file and instructions on how to use your Garmin GPS unit. People will hook up in small groups of less than 6 riders and tend to ride together. You are not encouraged to ride alone. You are responsible for your own riding and yourself.

(see my ride Navigation Video)

Q: How do I make the GPS stuff so easy?

I develop very high quality ride maps custom for our ride. They come from much of what I and others have ridden. I take the best from all my rides and make new ones.

(See my Custom Ride Maps Video)

Q; What do I do if I don't have a Garmin gps?

A: Buy one, you need it. We will show you how to use it. You can get a great one for under $200 bucks.

(See gpsKevin's gps recommendations)

Q: Is the riding really on my own?

A: Yes, but everyone hooks up and rides with a friend, or a new friend or me.

Q: Will I do this ride again next year?

A: No, sorry, I hardly ever repeat rides as I love to develop and discover new places and rides each season. And I have a long dream list of rides now. So this is likely the only time for this ride. Remember: Every time we say no to a ride that is one less ride in life.

Q: Do I need insurance?

A: Yes, you must carry proof of medical insurance and liability insurance for yourself/motorcycle.

Q: Would this be a good ride for new riders?

A: No, this ride is for intermediate and experienced riders only. The riding has easy route choices and tough route options. Each evening we will study the following day's choices. You will find lots of supportive people at the ride.

Are you right for this ride?

When something goes wrong on a ride, would your riding friends say that you are more likely to need help or more likely to give help? You should be in the more likely to offer help camp. This ride is filled with riders that are more likely to give help, so most of the time the riders never need help. Additionally there is all the normal stuff: come prepared to maintain your bike, fix your bike on the trail, repair flat tires, deal with bad weather and rain and make a joke or two.