I'm looking to make some time this riding season to get out to see some buddies in Colorado. How many days do you think this will take to get out there from Portland, Maine? I'll be going it alone, and am willing to "Iron Butt" it to get out there (and back). What route(s) should I take? I'd like to take a different route to get back. Could this be done within a week and still have a day to visit in CO? Thoughts?

 

Ahhh Fort Collins, and the excellent Trailhead bar. I remember it well !

 

Portland to Ft. Collins is about 2,050 miles. If you do it in three days each way, that's almost 700 miles a day. That is Iron Butt type of riding. I couldn't do it but maybe you can. That would only leave you a day to visit in Ft. Collins. Nice town, btw and real close to Rocky Mountain National Park. But you probably won't have time for that if you only have a week to do the entire ride.

As for routes, you really don't have much of a choice. To do that kind of distance in the time frame you are mentioning, you will have to ride the Interstates. That basically means I80 and I70. You also have the option of going through Canada but that would probably take longer.

Take a look at what Google Maps suggests

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Port....5852602?hl=en

 

Depends somewhat on the time of year and route of travel.

 

You got the right ride to do this on that's for sure.
Got to admire the people whom can still do the "Iron Butt".
My next trip to PWM is going to be late May but won't be two wheels.
Enjoy and stay vertical.

 

Hauling the mail . 2 Days there visit a couple days 3 days home. No problemo.
I just rode Atlanta to south Florida . Florida to New Orleans to San Antonio to Yuma ,AZ to San Francisco to Seattle. 6 days riding a few days visiting average 788.5 miles a day
4731 miles total

 

I'd strongly suggest you take more time than one week for this trip. You're counting on having perfect weather for a week over 2/3 of the US, which is not likely. Plus there are so many interesting places to see on the way out and back and while you are there.

 

You're looking pretty much at 2-3 days out and 2-3 days back. That doesn't really leave you much time to visit if you only have 7 days.

If you have 9 days (get off work on Friday, return on Monday) it's more doable.

I would leave from work Friday afternoon if you can and ride til about 1am (should get you to the Buffalo area). Stop for 6 hours of sleep and then haul ***. Once you get past Cleveland you can really open up the throttle and eat the miles across the plains due to very little traffic, higher speed limits, and generally dry weather.

If you can put in 16 hours or so after riding so late on Friday, you could make it to Lincoln, NE for the night. From lincoln to FoCo is about 6.5 hours if you like to speed, 7.5 if you stay within 5 of the limit. That would give you M-Thu to visit and then you could take a more relaxed pace back Fri-Sun.


If it were me, I'd do all interstates to get to CO to make the best time...because once you're in CO with friends, there's endless fun roads to ride and explore. Everything interesting between FoCo and Maine are things you can hit up at other times on shorter trips. Speaking from experience, there's very, very little to see across Nebraska, iowa, illinois, and indiana.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. This trip is mainly to go see some friends I haven't seen in awhile.
I have other vacation time to use for the usual sight-seeing trip(s) with the wife.

Colorido - that plan sounds doable. Get to Buffalo day 1, then hammer down day 2, then an easy day 3. Spend a few days in CO then reverse.