Thank you for the link! We did some studying up for and it looks like we begin on July 29th. Took a quick ride up to Mt Scott in Oklahoma this weekend with the couple who we ride with. tried to be as minimalist as we could to determine what we need to bring and what we can pick up and what we can ship back during the trip. Good fun and looking forward to this adventure

 

We called the eagle rider in Portland, spoke to Cody. He is good with us sending our bags to him before we leave. Makes the plane trip a little easier for sure. not sure if we will get bikes with the luggage rack or not which makes packing a little tighter. There is a one way fee tacked on to the rental but it is the only way we can make this trip happen so we will pay the piper so to speak. would rather ride our own bikes but the logistic from Ft Worth to the Northwest doesn't make sense either. So now the logistical stuff is pre planned and working on our route stops and dang sure getting excited. thanks all who have participated. We have done several large journeys of which I have shared on this forum and each time we have received very helpful information from other forum members and it is appreciated. Maybe this time I can keep my phone for the whole trip and share some photos. My south east state trip resulted in a phone loss before we hit the cool stuff and we didn't get a lot of pictures

 

94ruck, shipping your bike VS renting is a math problem with the amount of time on the trip being the big variable. When we went last summer, our trip was two weeks so it was actually cheaper to ship my bike then rent. Between the daily cost and the one way fee, it was almost $1000 more to rent. Even if it was equal I would have shipped as I would much rather have my bike.

The other nice thing with shipping is I was able to lock stuff in the bags and not deal with bringing it on the plane. Things like rain gear, bike cover, wife's 3/4 helmet etc. That is a bunch of stuff that was just there when we arrived.

The moral of my story, take a two week trip and ship your bike.

Have fun, the West coast is good riding for sure.

 

Buddy and I rented from Vegas and rode to Point Reyes then down south PCH. There are lots to see in that south bit, but it is SLOW going. Lots of lookie loos and you will be doing 30-35 mph. It's fine, but we were ridin, and lotsa slow movers is all.

Pre-book Alcatraz if you can. I think it books three months out. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Bring your own earbuds. You use an ipod touch for the tour.

The road down into Fort Bragg, CA is pretty windy and blind corners. Just be ready for big trucks on it.

There are some roads right through the trees, "the Avenue of Giants" if memory serves. Nice to ride slow and enjoy the shade canopy. The smell is fantastic too. Also you can pay the $5 in Leggett and drive through the tree. Very touristy, but cool, and from the 30's or 20's...

Newport Oregon has a fantastic brewery on the bay. They also have branched out to a distillery. You -may- have had the beer, but its so good. There is a pub over on the north side of the bay [if the night continues] Take a cab, they're cheap... Newport has Nye Beach, and it is where I asked my wife to marry me. I 'found' Newport in 2009, and we have gone as a getaway seven or eight times. Your results may vary...

Portland also has a Public House of the aforementioned brewery. It has a different vibe than all the other places too.

Astoria has a crazy long bridge over the Columbia River. I like bridges - and the cool water is nice too.

You can't go wrong with the coast. PM me, I'll help where I can. I used to live in Vancouver, B.C. and would ride this area regularly... Sorry - I wrote is South to North...

Have a good one.
H

 

We have found that our biking experiences always have a great take away. My wife and I have been together for 30 years and still have fun. yes, big math problem and too little time BUT always planning the next adventure and we have had many on our bikes. we thought a lot about shipping and actually found several companies that would but we as a group decided renting was the way to go this time plus I get to try and ultra versus my road king. Great point on Alcatraz, looking forward to ending a day near a brewery as i wont drink and ride, not even one beer but enjoy them at the end of the day for sure. Just added a bunch more pins to my route! thanks fellas

 

I'd like to do this ride (PCH) next summer.
subscribing to this thread..

 

Great link. You've made me want to go!! I talked to my wife last night, showed her your thread and she said " looks great count me in"
She loves hanging off the back of the bike taking pictures, it's perfect!

 

Happy you both liked it, writing the thread was also fun, though tedious at times. Best record I have of any trip we ever took. Honestly wish I had such a log from some of ours trips 20 years ago.

She wants to go back as well, thinks we missed too much!?!?!?

 

http://innofthelostcoast.com/

This is rated pretty well, I have pilot friends that have flown to the local airport and stayed there, loved it. I haven't stayed there yet but it is on the to do list some day.

 

Been working a lot and haven't updated But we are getting ready to purchase flights. Once that is nailed down and we have an idea of time, we will schedule our rental and hopefully our first nights stay. after that, we will be winging it. My buddy bought an electric vest off of amazon to keep his clothing pile down to a manageable container. My wife and I have discussed various ways of reducing coats but i may be looking at an electric vest as well.
Our plan is to hit Washington state( if Mt St Helens doesn't blow again before we leave) to knock another state off of our list then head to the coast....I re read architects write up again and I am all jittery with anticipation