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April 2015 SW Spring Retreat the 4 x 500

11K views 150 replies 15 participants last post by  MisterK 
#1 ·
By April 1st a lot of us will be itching for a spring retreat ride. Joe (Doxxx) and I talked about replacing this year's rat ride with a different ride, perhaps a little more relaxed. Easter is Sunday April 5th, so the dates for this ride will be Wednesday April 1 and finish Saturday April 4th.

Starting in DFW or you can join in along the way. We will do a 4 day trip totaling about 2000 - 2300 miles. We plan to ride around 550 miles each day, then depending on weather, we can either Hotel or camp. Or some can camp and some can hotel each night. We will cover approx 550 miles each day which equates to about 8 hours of saddle time. This will allow quite a bit of "visiting" in the evenings at each stop.

Route:

DFW to Arizona, ride the 191 all the way to Utah, hit four corners, cortez colorado, Durango, Albuquerque then back to DFW.

We can add 300 miles and hit the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. Brings total to about 2300 miles.

I know being early spring we can hit, snow, rain, ice, hail and tornadoes.....but heck that is what makes it an adventure:joke: Highway 191 in Arizona is a must ride, and I think spring is the best time.

We usually stop about every 130 miles for gas and a break.



If we do the Grand Canyon route here is a possible schedule:

Wednesday April 1:

Leave DFW Wednesday 6am ride to Las Cruces NM = 649 miles

Thursday April 2:

Las Cruces NM to Grand Canyon AZ via 191 = 560 miles (camp at Mather Campground on the South Rim ) hopefully get there in time to watch sunset and watch sunrise in the morning.

Friday April 3:

Grand Canyon to Monument Valley and 4 corners to Santa Fe NM 530 miles or Las Vegas NM 653 miles, makes for a 573 mile day on Saturday. If we don't do Monument Valley and 4 corners it would be 521 miles to Las Vegas NM. Which we would probably ride to Tucumcari NM 612 miles.

Saturday April 4:

Santa Fe to DFW 614 miles, or Las Vegas NM to DFW 573 miles. Or Tucumcari to DFW 448 miles if we don't do Monument Valley.

IRON BUTT SS1000 option:
If you want to get your Iron Butt ride, you can leave DFW Wed at 4am and arrive at Grand Canyon Village at about 11pm 1030 miles.

Then hang out Thursday explore the park and we will meet you Thursday afternoon. This would be a nice option since you will have 2 nights and a full day of rest Thursday. I would offer to ride with you but I don't want to miss highway 191 (aka Devil's highway):joke:


Here is the route in Tourstart.org

http://tourstart.org/drive/NzMxOA==

Map Line Ecoregion Atlas World
 
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#4 ·
I am interested in this trip.
Where do we meet in DFW?
Are we camping every night?
we will meet somewhere west of down town fort worth on i30 or i20. closer the time comes we will nail it down.

i will camp out at least 2 nights. we will stop each night close to towns with hotels so each can choose camp or hotel. las cruces, flagstaff and grand canyon, santa fe etc. a lot depends on the weather.
 
#7 ·
By the way, Devil's Highway can be part of a SS 1,000. Been there done that on our way to West coast. Hit a grand on 191, then rolled on to a BB1,500, stopping in California.
 
#9 ·
Kevin..sounds like a great trip. I'm very interested.

Switched jobs this year and for the first time in about a decade I've only got 2 weeks a year off so available vacation days will be the deciding factor for me. I think I could figure out how to make it work. I could leave Wednesday night and do the BB1000 option and that would save a day.
 
#10 ·
Kevin..sounds like a great trip. I'm very interested.

Switched jobs this year and for the first time in about a decade I've only got 2 weeks a year off so available vacation days will be the deciding factor for me. I think I could figure out how to make it work. I could leave Wednesday night and do the BB1000 option and that would save a day.
that would be great Dave. that is why we do easter week, a lot of people get good Friday off. And yes, you can do an Iron Butt on Thursday and meet up.
 
#11 ·
I was wondering when you were going to post this.

I was looking for it on the Texas board. But since we are expanding our horizons this is the perfect place!

Maybe we can get a few folks from any of the states we will be travelling through to join us for at least a day ride.
 
#12 ·
If we left Sugar Land after work on Wednesday, we could meet y'all for breakfast in Las Cruces, NM. That would have us doing a SS 1,000 somewhere along the Devil's Highway. Depending on route, We might even get a BB 1,500 by the time we reach the Grand Canyon Thursday evening.


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#14 ·
that would be great Dave. that is why we do easter week, a lot of people get good Friday off. And yes, you can do an Iron Butt on Thursday and meet up.
Yep...but I'd miss Devils Highway. :cry: Better than not going at all though...

If we left Sugar Land after work on Wednesday, we could meet y'all for breakfast in Las Cruces, NM. That would have us doing a SS 1,000 somewhere along the Devil's Highway. Depending on route, We might even get a BB 1,500 by the time we reach the Grand Canyon Thursday evening.


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Too much for me as I don't trust myself to ride the night and still enjoy the day but you got me thinking...

I can work wherever there is an Internet connection so I'm thinking of heading to Midland on Tuesday night, work from the Hotel on Wednesday and head to Las Cruses Wednesday night after work to join the group. If I start early enough on Wednesday morning, I could probably have most my work done when the group heads through town and just join up with them then. If not, I'll be a few hours behind and catch up in Las Cruces and start riding with the group on Thursday.
 
#20 ·
I am going to try very hard to make this ride but we are currently getting swamped at work and we are also moving to a bigger office so all bets are off as to me getting to take 3 days off come April 1st.
 
#22 ·
It is still in the schedule for the wife and myself to join in at Las Cruces, even if we have to make that an overnight run, only a 786 mile warm up.


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#25 ·
Great,

We have,

myself,
Joe (strong maybe)
Steve?
Brian
Hoss
JD
Bruce and his buddy

JD, a CB is not necessary but it does help to communicate on long trips, like "I have to pee" etc lol
 
#26 ·
Here is the probable route,

Wednesday April 1: DFW to Las Cruces (I will be coming in from Sturgis probably) this will be the longest day, about 700 miles. I plan to leave Sturgis on Tuesday at 12pm to head south. I will probably spend the night in Raton NM on Tuesday March 31.

Map Line Ecoregion Atlas Land lot


Map Line


Thursday: Las Cruces to Grand Canyon via 191 devil's highway (about 500 miles)

Map Ecoregion Line Atlas


Friday - Saturday Grand Canyon to DFW 1000 miles over 2 days; routes can vary in case of weather or scenic routes the group decides

Map Line Ecoregion Atlas



Summary: Three 500 mile days and One 700 mile day (first day).
 
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