The Great American Ride

This ride is based on the historic Old route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, California.  This motorcycle route is 2400 miles and mostly follows the old road which originally connected all the Main streets of the towns as it ran across America.  Recently, the Route has been revised and updated in order to create a new Route 66 Bicycle Route across the country.  The new route created by Adventure Cycling Association is the result of many years of development and refinement.  We have taken this Route 66 base bicycle route and combined it with the Popular Route 66 Hot Rod Route to create a new motorcycle Route 66. The resulting combination is now a fantastic back road route for across America for motorcyclists.

Choose your own weapon for this adventure

As this route consists largely of backroads, the riding pace will be slower and more relaxed. Much time is spent discovering the back attractions of this adventure. Large adventure motorcycles can work great, Small bike work fine and scooters can work wonderfully also.  

About the ride

This is a 9 riding day adventure with lots of sights and stops along the way.  The average daily mileage is 260 miles/day.  At a slower pace this means that the days will be long, sometimes 10 to 12 hours.  Riders should be experienced and prepared to go the distance and enjoy the scenic pace (9 days in a row).  We will have a support truck following along which can carry a personal gear bag from each of the riders.  The truck will also be there in the event of rider need or bike failure.  Each night we will stay in a different motel along the route.  We will be eating at restaurants along the way.

Self Guided American Adventure: This Route 66 Motorcycle ride is designed to be a self-guided adventure.  As GPS units have become both more powerful and easier to use, it has enabled anyone to be able to easily find their way along the trail.  For many, this allows them to just experience the American trail without the burden of getting lost.

Buy the GPS Card and Rider Maps:  

You can order a microSD Card for your Garmin GPS and a complete set of tank bag reference maps designed in combination with the microSD card to fit the pocket in your "Tank Bag" and  complete ride booklet   See the choices below:

Check Current Shipping Time

Notes:  I suggest you plan and order early.  Normally I ship within a week.  But sometimes I run out and it can take me several weeks to get new cards and maps.  And sometimes I am out riding and building new adventures so that can be hard too. I list the Option for 2 SD cards because many riders like to carry a backup card or a cheap backup gps in the event of unforeseen circumstances. 

Motorcycle Shipping

Do you want to ship your bike to Chicago and fly there or Home from California?  

There are several companies that can help you with that.  The cost will be around $600.

U-Ship is the bargain shipper (Truckers independently contract)

Federal Motorcycle Transport (they have done a good job in the past)

I think you can ship to a warehouse in Chicago and then pick your bike up there.

View the ride maps below

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 Black lines are the out and back viewpoints

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)

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.

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)

Note from me, gpsKevin

My goal for this ride is simple,  great riding, so you can count on great routes and places to ride.

But in addition: the ride is about  discovering new places, meeting new friends, seeing new parts of the Southwest.

Thanks

gpsKevin