Summer across Nevada, Utah and Colorado

[shibaiman]

I am thinking about riding my Kawasaki KRL650 from LA to Denver going across southern Nevada and Utah. I have a few questions/concerns. One is about the heat in the California and Nevada deserts. How will the bike handle it? And how will I?
Another is about availability of gas on "The Extraterrestrial Highway." Should I plan (or even try) to carry extra?
Then, what about temperatures in the high mountains of Utah and Colorado? How do I stay cool in the desert, and warm enough at 9000 feet?
Does the bike need any adjustments for altitude?

Thanks!

[wbunning]

Originally Posted by shibaiman

I am thinking about riding my Kawasaki KRL650 from LA to Denver going across southern Nevada and Utah. I have a few questions/concerns. One is about the heat in the California and Nevada deserts. How will the bike handle it? And how will I?Another is about availability of gas on "The Extraterrestrial Highway." Should I plan (or even try) to carry extra?
Then, what about temperatures in the high mountains of Utah and Colorado? How do I stay cool in the desert, and warm enough at 9000 feet?
Does the bike need any adjustments for altitude?

Thanks!

Your KLR should be able to make it from Tonapah to Caliente, Nv on a tank of gas, if you aren't too overloaded. It's going to be hot. You'll have to work out your hydration, and make a conscious effort to keep up with it. Your water-cooled bike will do just fine, even at the altitudes. It can rain in Utah and Colorado in summer, so take appropriate gear.

There are many tricks to keeping yourself cool, and with the KLR's limited wind protection, you'll need to use as many as possible. For me, the big ideas are:

*Travel as early in the day as practical, and plan to be shaded up by 2:00 pm or so. You can get back on the road later in the evening if necessary.

* Get a good hydration pack, such as a CamelBak. Get one with a 100-oz bladder, and fill it with ice/water in the morning. Across the heat of the desert, take a small hit every 10-15 minutes. The wind moving across your body will dry you out more quickly than you realize. After each drink, blow the 'tube water' back down into the bladder, or your next swallow will be hot!

*Resist the temptation to take off your jacket. Keep your arms covered, and protected from the sun and wind. Lose the black colors, and use a jacket that has good venting. Wear good wicking garments underneath.

*You can get a cooling vest. You soak these in water periodically and they cool your core by evaporation. Absent that, you can soak a t-shirt also. You should give consideration to strapping an extra half-gallon or so of water on the bike somewhere.

*Take stock of yourself periodically and ask yourself if you have been drinking, peeing, or feel light headed. Find shade and rest if need be.

I hope you find these tips helpful, though I'm sure that most of the above will sound familiar to one with a good cycling background.

[kevinone]

I've ridden Sacto to Minnesota last 5 yrs and back. Leave 80 freeway at Fernley go Hwy 50 into Colorado and find gas every 80 to 100 miles. Keep long sleeves on and carry water. It gets quite lonesome through Nevada and Utah.

[JeffeVerde]

How many days do you have? I ride Denver to L.A. straight through - but it's a L-O-O-O-N-G day. On the KLR, 2 days would be moderately ambitious. With 3 or more days, you can start hitting back roads and the many "truck trails" (dirt roads) through Colorado and Utah.

For heat - either a mesh jacket or a WELL vented solid jacket, with an evaporative vest. If it's really toasty, pouring water in your helmet will provide evaporative cooling for your head as you ride . But if you can plan your route to avoid crossing the desert mid-day, you can forget the ultra-hot-weather gear, and pack for the 50'-70's you'll see in Colorado.

I prefer riding across Arizona to south-west Colorado, and then north through Colorado. It's a lot less desert riding that way, versus riding across Nevada and Utah to Grand Junction.

On the KLR, if you left LA around midnite, you'd arrive in Flagstaff by late morning and could spend the afternoon trail-riding around Flagstaff (warning- even in June, the Cajon pass can be in the 30's at 3:00 in the morning ). From Flagstaff, it's 5 hours to Colorado, so an early morning start will get you out of the desert by noon. Once you hit Cortez, Colorado, you've got several options to Denver, with lots of jeep trail routes along the way.

[shibaiman]

Great advice. Thanks!

I plan to take it pretty slowly. Stopping here and there to fish. I'll be heading first up to Bishop, CA to fish the Owens River, then into southern NV. Thus the route through the desert. After Bishop, my next specific destination is Bryce Canyon and the rivers near there. From there into southwest CO.

[JeffeVerde]

Vegas is about 250 miles from Bishop -- or if you want to camp, Mt Charleston is off the 95 about 20 miles before Vegas. It's a nice area, similar to the lower Sierras.

If you want to push through Vegas, there's not much between there and Saint George, UT, where you turn off the 15 for Zion and Bryce. Saint George is about 2hrs from Vegas. Continuing on from Saint George, there is really nothing till you enter Zion.

[shibaiman]

Thanks. I'm looking to avoid Vegas altogether ;-) -- thus a route north out of Bishop and north of Vegas along the "Extraterrestrial Highway."

[chuba]

If you can get going early in the season, the better. Naturally, the longer you wait, the hotter the route you're looking to take through the desert will get.

[woodflies]

I live at 4500' and haven't had any issues with adjustments on my bike for lower (sea level) or higher altitudes. Don't know about yours though.

If you can leave earlier in the year, a trek through Death Valley this year may produce another incredible show of flora.

On the north end of the extraterrestrial highway is Tonopah and the south end is Ash Springs is 150- miles if you are heading south after the ET Hwy. If you are heading east to Cedar City (advisable) then it’s almost 200 miles from Tonopah to Caliente. There are gas stations at both Ash Springs and Caliente. About 100 miles (your approximate half way point) from Tonopah is Rachel, which also has gas. At the junction of 6 and 375 is a place called Warm Springs. They used to have a gas station, but I don’t think so anymore. So make sure you top off at Tonopah.

What’s your route from there? From Cedar City, I prefer going 14, 148 (Cedar Breaks – beautiful!), 143, 89 (south), 12 (goes through Bryce – a must see), 24 (east through Capitol Reef – very nice). But I guess it all depends on your final destination in Colorado.

Is this a fishing trip and your bike is the transportation, or is this a bike trip and the fishing is a diversion? Does southern Colorado *have* to be the destination?

If fishing is a main objective, then further north in Utah is generally better. If you can swing through the Flaming Gorge area (I know that's north of your intended route), there is some great fishing and riding. I live about four hours from the Green River, and the fishing there can be unreal at times. Like having the world's largest trout aquarium--you can be standing among rising 20"+ trout in crystal clear water. Dry flies can work extremely well. I usually fish it in the spring, not summer though.

[bosozoku]

Originally Posted by shibaiman

I am thinking about riding my Kawasaki KRL650 from LA to Denver going across southern Nevada and Utah. I have a few questions/concerns. One is about the heat in the California and Nevada deserts. How will the bike handle it?...

Does the bike need any adjustments for altitude?

Thanks!

This is going to be a very warm ride...if you can, take the preceding advice about doing it earlier this year.

Things to do to your bike are: increase the water concentration in the antifreeze, to something more like 70/30 instead of the stock 50/50.
If you're not already doing so, add some Water Wetter per the directions on the bottle.