I am planning to make a cross country trip this summer (2010), and I am looking for input from others to help me lay out the route I will be taking... I will be making this trip on a Sport Bike.

I am leaving WV and headed for the East Coast, then south to Florida, probably to Key West. The WEST to California...

But what are some of the best roads to take??? I am thinking about taking RT250 South to Virginia Beach area, or maybe even Rt 50 to Ocean City then heading south. I am not looking for a road that has some sweet twisties for 10-15 miles... I am looking for roads that will take me a much greater distance, yet still be a nice scenic view.

Also, if anyone knows of some good sites that would be worth seeing... Post them up...

I am after any useful input.

 

http://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm

Look up Skyline/35 to Alice's... I posted a few vids in your other thread about going cross country, looking for landmarks or something.

 

Yeah, my other thread got moved to the Travel section. Looks like it will be dead in no time.. So I thought I would try to get some input from the regional sections. I figure you all know your areas the best...

 

Are you actually coming to Northern California or staying on east coast?

 

WV to the East Coast, down to the Florida Keys, back up the gulf side, across the US to southern Cali, and then north up the West Coast... then back across the US to West Virginia.

 

PCH 1 is very nice on coast, very long timewise but awesome. How far up North in Cali you want to go before heading East?

 

Defiantly heading up PCH1. as far as how far north I am going... I really don't know yet... It depends on the time I have, and all that. There are several Places in South Dakota that I would love to stop for, so I may go pretty far North.

 

Depending where you want to cut east, here's a few awesome sights to see well inland from coast: Yosemite, Sierra's (Lake Tahoe area), Mt Lassen National Park, Mt Shasta/Siskiyou area. My geography sux so don't know how continuing east from those areas will work for you.

Sounds like an awesome trip planned. Have fun and safe travels.

 

Here's a few I like:

1) San Jose - Lick Observatory (Mt. Hamilton) - Livermore, 64.3 miles: whole bunch of wineries on/near Tesla Road, so that's a nice treat at the end. Just need to watch for all of the fscking bicycles. (Link)

2) In the Santa Cruz mountains, you've got a number of different options - note that these are best done in the before 9 am or after 5, due to traffic:
a) Santa Cruz - Boulder Creek - Highway 17, 26.4 miles: relatively short run that puts you back on the highway to San Jose, with fun twisties on the way to Highway 17. Couple wineries on Bear Creek, so there may be a bit of traffic. (Link) Note that if you turn left on Bear Creek, it takes you through a narrow stretch for a few miles, then turns into a wide open stretch of Hwy 35 all the way towards Half Moon Bay.
b) Santa Cruz - Boulder Creek - La Honda: lots of options. (Link)
At Boulder Creek, you can loop onto Hwy 236, which is twisty and puts you among the redwoods and rejoins Hwy 9 - narrow road sucks for cars but would be okay for bikes, I think.
At Skyline and La Honda (next last destination on the above link), you can 1) turn left and go back down to PCH, 2) turn right and go to Woodside and get back on the 280, or 3) go straight ahead and then turn left to Half Moon Bay or right to get back to the 280.
c) Santa Cruz - Boulder Creek - La Honda - Pescadero, 60.1 mi: Pescadero Creek Road is a nice run, but it can get crowded with bicyclists. (Link) In the alternative, you can get to Pescadero Creek Road from Skyline Boulevard (Hwy 35) by Alpine Road, but I have never tried it, so can't vouch for it.
d) If you end up back on PCH, the run up to SF from Half Moon Bay is quite nice.

3) Golden Gate Bridge - Mt. Tam/Muir Woods - Bodega Bay, 65.7 mi: Twisty until you get to Stinson beach; after that it's more of a enjoy-the-scenery cruise, IMO. Note that at Point B on the map, you can either go through Mt. Tam (highlighted route), or stay on Hwy 1 through Muir Woods. (Link) Again, watch out for bicyclists. North of Bodega Bay, there are some crazy twisties, which rise up the side of a cliff.
The furthest I've gone on this is between Fort Ross and Point Arena, so can't really tell you what happens after that, but some of the views are spectacular. ( ; use Google Street View) And watch out for cows - almost hit one standing on the road (try Google Street View).

4) Oakland Zoo - Skyline Boulevard - Grizzly Peak Blvd (Berkeley), 21.8 mi.: Not hugely fast as a whole (though parts are), but great views of the Bay and some really interesting houses. (Link)

5) Walnut Creek - Mt. Diablo, 16.7 mi.: Never done it myself, but I heard it's pretty fun. ( )

Edit: It occurs to me that just about all of these runs are best done on a weekday, if possible.

 

Hwy 9 and 35 (Skyline) are best on the weekends, after 10AM...

But weekday or not, it's not like he's going to be working on the weekdays when he's here!

 

True enough. But I'm just saying that the weekends aren't as good for going out on runs.