TransAmerica Trail -TAT

Gary, someone has already suggested Tall Grass Prairie....in 2016. Maybe the suggestion wasn't persuasive enough.

Apparently the suggestion wasn't enough.  But you and I know we want to go there, so let's do it!

What we ought to do is to get input from the forum members about the route.  Maybe some of them know of things like Tall Grass Prairie that we shouldn't miss.  And we can alter our route to take those things in.

OR coast is beautiful, and desolate lol. Hwy 112 I think I rode that from the San Juans to the Columbia. Some of he biggest Cedar trees you will ever see. There is a stop where you can literally walk inside them.

Sounds like i need to get 4 wheel drive, this sounds awesome.

Gary Lewis wrote

....What we ought to do is to get input from the forum members about the route.  Maybe some of them know of things like Tall Grass Prairie that we shouldn't miss.  And we can alter our route to take those things in.

Gary, yes, we can modify the route. I think the best thing to do will be to get a GPS device that will allow us to program it with our own tracks. I am a complete newb to GPS systems. I really need to research GPS devices and go get one. Then start tracking the route and get it settled. We have time, but I want to get that out of the way first thing.

Im making offers on bikes, so far everyone has been too proud of their bike. lol.

TheScatch wrote

Sounds like i need to get 4 wheel drive, this sounds awesome.

I have an 87 Bronco I am parting out. Where are you located?

edit****I see you on the map in Summerville. Probably too far a drive for getting parts off this Bronco

So, my friend Chod, he has a HondaXR650L. I think he has sort of got me leaning towards on too. I've owned the KLR, DR, why not keep going and sample the other legendary Dual Sport for awhile? I can always sell it if I hate it.

I think it might come down to whatever I find within a reasonable distance, reasonable price, and has been taken care of by the previous owner. I was going to travel a little to get one, but I think I will remain calm, and wait for something I can go look at one afternoon and come home with or without it. I'd hate to go so far, just to be disappointed.

Here is some of what we will see on this trip guys!!! Get excited!!!!

And here is the Oklahoma Section:

Not a bullnose, but close! This is on the Continental Divide Trial.

Those two are nice, but I like the Colorado section better!

Yeah, the Colorado section will be the best. Oklahoma may offer sand and mud, which could be technically challenging. Big Blue got a winch and some meat hooks?

Only a 12,000 lb winch.  And a dedicated battery.  Plus a 130 amp alternator.  How many bikes do you think we may need to pull out in one go?

It has synthetic line on it, and I have lots of chain and a tree-saver.  Plus a pulley to go compound.  Probably can get the bikes out of whatever you put them into, but I can't vouch for what shape they'll be in.  

Gary Lewis wrote

Only a 12,000 lb winch.  And a dedicated battery.  Plus a 130 amp alternator.  How many bikes do you think we may need to pull out in one go?

It has synthetic line on it, and I have lots of chain and a tree-saver.  Plus a pulley to go compound.  Probably can get the bikes out of whatever you put them into, but I can't vouch for what shape they'll be in.  

Bwahahaha! "Only a 12,000lb"....geez.

Its not the bikes im worried about. Its Big Blue getting sucked down into mud or sand. Out in the flats of OK, you might want a set of meat hooks to pound into the ground. No trees for miles in some places!

I think you are talking about something like is shown below.  That might be a good thing to have.

But, I've been looking at the GPSKevin maps and find them to be hard to use as there are no road #'s on them.  I've pulled up Google maps, which does have road numbers, and with great difficulty could eventually figure out where Kevin's map wants you to go.  But that's no fun whatsoever and I'm not up for that.

We need to get someone to talk with us about GPS units.  I think you said that there are downloadable GPS coordinates available.  How do we put them on a map and how do we modify them?

For instance, as previously discussed GPSKevin takes you up into Kansas instead of going through the Tall Grass Prairie.  That's gotta be changed, but we then need to get back on his route.  What app can we use to do that?

Also, looking at his map for Okiehoma I find that he took the straight roads around Copan and Hulah lakes when there are other roads available that look to be more interesting.  So we need to think about how he decided what roads to take and what's more important to us.  Did he try to maximize his speed?  Do we want to do that or maximize sight-seeing?

How many days do we want to allocate to the trip?  That's going to be a big factor in how many people want to go with us.  Are we camping or staying in hotels?  Kevin did some of both.  How much cooking do we want to do?

Soooooo many questions!

Yeah, the meat hook thing is just maybe a term used here locally. Guys used to take old butcher meat hooks and string them onto a large d-ring. Then push them into the ground and use them to winch on.

I haven't looked at the GPS Kevin stuff super close yet. But I will. And I will do all the work necessary to make a nice readable map, and figure out the best GPS unit to buy for this trip. We have time. We can add points to our route, no problem. GPSKevin was probably trying to blast through OK to have more time in the scenic Rocky Mountain Sections.

So I am putting the horse in front of the cart. First I need to get a horse. I did go buy a new helmet and gloves today. Got a white helmet to help with the OKie Heat next summer. It has the flip up face, and the flip down tinted lens. That'll help with getting air on my face to cool off, reflecting some sun heat, and keep my eyes protected some. My older helmet is a full face black helmet, not a lot of ventilation. I used it down there in Tulsa, and boy did it get hot.

I had the trailer hooked up and was going to go buy a XR650L, but decided to call and talk to the guy first, instead of just texting. I quickly got a bad feeling and bailed on that one after he sent a picture of the engine case JB welded because of a puncture hole....PASS!!!

I am taking a 5 day work week off. So there will be two weekends on the ends. So 9 days.

The way I see it...we could take our time. See the sites. Not have a destination that we HAVE to make it to each night. Being in a hurry on a trip like this sucks. If we don't make it all the way to Moab, then we dont. Try again another time.

I think we maximize sight seeing. Bikes are going to be way ahead of the trucks, so maybe at the beginning of each day we pick a randevou point, that is conservative on mileage so we aren't stressing trying to get to that point.

I think it is important that everyone who comes, feels free to go on ahead, or lag behind a little bit. We all have cell phones, and we all can stick together if we want, but its important that no one feels like they HAVE to be right behind the other guy. I mean....dust will be a PITA if we do that. Likely, we won't be more than a mile or two apart the whole way. If someone needs help, we will catch up to them, or can back track to them.

Also, the date. That has to be at the Organizer's convenience. You and me Gary are organizing this. So I say WE pick a date, and whoever can go, can go.

....and I realize cell phones wont work everywhere. Maybe a CB would be wise?? Never seen one on a dual sport.

Yes, cell phones don't work everywhere.  About four years ago Janey and I came back across western Kansas on US 160, which is in the southern part of the state.  It is a major highway and yet we didn't have cell phone coverage for a looooong stretch of it.  So I'm going to bet that we won't have cell phone coverage for much of the TAT.

Which does raise the question of how we communicate and how close we stick to the agreed route.  Personally, I think we all have to agree to not deviate from the route w/o prior agreement with the team.  Then the guys on bikes can go ahead and Big Blue will bring up the tail end.  That way if anyone breaks down I'll find them.  But, if they deviate from the agreed route w/o telling us and then break down we leave them.

As for 9 days, does that include getting here and going home?  Hmmm.  That guy took:

3 days for Oklahoma

4 days for Colorado

5 days for Utah

That's 12 days.  So if you have 9 days and take 1 day getting here and returning, which is pushing it as you are 10 1/2 hours from me, we have 8 days.  We could do OK & CO for 7 days.  But then we'd be on the west side of CO and it would take you two days to get back home if you used the highways.  (A quick check shows it to be 20 1/2 hours and 1381 miles from Grand Junction to Taylorsville, and that's running the speed limit.)

So unless we can do better than that guy, who was running 50 MPH on the dirt roads, and if my antiquated math degree hasn't expired, that's 10 days:

 1 day to get to Skiatook

 3 days for Okiehoma

 4 days for Colorful Colorado

 2 days to get home

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10 days

1. Personally, I think we all have to agree to not deviate from the route w/o prior agreement with the team.  AGREED
2. Then the guys on bikes can go ahead and Big Blue will bring up the tail end.  That way if anyone breaks down I'll find them.  But, if they deviate from the agreed route w/o telling us and then break down we leave them. AGREED, leave them to the bears and wolves, and prairie dogs.

3. ...So unless we can do better than that guy, who was running 50 MPH on the dirt roads, and if my antiquated math degree hasn't expired, that's 10 days:

 1 day to get to Skiatook

 3 days for Okiehoma

 4 days for Colorful Colorado

 2 days to get home

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10 days

I hadn't actually done the math Gary. Holy cow. I figured two days for oklahoma. Okay, I will save up vacation and figure it out.


So, maybe a holiday weekend where I can get 9 days off for the price of 4 vacation days, then take an additional 2 days at the end. I will take a look at the calendar.......which begs the question. What is the best time of the year to do this route? Is June and July okay but August is the hottest, so I'd say avoid August. But then we need to look at snow in the rockies and plan on that.

Maybe we only get as far as we can.....do we HAVE to make it to Utah? Colorado will be beautiful.