This brings to a close our TAT 2016
adventure. There is more of the TAT to do in the future but that will be a 2017
or maybe a 2018 adventure. I will use this post to summarize what we
accomplished this last year and maybe provide some info that others can use to
plan their TAT adventures.
It’s hard to believe it was only a year
ago this month when I walked into our staff meeting at work and asked if anyone
would like a real adventure by riding dirt bikes across the whole USA on the
Trans-America Trail (TAT). Three guys eventually said yes and these same three
just finished Leg-2 with me yesterday. You can find out all the details of our
planning and rides in the previous 51 posts on my blog (you really must have a
lot of time on your hands if you go back and read them all).
I’m one of those guys that love
technical details so this post has a lot of spreadsheets, numbers and maps to
document in one place all the data in those previous 51 posts so this may be
all you need to read to get the key points.
We broke our TAT-2016 into several
different chunks due to work commitments, available vacation days, snow in the
mountains and general weather. We were extremely lucky that we never really had
bad weather on any of our TAT rides although we did suffer the effects of rain
in OK days before we rode those muddy roads. Therefore our experience on the
different sections could be significantly different than others if they
encountered rain, snow, etc.
There are several lessons learned that
may be beneficial to those just starting to plan their trips (these apply to
our group and does not mean others would have these problems:
1 Always
scout mud holes if they cover the whole road. We almost always found firm
ground along the sides in the grass.
2 Your
average miles per day will be as low as 14 mph to 30 mph counting rest stops,
fueling and problems. We had low mph out east and high mph out west. Our group
had less riding experience out east so that may be the reason.
3 Fuel
is always a problem. The TAT does not go through many large populated areas and
many small towns do not have fuel and especially motels. Our bikes were limited
to 100-135 mile range even by carrying 1 gal RotoPax.
4 If
you motel then your daily ride will be based on availability of motels and not
rider ability. I tried to find motels around 150 miles apart but that’s not
always possible.
5 Miles
per day – much over 150 miles the riders get tired and careless. This causes
accidents or burns out the riders on multi-day rides.
There are many more but none come to me
right now.
Leg-2
Leg-2 wrap up is provided below showing
TAT miles and the local rides we did in CO the two days before starting the TAT
route back to AR. I’ve provided maps for each days ride.
TAT LOG for TAT-2016 (Aug-15 through Aug-16)
We were lucky in that the TAT went
right past our town and that we were in the middle of the sections we wanted to
ride this year. It won’t be as easy for Leg-3 (maybe 4, may break it down into
2 sections) from CO to OR.
As can see in the TAT log we have
ridden almost 3,000 miles this year from the Atlantic Ocean at Charleston, SC
to Lake City, CO. If you count Engineer Pass, which is on the TAT, then it’s
over 3,000 miles. What is amazing is that all 4 original riders are still
hanging on plus several new additions on the last few stretches. This is even
after many incidents that would have discouraged many other riders; i.e.
accidents, bad roads, mud, dust, rocks, heat/cold and much more.
BTW the lime green track in MS was bypassed due to Wx but we will do it in the next couple of months.
TAT-2017/18 Plans (CO to OR)
I’ve done some advance planning but it
is far from being firm. Based on the new SAM reroute (missing Nevada) it is
around 2,600 miles through some of the most intense portions of the TAT. I’m 69
in a couple of months. The mind is willing but who knows how long the body will
cooperate. I feel great now and the past Leg-2 was well within my ability. We’ll
see what 2017 will bring.
Ride Safe
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