if you had two weeks and a hired bike........
 

Myself and my girlfriend are going to the states for two weeks in mid september, hiring a bike and looking for a decent holiday, not some offroad endurance test!

I myself have travelled via bike accross africa but my girlfriend has not had much experience and will be travelling pillion.

We were thinking of flying into to LA and travelling up to the grand canyon via the most interesting route and back to LA. or fly into LA and going up the coastal route towards washington on a one way bike hire and coming home from there.

ANY opinions are very much welcome.

Cheers, Dan

If you want to go LA to Vegas, there isn't an interesting route via pavement.

So go up the coast - and return via an inland route through the Cascades.

Utah, Nevada, Colorado.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...colarado-35027

+1 up the Pacific Coast highway

LA to the grand canyon can be a bit dull but you can take rout 66 some of the way. The desert will be be a bit hot still but it will be much cooler in the mountains it may snow (I dont think it will but it can wont last long if it dose). That trip may not lost 2 weeks if your not trying to drag it out. Good thing is your going to see things you dont see in the UK.

The PCH is much longer of a ride and it will be much more mild as far as whether. Heres a link that may help US-101.com and California State Route 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. To ride near the coast take California 1 from town of Dana Point up to the Lost Coast. The Lost Coast is bit hard to find but worth the time it is between Leggett and Ferndale few roads and many unpaved, a look at coastal living from long ago not for every one.
Oregon is where the 101 sticks the coast the most dipping inland only a little now and then.
Washington Is where the 101 runs inland most of the way around a real let down but other roads pick up the slack but its a good place to turn around and start the ride back ride the Olympic Mountains loop around and head back south.

A bit about the road I ride it almost every year it can rain for weeks and be a bit slick in spots. You will be riding sea clifs and a fault line in some spots going north you will be inside, safe and unable see the beach but riding south thats when it can get a little scary. Ride slow and if there is some one who wont pass you pull over as soon as you can. The road was built almost haphazardly it seems, some on rock others on sand where the two meet you can have big dips and potholds. There are turn offs along the road where you can get out and look. Lookout for people and cars there kids like to run around road and wont lookout for them selfs. It is a grate ride but the road not so much.

A few years ago, I went to LA for work and had a short holiday after that. I hired a bike and did a tour of a little more then a week.
Youi can read about it on my website:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jkrijt/trips/usa2002/index.shtml

In terms of rentals, this is the best I've seen.

OK sounds like maybe cali isnt the best place to see
 

OK, thanks for all the replies! SOOOO if it was up to you guys and you had anywhere to go.....what route would you do then?



Cheers again

You are from England so I would think that it would be better if you went to Utah and Colorado.
You can ride a cold damp coast at home.
It won't be that hot in September and the canyon areas will not have as much traffic as the California coast.

So Cal, mid Sept. Most heat records have been set in Sept. or Oct.

If you are planning to head to the Grand Canyon, also seriously consider heading further east to Canyon de Chelly (Chelly is pronounced "shay"), and Monument Valley--of course only if you are in the "area."

Doing the coast would probably be a better bet due to the cooler temperatures of the coastal areas.

About 10 years ago I rented a motorcycle in LA, strapped some camping gear on the back, and rode up the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterrey over a couple of days, then cut inland to Yosemite National Park for a couple nights camping, and returned along the same path. It took me about a week of say 250 mile days, with plenty of time for hiking and visiting different places.

If you are really set on the Grand Canyon and have limited time, you might be better off to fly to Phoenix, Arizona and rent a motorcycle there. I did that one time, with a loop through Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, and both sides of the Grand Canyon. That was a great trip spread over a week.