I had this solo trip planned for about three months, where there was to be very little Interstate riding and I had no time limits,when at the last minute, a buddy of mine said he had 12 days off from work and would like to ride along and go to Sturgis. I said ok, although I was looking at maybe 6 days just to get there and then spending 5 days in Deadwood and then meeting my wife 'Flash' in Rock Island Il., where she was finishing up a female onle trip. He said ok he was only staying two days and then had to head home, which he did in 3 DAYS! So this is what we did in 6 days, the long route to Deadwood: US 19 north out of our west central Florida area is almost always a better choice than the slab if you have the time. Wandering thru several small old florida towns and getting the opportunity to see the suwannee river between Fanning Springs & Old Town.A great stop out of Chiefland is Manatee Springs State Park. Where the water is 72 degress year round. Also a great place to view the Mantee's and some natural florida swamp.
On this trip we went thru Tallahassee because my buddy had never been. Wouldn't advise it because of traffic unless you just wanted to check it out, it is a very cool old florida town.US 84 was a good ride with rolling hills and a lot of country riding. Especially between Evergreen, Al. and Waynesboro, Ms. One thing I remember most of this area, was it was very green. Ms. route was ok.. good roads, but nothing special. Went into Jackson just to say I did. Jumped over and road a small portion of the Natchez Trace because my buddy never had been on it. I have ridden the entire length, and although very good roads and a lot of greenery, it can get boring. At Vicksburg crossed the Mississippi River and into Louisiana. I love crossing the Mississippi River, it just seems to let me know that I am getting west. Headed north on US 65, road surface needed repaved in places, was a little rough, nice scenic ride by parts of the river a few lakes. The highlight(funny) was passing a women's prison..I think near Eudora..we were behind a slow moving piece of farm equipment as we passed, the women prisoners were hanging on the fence yelling 'stop', 'come back', whistling,.. I was laughing so hard I almost dropped my bike!
Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and SR 7 north thru the Ouachita and Ozark mountains was a great ride. Have ridden SR 7 twice more since and have noted here on this site. After Arkansas, the next couple of days were riding, gas, food, repeat. If I had been alone, as was my plan, I would have taken a better look at Missouri, Kansas and Colorado sections I passed, but because my buddy had limitd time, we had to move on. It was mostly storming and or wind blowing so hard I had to lean at about 15 degree angle just to stay straight! But all the roads were in good repair for the most part. There was one section on US 36 in Ks. around Phillipsburg, that needed some work. Wasn't a lot to see in Nebraska, although Alliance was a town that stuck in my mind because it just seemed dry and dusty. Visited Alliance again in 2006 and got the same impression. Once crossing into South Dakota, it doesn't take long to see you have left the dry flat lands of Nebraska and Kansas behind. The closer we got to Deadwood, the more excited I got, because we were passing signs for Custer National Park, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, and I wanted to get busy with all of it, plus all the local rides like Iron Horse Highway and Needles! I loved Deadwood, great town witha lot of great history, and a good location for riding all the wondeful roads in that area, hope to get back to stay there again. I have passed thru since, and have used a good portion of this route on other trips since this one. Another good ride!! But aren't they all!!
This is a motorcycle ride in the states Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota. This motorcycle route has 11 scenery characteristics and other road conditions to help you plan your road trip. This motorcycle map was created by felon in January. Click here to see other Motorcycle Roads by felon