East-West, or West-East?

[Dave28117]

I've been planning for my 50cc this spring. April to be specific. As I contemplated a ride back, I have been looking at the I40 E2E. I live in the Charlotte NC area and that would put me closer to home at the finish. My original plan with my 50CC is starting in Jacksonville and west to SD.

The I40 ride is about 2500 miles. the 50CC is about 2400 (Jax to SD). I am planning to nest a BBG on the 50CC route, but that's not a requirement in stone.

As I have no experience with either of these rides, and of course, over-analyzing everything, has anyone found any difference in these two routes riding E-W or W-E? is there any advantage to gain by doing the I40 first?

My only thought so far is that I don't want to do the I40 and then the extra distance to the coast to nest them. My initial plan for the I40 puts me at 46 hours. I don't think I want to press the rest of the distance in 4 hours to complete the CC. besides, I have to do something on the way back.

 

[LDimick]

One advantage of E-E is that if you fail you can try it W-E and atr least end up on the right coast

 

[Dave28117]

I am planning my 50CC across I10 from Jax to SD, so what I'm really asking is if would be better to do I40 east to west and then I10 west to east, or the reverse of that doing I10 E-W and then I40 W-E. the only factor I can think of might be winds. would the headwinds be easier going E-W across I40, or going E-W across I10?

 

[LDimick]

I am planning my 50CC across I10 from Jax to SD, so what I'm really asking is if would be better to do I40 east to west and then I10 west to east, or the reverse of that doing I10 E-W and then I40 W-E. the only factor I can think of might be winds. would the headwinds be easier going E-W across I40, or going E-W across I10?

To be honest I would base my route decision more upon the road conditions (construction) than I would the wind. It seems like I-10 spends more time under construction in many places than it does wide open. I do know that the I-40, out west, is at a higher elevation so that may affect your thinking. 7,000 feet in Flagstaff in February will be brutal, but quite pleasant in July. The roads atr higher elevation may also have more truck damage from cold winters.

I have been in Flagstaff in April before and had snow flurries and near freezing temps. On another trip I found a full-blizzard dropping almost 3 feet of snow in April.

I am looking forward to your ride and report! Good Luck!

 

[Dave28117]

my plan is to do both, I'm just wondering if there's any advantage of going E-W or W-E on either of the routes.

Oh...and April 1 or 2 is my planned start date

 

[Shawn K]

my plan is to do both, I'm just wondering if there's any advantage of going E-W or W-E on either of the routes.

Oh...and April 1 or 2 is my planned start date

Personally, I think you're over-thinking it. Improvise, adapt, overcome. Just pick one and have at it. After all, we're supposed to be the "World's Toughest Motorcycle Riders".

 

[MidTNJasonF]

The only reason I can think off for W-E vs E-W is when do you want to be riding into the sun and when do you want to be riding with it at your back.
If you prefer early am starts with the sun rising at your back E-W is the answer as long as you can mitigate any issues of riding into the sunset later.
if you prefer to be blind at the start of a ride when you are fresh then maybe W-E is the answer.

I have a long (non IBA ride) trip planned already this year so I do not have as much vacation to burn as I would like but I am contemplating trying to get a 50cc in as well. With home being in middle Tennessee for me the obvious option is a trip down to Jacksonville, a hotel for the evening, and then a launch for the 50cc with a rest stop in Texas. The return could be leisurely but with my limited time off I was contemplating nesting a SS4000 in it for a two day return of ~1000 mile per day.

That nesting idea, and some threads here like yours, got me thinking about other nesting options. If I could add one extra day or so I could really make a heck of a trip out of it. 100ccc with a I-40 ETE, a I-10 ETE, and probably a SS4000 or SS5000 as well.

My thinking is ride to ride to the coast just east of the Eastern Terminus of I-40 and grab a room. Start my 50cc bright and early then head for that Eastern Terminus to start the ETE. Make it to Barstow to finish the I-40 ETE and progress to the Santa Monica shore to end the 50cc. Grab a room again for some rest and then start the second 50cc via the Western Terminus of I-10 and beat feet to Jacksonville Beach via I-10, again with a stop for rest in Texas somewhere. With the Eastern Terminus of I-10 being in Jacksonville the completion of the I-10 ETE is fairly easy.

There are a couple challenges with it.
The pace on the first 50CC and I-40 ETE will be higher and the rest will be a bit shorter with the ~2,632 mile run. If I do this I would likely run hard the first day and try to make Amarillo, TX at about the 1500 mile mark. After a short hotel stay there I would have a comparatively short run to Santa Monica at barely over 1000 miles.
Following I-10 ETE puts you through New Orleans instead of the preferred northern I-12 route out of Baton Rouge.
Probably the biggest challenge is I-40 ETE, that is a long time on possibly the worst road and worst drivers I have ever encountered.

My total mileage to pull this off door to door would be just over 6400 miles and ~95 hours of riding time over 6 days or an average of just over 1070 miles a day. Certainly not impossible or even unreasonable considering the mileage averages some IBA rally folks put up.

 

[SteveAikens]

In Aug 1998, Rob Lentini and I decided to take a little ride from San Diego to Jacksonville. We had a discussion regarding anticipated weather and riding into the sun.

Here's a link to the story of that ride and some photo's, comments on just how that all went, and how we handled a minor problem.

https://www.nmpcs.com/50CC/

 

[R3Tex]

I-10 is under heavy construction with occasional shut downs, and the associated shuttling off onto the service road, from just east of Houston, Tx to Beaumont, Tx. There are also some construction in Louisiana around Lafayette, La after a truck hit the overpass at the intersection of I-10 & I-49. I ride this stretch of road reasonably regular and I have taken to using US90 as an alternate between Houston and Beaumont...just food for thought

 

[RobG4]

If your goal is to do a 50CC, do it from JAX to SDO, and do it first. If your goal is the E2E, do it from NC to Ca, and do it first. Whichever is more important to you, do it first so you've accomplished your primary goal.

If you're going to nest a BBG, 2 items of advice: 1) pick gas stations on the same side of the interstate as the exit. Going West, pick gas that is on the North side of the Interstate. Going East, pick gas stations on the South side of the interstate. That lets you make right turns and hopefully not sit at intersections waiting for lights to change 2) create a timeline of exits along the way that let you know whether you're ahead or behind pace. So if your plan blows up, you can still tell if you're on pace.

Have fun and please post a writeup when you get back.

 

[LDimick]

I-10 is under heavy construction with occasional shut downs, and the associated shuttling off onto the service road, from just east of Houston, Tx to Beaumont, Tx. There are also some construction in Louisiana around Lafayette, La after a truck hit the overpass at the intersection of I-10 & I-49. I ride this stretch of road reasonably regular and I have taken to using US90 as an alternate between Houston and Beaumont...just food for thought

Waller County, huh? My daughter just moved from Katy and the area to their west was under the same kind of construction. Good info.

 

[R3Tex]

Waller County, huh? My daughter just moved from Katy and the area to their west was under the same kind of construction. Good info.

Yes it is, but shorter duration. They seem to be making a little progress to the east of Houston. I rode through there last Friday and it seemed better to me. Hadn't been on I-10 in several months due to construction. West of Beaumont is still a shit show.

 

[Greg Rice]

I developed a couple webpages for weather along the 50CC route and I-40 end to end ride. The webpages work well on your phone.

50CC Weather
http://www.gregrice.com/50CC_100CCC/50CC_100CCC_weather.htm

I-40 End To End Weather
http://www.gregrice.com/I40/I-40-EndToEnd-Weather.html

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Very Nice Greg!
I will be saving those links.

 

[Chris Rasmussen]

I've been planning for my 50cc this spring. April to be specific. As I contemplated a ride back, I have been looking at the I40 E2E. I live in the Charlotte NC area and that would put me closer to home at the finish. My original plan with my 50CC is starting in Jacksonville and west to SD.

Dave,
I did I-40 back in 2020 East-West. Rode to San Diego after Barstow to end the 50cc. I-20 for the return, and then went to Sunset Beach NC for the 50cc. Then Back to Charlotte.

Later that year, did I-20 East to West with I-10 West to East.

I don't think it makes much difference. I also clocked the Mileage From Charlotte to Wilmington and from Sunset Beach Back to Charlotte to "nest" a BBG, I-40E2E, 50cc, BBG, I-20E2E, 50cc inside of a 5000 in 5. It kind screws with your certs for overall mileage. These were all Gold level Rides and that kind screws with your certs for overall mileage but the IBA folks will just count you longest mileage towards Overall Mileage.

The only thing I will add is that the days are longer riding West and the sun stays up longer if you chase the sunset.

 

[Russ Black]

Last week I went from Houston to Pensacola on I-10/12 to attend a wedding and back (got home yesterday evening) and the only slow down I had was a car fire in Mississippi in a wide open, non-construction, non-town section. In the past I've had lots of slowdowns for various reasons between the two cities in the past. It all depends on the time of the day, the day of the week, how the stars are aligned etc. I do try to traverse the big cities at night or at a minimum not during morning/evening rush hour and plan to be wet, cold or hot. It's mind over matter... If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. Don't overthink it. Be Nike and Just Do It.