Good day; Riders. Just returned from a 7852 mile road trip and found out a couple of interesting travel tips. When a road becomes really popular it has to be changed; which destroys what made it popular in the first place.
Just a couple of examples:
Hwy 49 in California - the old "Gold Rush" trail is now mostly a 4 lane hwy. The ambience of the old road, the store fronts, etc. etc. have been mostly eliminated by the push of expanding the 2 lane road into a 4 lane expressway - popularity...
The Beartooth; what used to be a challenge and tough road to ride - especially on the Wyoming "climb", is now being transformed/reshaped so that the 10 mph corners are no longer and the road is being widened for vehicle enhancement; it no longer is a "motorcycle challenge" - popularity....
Road to the Sun; again like the Beartooth, there is road widening happening at the summit and get this - they are installing guard rails which goes against all the laws for "culling the herd" again widening for vehicle enhancement...
So there you have it; what was once really great motorcycle rides are being transformed in vehicle highways - all through government "make work" programs
Truly unfortunate for us.....

Ride In Peace...

 

It's Kalifornia. What did you expect?

 

That just leaves you with the opportunity and challenge to find the next great riding roads and post about them until they are gone and you can start all over.

It is never the end. It is just the beginning. Ride on to new adventures. Don't look back.

 

Agreed. The road to the Sol Duc hot springs in the Pacific Northwest rain forest used to be so tight and twisty ( it was built for carriages) that motorhomes couldn't get through. After they widened and straightened the road Sol Duc lost everything that made it special. Sol Duc's popularity killed it's essence.

 

You think the 49 in CA is mostly 4 lane? Don't ride much do you. You've missed a lot of the 49 unless there's been a ton of road widening in the last few months. It goes through a couple of towns where it's four but other than that it's probably 90% two.

 

Hwy 119 I believe, in Co. was an excellent ride that takes you From I70 up thru Central City is being widened and the nice curves massaged out. They already have a new 4 lane but I guess thats not enough. They call this progress.

 

Yeah, a couple years ago I was on Wyoming Rt 14 (or 14A) while it was under construction. They were re-paving and eliminating a few of the sharper curves while they were at it. So sad.
They should be creating *more* turns in some of our roads, not eliminating them! How about adding some hairpins to I-70 in Indiana?

 

the road improvements are for the good of the majority...bikes make up a very small part of the motoring public. riding in the mountains is always special to me. i am 63 years old and do not mind them making the roads a little easier to negotiate--maybe i will be able to ride a few more years.

 

Just got back from Beartooth this past week and there are plenty of 10mph corners. the only road improvement I have notice is new black top. The road is unchanged IMO.

Ride Safe!

 

Then you're not riding in the right places.

Go here: US 12 from Montana to Idaho over Lolo Pass