OFMC Itinerary 2019
Riding with the OFMC last year.
With John no longer riding, I have taken over planning the OFMC trips. I’m using the license that gives me to push the boundaries a little. On this year’s trip we’re going to be covering a bit more distance than we typically have and we’re going to be out one additional day. And I’m still pushing to make it two.
We’ll be heading northwest so our first night will be in Rawlins. We’ll head up through Walden and Encampment and Saratoga. An easy 250 miles.
From there we’ll cross Wyoming to reach Cody. I’m looking forward to staying in Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel, the historic old hotel in town. Those kind of places have become a theme with me so I look specifically for these old places. And this is still only about 260 miles.
Our third day out we will be heading for Chico Hot Springs. We’ll pass through Yellowstone on the way and then out the north gate to Chico. This is one of those places we would never have stayed before because it would have been too expensive. However, traveling with Willie and Jungle has keyed me in on the idea that you want to pick your spots based on interest, amenities, and food. Worry about the cost in your next life. So Chico it is. A short day’s ride at 160 miles.
Then on to Missoula; 265 miles. And this will be the northernmost point on this ride. More importantly, it sets us up for Lolo Pass.
The next day is getting longer: 290 miles. We’ll head out of Missoula, over Lolo, and down along the Lochsa River. Then we’ll do some lefts and rights and find ourselves on roads none of us has ever been on, going places we’ve never been. This is what this trip is all about. We’ll end up in Cascade, Idaho.
From Cascade we have a long day–320 miles, all the way to Jackpot, Nevada. Jackpot is a favorite stop for the OFMC and will be this year’s obligatory gambling stop. We’ll be here two nights because it is also the obligatory golfing stop. They have a nice little course here and we have played it several times.
Then it will be on to Heber City, Utah, a 290-mile day. We’ll be crossing the salt flats and passing through Salt Lake City. Probably not our most favorite day of the trip.
Finally, from Heber City it will be on to Rangely–just 180 miles. Here, John and Friggs, who no longer ride, will drive out to join us for our last night out. Plus, I have suggested that if anyone were interested, we could stay a second night here and play golf again, this time with John and Friggs joining us. Dennis and Bill have said they would be interested, provided that John and Friggs were playing with us, so I asked John what his inclination was.
“I don’t see why Friggs and I have to decide on what we’re doing this far ahead,” he replied. Well, gosh John, no, I guess not, at least not unless it might be good to know whether to make motel reservations for two nights rather than one. And arrange a tee time.
Whatever. Then the trip home will be about 280 miles.
Biker Quote for Today
“I had a girlfriend in college… good to look at, exotic and foreign, sometimes fun, and a lot of fun to ride when she was up for it, but generally, she was a bit of a bitch, with a few fatal flaws that I tried to fix for years until I finally got fed up and called it quits. She was apparently reincarnated into my ’99 Triumph Tiger.” — MapBoy
Tags: Route for annual ride
May 2nd, 2019 at 7:25 pm
If you are riding down Lolo to Grangeville, ID and then down 95 to New Meadows and then Cascade, try the OLD Hiway 95 – also called Old White Bird Hill Road.
A short side trip. but you won’t regret it – part of the ride chronicled in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”.
May 5th, 2019 at 9:15 pm
Thanks, I’ll check that out.