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US Highway 2 - how late is too late?


szurszewski

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Looking at maybe riding US 2 east to west - either the whole thing (sort of through Canada), or picking it up just west of the Great Lakes.

 

It's basically October now and we wouldn't be starting for say a week - too cold to be pleasant? (I mean, I'm sure it's possible, but we are lazy creatures accustomed to pleasant rides...)

 

If it's not already too late, how late is too late? If you don't know for all of it, please feel encouraged to answer for specific bits near you or just whatever you are familiar with.

 

Thanks!

josh

 

 

PS - wasn't sure which forum would be best - if anyone wants to move it, please do!

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That's a good question. Sunny and 72 is great but not necessary or even expected.

 

Mostly we don't want to be wet AND cold - and it's easier/cheaper when we mostly avoid wet al together (camping more than one road night in a row is kind of a bummer since the gear ends up getting packed damp).

 

Comfort range for dry riding is into the low fifties I guess, and we have gear to keep it tolerable into the high twenties (but that requires fairly frequent cocoa breaks).

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You live in Portland and don't like wet and cold :D

Don't worry,I understand,I'm Oregon born and lived outside Portland in the past.

 

On a serious note,as long as you have good rain gear and hopefully heated gear,then you should be ok,but don't wait much longer and be prepared with bail out routes to the south if weather is turning on you.

 

Look at WarmnSafe.com for heated gear.A liner is better than a vest,but either will help.

 

JR356

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I actually like riding in the rain, and cold is fine - better than warm to me in most cases...but...the wife doesn't have the best rain gear with her and doesn't want to buy any for whatever reason, and the convertible top currently on the sidecar is fine moving but not great standing still - and the thing takes a bit to dry out once it get wet.... anyway.

 

We left Portland just about exactly a year ago and have been wandering about since - currently in Albany, NY and thinking about heading back to the PNW, at least for a bit. Driven most of 2, but never done it on a bike.

 

I have looked at the weather maps and the forecast, and that looks ok, but I wanted to see if anyone has any personal thoughts/experience/is local to parts of the route. We don't have any heated gear with us, but we are also not really on a schedule, so it's easy enough to turn south if we get cold.

 

We'd wanted to start our year taking 2 east, but we left too late to make that comfortable. (And I might have just answered my own question there, because we left the first week of October last year! :dopeslap: )

 

 

 

 

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I did a similar ride a few years back- west(Portland OR) to east(coastal MA) primarily via Rt 2/Rt 200 and picked up Rt 17 after entering Canada via Sault St Marie. Came back into the US at Ogdensburg NY. Nice ride, loved the Rt, but this was in July! Can't say that I very in tune to the weather in these areas at this time of the year, but I think MT has already had some snow. Myself, I love cool/cold weather riding, But once the snow flies and the salts down, I'm done. If you do the trip, I hope the weather is in your favor! If not, as you have said, head south.

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I did a similar ride a few years back- west(Portland OR) to east(coastal MA) primarily via Rt 2/Rt 200 and picked up Rt 17 after entering Canada via Sault St Marie. Came back into the US at Ogdensburg NY. Nice ride, loved the Rt, but this was in July! Can't say that I very in tune to the weather in these areas at this time of the year, but I think MT has already had some snow. Myself, I love cool/cold weather riding, But once the snow flies and the salts down, I'm done. If you do the trip, I hope the weather is in your favor! If not, as you have said, head south.

 

 

No interest in salty roads, other than on the beach ;) , but a little snow here or there hasn't hurt us yet - one of the benefits of having a sidecar (of course that just keeps us from falling over - it's not like it makes it any better at steering or stopping!). Unless the weather looks particularly bad, or something comes up to draw us south instead, I imagine we'll at least try it out.

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Sidecar, huh? That's awesome! I have had a couplke of sidecar rigs...have one in the garage now. Fun stuff! What do you have for a sidecar?

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oops - didn't really think before posting that one - it's a great pic of "us" but kind of lacking as far as showing the sidecar - how about this one instead?

 

35146945113_ab96d37907_z.jpg

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Looking at maybe riding US 2 east to west - either the whole thing (sort of through Canada), or picking it up just west of the Great Lakes.

 

It's basically October now and we wouldn't be starting for say a week - too cold to be pleasant? (I mean, I'm sure it's possible, but we are lazy creatures accustomed to pleasant rides...)

 

If it's not already too late, how late is too late? If you don't know for all of it, please feel encouraged to answer for specific bits near you or just whatever you are familiar with.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Afternoon josh

 

This has been a strange year weather wise in the upper great lakes area so all bets are off on what weather you can expect.

 

I have ridden the Canada to Wisconsin part of 2 many times in October & early November. You can expect anything from some snow, to frosty cold mornings, to sleet, to rain to sunny afternoons with great riding. (lots of dark shadows on the road this time of year)

 

Big issue in the upper great lakes this time of year is deer or bear on the roads (especially in the dark). Hunting season & cool weather makes the deer edgy & on the move. Not just standing on or along the road sides but darting across with no regards for traffic. (my biggest worry is not hitting the deer as I can usually mostly get around them but my big concern is an oncoming car or truck hitting one & flinging it high into me)

 

This is a beautiful time to make the ride across 2 (the earlier you get started the better as it can change fast this time of year) but unless you are in no hurry & can keep the travel times to daylight & sit out the bad weather then the suggestion in a post above to have an alternate southern route planned & ready is a good suggestion.

 

I can't comment on the more western parts of 2 this time of year so hopefully riders in those areas can fill you in on that part.

 

 

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Afternoon josh

 

This has been a strange year weather wise in the upper great lakes area so all bets are off on what weather you can expect.

 

I have ridden the Canada to Wisconsin part of 2 many times in October & early November. You can expect anything from some snow, to frosty cold mornings, to sleet, to rain to sunny afternoons with great riding. (lots of dark shadows on the road this time of year)

 

Big issue in the upper great lakes this time of year is deer or bear on the roads (especially in the dark). Hunting season & cool weather makes the deer edgy & on the move. Not just standing on or along the road sides but darting across with no regards for traffic. (my biggest worry is not hitting the deer as I can usually mostly get around them but my big concern is an oncoming car or truck hitting one & flinging it high into me)

 

This is a beautiful time to make the ride across 2 (the earlier you get started the better as it can change fast this time of year) but unless you are in no hurry & can keep the travel times to daylight & sit out the bad weather then the suggestion in a post above to have an alternate southern route planned & ready is a good suggestion.

 

I can't comment on the more western parts of 2 this time of year so hopefully riders in those areas can fill you in on that part.

 

 

Thanks, DR - we try not to ride at night normally, and particularly when we're on smaller roads, and we're good at waiting out weather (just ask Twisties and Bullet - heavy rains and their generosity turned a night or two into nearly a week at their place this time last year!).

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

U.S. 2 here in North Dakota this week was windy Wed. but dry and exceptionally warm. The section of 2 between Grand Forks and Minot was about 70+ today and will be again tomorrow but with increased wind Fri. Spotty showers Saturday. But next week the temps will fall and high might be 49 by Wed., Thurs., Fri.. Hope that helps--unless you've already passed thru here.

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U.S. 2 here in North Dakota this week was windy Wed. but dry and exceptionally warm. The section of 2 between Grand Forks and Minot was about 70+ today and will be again tomorrow but with increased wind Fri. Spotty showers Saturday. But next week the temps will fall and high might be 49 by Wed., Thurs., Fri.. Hope that helps--unless you've already passed thru here.

 

Thank you for the input! As of today we've made it as far west as Missouri, but unfortunately we've also only made it as far north as Missouri, which is to say actually south of our intended path. I think we'll be here (St. Louis) through the weekend, and by then we'll probably be stuck with a southerly route.

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