This question is for those who have actually done the TAT. While I value everyone else's opinion, in this case I really would like to hear from just those who have done the TAT. Several friends and I are considering doing the TAT this spring/summer and wonder if we would be better off to just tow our bikes to the edge of Colorado and spend a couple of weeks riding CO and UT. I know that that is not the same as doing the whole TAT but of all of the ride reports I have read, that one area seems to be the highlight of the trip. Of those who have ridden the whole thing, please let us know if you think we would be missing anything really special, other than having TAT bragging rights, if we just did CO and UT. Since both time and money are scarce commodities, shortening the trip by a couple of weeks has appeal. We are curious to see what you have to say. Cheers, Vic
I have done all of the TAT. I think every area had stuff that I really enjoyed. The problems was that there was too much of most areas. I was ready for something new after about a day. But it seemed like some sections went on for 3 or 4 days.
I know what you mean. I have ridden across the top of Oklahoma a few times on the highway and can imagine 500 miles of that off road might be more than one might want. What areas did you like the most/least? If you only had two weeks to ride, where would you spend your time?
After having done the TAT I decided I could do a better job at least in meeting my own desires for a high quality ride. In addition to too much time in the same places, I decided I didn't like the one-way nature of the ride. We did the eastern and western TAT on two different rides and slabbed it back to Albuquerque both times. I prefer mostly dirt loops. We have done about 6 rides in the area generally north of the Grand Canyon varying from 5 to 11 days. Here are tracks from this years ride along with links to full ride reports of most of the other rides. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=981366 I imagine we will continue to do variations of this in the coming years. We do incorporate a little bit of the TAT in the rides. As far as a once in a lifetime do not miss part of the TAT, I think the Alpine loop around Ouray and Silverton would be on the list. Another great area is Moab. The TAT misses nearly all the great stuff as it goes thru there. But all in all I really enjoyed the TAT and am really glad it did it. And I love these kinds of rides. So that's why I keep planning new ones.
Thanks for your thoughts on all of this and for the links. I'll dig into your tracks and ride reports as I get some time to do so! Vic
I'd have to agree with Vic, while the TAT is awesome, some of it gets old and boring. When Sam created it, it took blood sweat and tears. Now with a good mapping program and google earth you can custom make any route you want to. I make a lot of routes up over the winter months, and ride them in the summer. It's a lot more fun for me to follow a route I made up verses following some one else's track. If I read a RR that I really enjoy, I will make note of the area or the sights that I wanna see, and make up my own route to do it!
I didn't realize that I had really expressed an opinion other than to suggest that the top of OK might get old. When did you do the TAT, how many went and how long did it take you? What were the best parts for you? Vic
Colorado and Utah where my favorites. I would have loved to spend a few more days at the 3 Step Ranch and do some more riding in that area. On my return trip I went through Idaho, and LOVED it - from what I understand Sam has rerouted through Idaho, but I dont know what area... We started with 5, and soon we were down to 2 because of riding style differences. After Utah I was on my own.
Thanks. So you did the whole TAT and thought it was awesome but some areas (CO and UT) were much better for you than the others. The question is whether the high of doing the whole thing and seeing it all was worth slugging it through some areas that were not your favorite?
I have not done the whole TAT but have done Arkansas, Colorado and Utah..Some friends of mine and I did CO and UT on one go-round and it was the best trip I have ever made. We trailered to Trinidad and hit the TAT from there. UT was awesome! I am going to start the TAT again at the MS/AR border and ride until it hits the UBCDR and then ride that up the state. Just do it!
To each his own, but I do like to get a track someone else has created in a totally new and remote area. It is just good to know that the roads do go thru. I use GPSXchange.com and dualsportmaps.com a lot to get tracks. But I do enjoy creating my own tracks too. But I obsess and worry a lot about whether a road will actually work. I generally like to see a road on at least 3 different maps, and I check it out on Google Earth to see if it really exists. And I look at land ownership maps to make sure the more primitive roads are not on private land. These almost always have locked gates. The big reason for this is that we do point to point type trips in remote areas and gas is nearly always an issue. We can't afford to have more than a couple of dead ends in the course of a day. Another nice feature of a lot of existing tracks is that they are time stamped and you see how long it took the original rider to get thru a section. But you have to calibrate this by seeing how long it took thru a known easy section.
If you're going to trailer, I fully agree with this. I rode the TAT~West from NM. I've ridden enough of Oregon that I cut south near Denio Junction towards Gelerach. I liked the Nevada TAT so much that I went back out to Baker the following year and rode it again.
The UBCDR is "Utah Back Country Discovery Route" More info on it and others... http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/ I did the TAT through most of OK. Bypassed a little of MS but late and raining so dark and mud don't mix. If you've not seen that country before I'd say it's worth it but if limited on time hit the spots that are most scenic. Eastern side will still be there. First part of OK is varied but once you get past the 1st 3rd its straight line to the next turn, straight line to the next etc etc. Also, if its been raining there's sections you'll spend getting through mud or bypass anyway because of it. Neat if new and you want to do the trail but same scenery for a while. If you check out the TAT site he also has a Shadows of the Rockies that may be an option. Good luck and safe travels
Thanks! I have not ridden dirt in 35 years so I am totally out of touch with all the current acronyms, popular rides, etc. Many years ago I rode enduros and hope that it won't take long to get my mojo back. My old body will protest but I think I can make it come along for the ride.
I rode from Arkansas west and Oklahoma was horribly boring. IF you are in a group it probably would be a little better but solo in the summer was insanely hot, boring and really muddy when it rained. There were a few places to stop off that were cool like Elgin. The trip gets amazing as soon as you cross into New Mexico and everyday in Colorado keeps getting better.
UBCDR is the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route. It is a track developed by Touratec I believe and seems to capture the best of Utah..I love Utah and want to do this in the worst kind of way! You can google up the url and download the tracks for free. I plan to leave sometime around second week of June but that is not finalized yet..I am retired so I am flexible!
Thanks. OK looks like a holding cell for hell to me too. Like I said, I have done that swath across OK on 64 and 412 before on my VStrom and even then it was miserable. How far west did you go? Beyond CO, how would you rate the states?
Thanks. I'll look into that for sure. I have ridden a lot in UT on the pavement and I can only imagine that off road would be spectacular.