rest between longer motorcycle trips.

[shadowofacloud]

 Hi All,

 

 How long do you rest after a longer (say a week or more) motorcycle trip? A trip, during which you have ridden daily, maybe not to your absolute limit, but until you've got fairly tired. [edit] By "rest" I mean the break before another longer trip.

 

 Not looking for a definitive answer, rather collecting data points or ways to approach the issue - rules of thumb.

 

 Thanks!

Edited December 26, 2019 by shadowofacloud

[eisfeld]

Usually I'm physically good to go on the next morning but mentally only want to do short rides (30min) after I've been riding a couple days. This is probably because all the long rides (e.g. 1500km in 2-3 days) that I did were less enjoyable due to long boring highway rides, the butt starting to hurt etc.

 

So for me it's purely about the kind of riding. Getting from A-B or "sight seeing". The first one I can do for 2-3 days and the latter I didn't approach a physical or mental limit yet, just ran out of free time.

[Kwasaki]

One typical day on 2 - 3 week bike trips.

Ride 100 kilo stop and have a can beer, ride another 100 kilo and have a can of beer, ride another 100 kilo and look for a place to  stay  so we can have some beer. 

[Damrongsak]

This crazy guy used to do a lot of long rides.  http://ratbikemilo.com/site/

 

"...Fast forward to 2011 and I have proof that she has yet to be washed! My Shovel head and I have ridden (not trailered) to 48 states and 5 Provinces of Canada, logging well over 615,000 miles to date. In 2008, while going to Milwaukee Wisconsin for Harley’s 105th birthday party, I felt compelled to show some of Harley’s Executive’s, who we were riding with, what we could do. I passed the whole group at 109 mph while waving to them. No I don’t do that very often. But if ya want to ride with me, be prepared to do 80 to 85 on average. I like to challenge myself with Iron Butt runs. Four of them so far of over 1,000 miles in a day."

 

A few other long rides:

 

9,000 miles/35 days
8,000 miles/34 days
7,000 miles/17 days17

 

 

[Isaanbiker]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

One typical day on 2 - 3 week bike trips.

Ride 100 kilo stop and have a can beer, ride another 100 kilo and have a can of beer, ride another 100 kilo and look for a place to  stay  so we can have some beer. 

Or perhaps two? But it must be Leo or lao beer.

[Kerryd]

It depends.

I did a 2,300km trip in early December. Long, fast ride the first day. Shorter (but still fast) rides the next couple of days followed by 2 long, fast rides to get home again.

Got home, next day did my laundry, repacked my bags and could have left again but didn't have any plans of where to go. Plus I didn't want to be on the roads during the silly season. (Last Sunday the cops were still checking for drunk drivers at 7:30 in the morning !)

In November I did a 3 day trip to Sa Kaeo, Korat and Buriram. Came home and found out a friend of mine had just died and they were going to have a 3 day service in his home village, in Buriram. Did some laundry, repacked my bag and left the next morning.

Came back from that trip and barely a week later did the long trip to Chiang Mai and the North-West corner of Thailand.

I prefer (personally) to space my trips out where possible though. There's no need to try and see everything as fast as you can. I like to take my time, enjoy the ride and get there in one piece.
I've also found that no matter how fast you ride, you will never outrun the smell of hot dog sh** roasting in the sun so why bother ?

[shadowofacloud]

Thanks All.

 

Reason for my question was that I did a 10-day (incl. 1-day rest) trip recently. Around 2.5k in total, with long days on the highway at the start and end of the trip plus some demanding (for me at least) riding in the mountains in between.

 

I got back home and planned to do another 1-2 week trip after 2-3 days of rest, but my head was completely not in it. It was like a mental block, a sort of aversion. It lifted off in a little over a week after the trip. Guess I needed time to process all the excitement.

[shadowofacloud]

12 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

This crazy guy used to do a lot of long rides.  http://ratbikemilo.com/site/

Yeah, I mean, this guy is on the extreme side. I am sure there are people, who spend most of their life in the saddle, but at this stage I am not trying to push my envelope, rather establish a certain feeling for my limits.

 

As a side note - I quite like the simple, minimalist design of his bike, 55.

[moe666]

When I was riding a lot sometime 2 weeks between trips alot of concentration is required to ride sake, takes a lot out of you mentally. Years ago did a bicycle trip in Wales, then Durham to edinburogh. I got off back in the states and didn't get back on for a year. Just didnot have it in me to ride. The trip was great met a lot of people saw alot of country, but I was spent

[NoshowJones]

15 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

One typical day on 2 - 3 week bike trips.

Ride 100 kilo stop and have a can beer, ride another 100 kilo and have a can of beer, ride another 100 kilo and look for a place to  stay  so we can have some beer. 

i'm just a wee bit wary of drinking two cans of beer while riding about 200Ks, OK. so maybe, just maybe, you are not over the limit, but I would imagine there would be a little effect on your thinking and concentration, and that is not good for yourself or other road users. 

Why not leave the beer until you stop for the night?

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

Or perhaps two? But it must be Leo or lao beer.

Sorry, but more consideration is required, if not for yourself, then for other road users. As I have already said, can't

you not just lay off the beer till you stop for the night?

[KKr]

15 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

surely no-one agrees,
but to me that looks like a bag-lady's vehicle.

[Gweiloman]

36 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

i'm just a wee bit wary of drinking two cans of beer while riding about 200Ks, OK. so maybe, just maybe, you are not over the limit, but I would imagine there would be a little effect on your thinking and concentration, and that is not good for yourself or other road users. 

Why not leave the beer until you stop for the night?

 

32 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Sorry, but more consideration is required, if not for yourself, then for other road users. As I have already said, can't

you not just lay off the beer till you stop for the night?

I don’t drink during the day, riding or not. But in all honesty, having a beer or two is unlikely to have any effect. On a bike, you sweat a lot more than in a car and the alcohol will be absorbed very quickly into your bloodstream and as quickly dissipated through evaporation. 
I now wait for other posters to correct me and tell me how idiotic my post is. But I have ridden over 100,000 kms all over Thailand without incident. Also, I don’t drink during the day ????

[NCC1701A]

3 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

Thanks All.

 

Reason for my question was that I did a 10-day (incl. 1-day rest) trip recently. Around 2.5k in total, with long days on the highway at the start and end of the trip plus some demanding (for me at least) riding in the mountains in between.

 

I got back home and planned to do another 1-2 week trip after 2-3 days of rest, but my head was completely not in it. It was like a mental block, a sort of aversion. It lifted off in a little over a week after the trip. Guess I needed time to process all the excitement.

last year in November after a 30 day motorcycle trip all over north Thailand I came home and locked the bike up for almost a year.  it was a great trip but crazy intense and seemed endless . 

[NoshowJones]

3 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

 

I don’t drink during the day, riding or not. But in all honesty, having a beer or two is unlikely to have any effect. On a bike, you sweat a lot more than in a car and the alcohol will be absorbed very quickly into your bloodstream and as quickly dissipated through evaporation. 
I now wait for other posters to correct me and tell me how idiotic my post is. But I have ridden over 100,000 kms all over Thailand without incident. Also, I don’t drink during the day ????

The fact that you don't drink through the day could have a lot to do with your excellent riding record, may I also point out that I do not sweat when riding, and I do a lot of road trips, but that could be down to the fact that I rarely ride over 60 Ks per hour. I have lots of time and am never in a hurry.

Also, I do not ride a big bike where you are gearchanging  regularly, I ride a Forza, which has all the comfort I require, and I just like to take my time, also I never get a sore butt, probably being slim and not having a big butt helps.

[emptypockets]

16 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

This crazy guy used to do a lot of long rides.  http://ratbikemilo.com/site/

 

"...Fast forward to 2011 and I have proof that she has yet to be washed! My Shovel head and I have ridden (not trailered) to 48 states and 5 Provinces of Canada, logging well over 615,000 miles to date. In 2008, while going to Milwaukee Wisconsin for Harley’s 105th birthday party, I felt compelled to show some of Harley’s Executive’s, who we were riding with, what we could do. I passed the whole group at 109 mph while waving to them. No I don’t do that very often. But if ya want to ride with me, be prepared to do 80 to 85 on average. I like to challenge myself with Iron Butt runs. Four of them so far of over 1,000 miles in a day."

 

A few other long rides:

 

9,000 miles/35 days
8,000 miles/34 days
7,000 miles/17 days17

 

 

Looks like the bloke in the top photo had hit a Texan longhorn on his trip. Interesting to see the evidence on the ground of the total loss lubrication system in use. At least it won't go rusty.

[Gweiloman]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

The fact that you don't drink through the day could have a lot to do with your excellent riding record, may I also point out that I do not sweat when riding, and I do a lot of road trips, but that could be down to the fact that I rarely ride over 60 Ks per hour. I have lots of time and am never in a hurry.

Also, I do not ride a big bike where you are gearchanging  regularly, I ride a Forza, which has all the comfort I require, and I just like to take my time, also I never get a sore butt, probably being slim and not having a big butt helps.

You think you don’t sweat but let me reassure you that you are losing a lot of water through perspiration when you are riding. It is unavoidable as you’re under the hot sun. It’s just that the sweat evaporates as you are riding along. 
I ride bikes with manual gears (own a pcx as well) and changing gears is no big deal. In fact, I find it a lot safer as it gives me much better control. 
I overcome sore butts by using an AirHawk seat. 

[NoshowJones]

7 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

You think you don’t sweat but let me reassure you that you are losing a lot of water through perspiration when you are riding. It is unavoidable as you’re under the hot sun. It’s just that the sweat evaporates as you are riding along. 
I ride bikes with manual gears (own a pcx as well) and changing gears is no big deal. In fact, I find it a lot safer as it gives me much better control. 
I overcome sore butts by using an AirHawk seat. 

Excellent post, but I still thing alcohol should be avoided when driving or riding.

[johnnort]

This past August/September, a 4 week duration, my wife and I rode 9750 km from Lisbon, Portugal to Bodrum Turkey, and back on our GL1800.

I write to advise riders to hydrate often, and not with alcohol. The temptation is to carry on till the next fuel stop, the bigger the tank the longer it is before breaks, even though one may be parched. On arrival at Barcelona, on the return, I was ambulanced off to the hospital after having a 14 hour nose bleed. After several tests it was accepted that I had serious kidney problems, which the doctors had explained was brought on by lengthy periods of dehydration. High blood pressure too. I have had regular well man blood tests and can confirm there were no kidney or blood pressure problems previous to the ride.

Ride Safe and drink plenty of water on your long rides.

 

[robblok]

3 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

 

I don’t drink during the day, riding or not. But in all honesty, having a beer or two is unlikely to have any effect. On a bike, you sweat a lot more than in a car and the alcohol will be absorbed very quickly into your bloodstream and as quickly dissipated through evaporation. 
I now wait for other posters to correct me and tell me how idiotic my post is. But I have ridden over 100,000 kms all over Thailand without incident. Also, I don’t drink during the day ????

Sorry but where do you get this B.S from ? 

 

I mean alcohol does not evaporate because of sweating sweating more or less has absolutely no impact on how you process the alcohol. Alcohol goes through the liver to be broken down. 

 

Some people break it down faster than others but sweating and riding a bike has no impact on how fast this happens.

 

 

[Gweiloman]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Sorry but where do you get this B.S from ? 

 

I mean alcohol does not evaporate because of sweating sweating more or less has absolutely no impact on how you process the alcohol. Alcohol goes through the liver to be broken down. 

 

Some people break it down faster than others but sweating and riding a bike has no impact on how fast this happens.

 

 

From experience. I find that I sober up much quicker after a heavy drinking session when I have to ride my big bike home as opposed to driving. 

[canthai55]

3 hours ago, possum1931 said:

I do not sweat when riding,

You may not feel wet, but you do sweat.

Evaporation takes it away

[robblok]

43 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

From experience. I find that I sober up much quicker after a heavy drinking session when I have to ride my big bike home as opposed to driving. 

Sure mate maybe you should study a bit more biology. Alcohol gets broken down by liver(almost all)). Evaporation has nothing to do with it at all. You might feel more sober but that does not mean much. Could be just placebo or the fact that driving a car is different from on a bike. 

 

Below some explanation how it really works. 

 

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa72/aa72.htm

 

I am not saying you don't sweat on a motorbike, all im saying it has nothing to do with how the alcohol is broken down.

Edited December 27, 2019 by robblok

[CALSinCM]

After the "boys" are well rested and I can feel my buns again.

[BTB1977]

Everyone's physical and mental state will be different.  The key is to know your own abilities.  And ride below the maximum you can do. The whole point of riding is to ride to ride the next day and enjoy this wonderful thing we all share. I just finished a 2 week, 3100 kilometers ride on a Honda Forza 300 up north. Pie. Mae Hongson loop. Took two days break within the 14 days so 12 total total riding. 10 years form now I might not be able to ride as much, so doing it now.  

[HashBrownHarry]

7 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

Everyone's physical and mental state will be different.  The key is to know your own abilities.  And ride below the maximum you can do. The whole point of riding is to ride to ride the next day and enjoy this wonderful thing we all share. I just finished a 2 week, 3100 kilometers ride on a Honda Forza 300 up north. Pie. Mae Hongson loop. Took two days break within the 14 days so 12 total total riding. 10 years form now I might not be able to ride as much, so doing it now.  

I've done the MHS before although only in 4 days, i'd love to spend about 10-14 days doing, then onto CR.

 

I will head to Nan for 4-5 days in the NY.