LA to Memphis Part 1

Ready for a wet start

My trip was over a month ago and it went very well. The trip was Friday May 3 to Sunday May 12. I took 3 days to get to Los Angeles. I had to get there in time for the Adobe MAX conference I was attending. I took 4 days to return, taking a less direct and more scenic route. This was a business trip that work agreed to let me travel using my bike.


The ride out started on Friday morning at 6 am. I left Memphis in thunderstorms - it was a real baptism by fire. I took I40 all the way across Arkansas with rain the whole way. Four hours of hard rain, countless eighteen wheelers, and continually fogged up face shield. To say it was a white knuckle ride is an understatement.

 I had planned on camping in a state park east of Amarillo, TX, but the forecast of a 30 degree overnight low changed my mind. I ended up at a hotel in Shamrock, TX.

The second day of riding was going to be my longest on the trip to LA. I was planning to get to Sedona, AZ where I had a night booked with our timeshare. Once in New Mexico, the landscape really started to change. The characteristic "Old West" rock formations and colors were surrounding me. The further west I went, the more unusual the cacti became. Being from Tennessee, the greenery I'm used to is of a more leafy type.

I left I40 at Flagstaff and headed south to Sedona on 17. I got to Sedona pretty early in the afternoon. Had time to get cleaned up and head into town for a really good meal. The views going into town and leaving the next day were incredible.

The view outside my condo

Leaving Sedona

Sedona to LA saw some of the worst winds I had on the trip. They started kicking in as I crossed into California on Hwy 10. Needless to say, traffic picked up quite a bit as well once I hit the more populated region of the state. It was a relatively short hop from Sedona to LA. I got to the Convention Center for check-in around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. After checking in at the conference, it was a short ride to my hotel. I was kind of apprehensive about the idea of lane-splitting, but it was a moot point. LA streets aren't exactly bustling on a Sunday afternoon.

Arrival at the LA Convention Center

More on the trip to LA on my next post...