I'm leaving for the a motorcycle adventure in seven or more days. Few things in life make me more excited than a good motorcycle trip. Days spent on the open road in places I've never been with a companion and the attitude of adventure. I try to make my trips to be ones I'll remember for the rest of my life. I have realized recently that it is in good part because of the planning that I put into it.
Disclaimer: Please excuse my, uh, let’s call it “enthusiasm.”
While I was never in the Boy Scouts obviously, I may as well have been. I should have a “Be Prepared” tattooed across the inside of my eyelids. Many of you are able, and would probably prefer, to pack a few pairs of clean underwear and socks and a sleeping bag and hit the road. For a lot of people, making it up as they go along is the adventure. To you, I say kudos and part of me is a bit jealous, but I'm warning you now I have figured out: I’m at the other end of the spectrum. Consider this the obsessive-compulsive rider’s guide to planning a trip. It’s not meant to be list of required steps. It’s just the process this research-obsessed nerd has learned after these last few years of doing this sort of thing. Picking my destination
Picking a destination is one of the most fun and frustrating parts of the process. I can’t tell you how many photos I see on a friend’s Facebook page or on some motorcycle blog that get my wheels spinning. The Earth is a beautiful place and there are an infinite number of natural attractions or events that make it worthwhile to get out of the house. I try to pick a destination that is interesting, but also within the limits of the riding abilities. I consider how far I’ve ridden previously and be honest with myself about the kind of mileage I’d like to do in a day.
I did my first trip years ago on a smaller Suzuki and I knew I was only good for 200 to 250 miles per day, given how much that bike beat me up and my need to take butt relief breaks. I felt like a n00b, but it was a great trip.
My trips these days have gotten quite a bit longer. I have had my life to work up to doing an Iron Butt ride but NO I don't want to do that either! Decide my daily mileage
Once I have a destination in mind, I break the mileage down by the number of days I have allotted. I resist the temptation to do everything. Just because I can now easily do a 650-mile day, that doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy six of them back to back, so I don’t try to cram a 5,000-mile trip into my week. I remember, it’s supposed to be fun, not a death march. I look at a map for fun places to stop for the night along the way to my destination. I consider my state of mind for that time of the trip. On the way out, I’ll probably have the energy to stay somewhere awesome, even if it’s 40 miles out of the way and at the end of a dirt road. On the tail end of a six-day trip, nothing sounded better than a modest motel’s TV and bed. I try to build in some buffer so I can get lost, stop at an ATM to get money for an entrance fee, or hang somewhere longer than expected just because I'm having fun there. I’ve never been a fan of arriving at my destination at midnight totally burned out, so I usually plan shorter mileage so I can arrive at a decent hour and enjoy the evening.
Note: I use my map’s legend.
Squiggly lines equal fun, green areas equal plant life, blue equals water. I search Better Maps to see if any of the favorite roads are nearby and worth taking (hint: it’s usually worth it).
We all have to sleep With the destination and daily mileage planned, the next question is: camping or motel? Some will say camping is the only way to go, but there are a lot of people like me who do incredible trips and don’t want to carry the extra supplies or deal with the hassle of finding places to pitch a tent. Sometimes it just makes more sense. Regardless of the route I choose, my next stop is hotel.com or choicehotels.com If I'm looking at getting a room somewhere. I think about how important things like pools, AC, heaters, secure parking, and other amenities are to me, given the location and time of year. If I did decide to camp, I make sure I know things like how many bikes and tents can be on a site, how much it is for a site and how to pay if I show up after hours.
Gas and food Even with all of the major stops planned, I'm not done yet. Motorcycles have fairly short ranges (some much more than others), and I’ll want to plan my gas stops ahead of time if I'm going to be away from highly populated areas. I even look for gas ahead of time on Google Maps and call ahead to make sure gas stations still exist if I think it’s going to be close (I learned the hard way in 2012 in No Man’s Land). I have learned to carry a little extra fuel to take the scary out of an unpleasant situation. Remember how I said I had the tendency to go a little overboard? I like to plan food stops as well, if possible. With so many restaurants with so much character in the random and weird places I don't want to find myself on a trip eating at places like Taco Bell. It would be a let down after all the miles. Fast food I can get at home.
This step definitely isn’t necessary, but has led to some of the more memorable eating moments on some of my trips.
However, if you ever find yourself in California or Arizona this rules goes out the window. I always stop at an In & Out Burger.
Take your plans with you The final step is to plot all of this preparedness onto a map of some sort. Whether I want to buy a physical map and draw it all on there and then shove that map in my saddle bag or bring the maps electronically... there’s no way I’ll remember it all. If I have a GPS unit, I bring a list of destinations and addresses can then be sufficient. If I'm just using my phone, I can email myself the links to Google Maps files and save them to my phone so I can access them without service. It’s a good idea to make sure someone in my family has a list of the directions or destinations if possible. Chances are, I won’t be needing help, but it’s a good precaution to take should something come up. Plus I post in my daily blog to let family & friends be able to track me and follow my journey.
As I stated, this is just my method after being fortunate enough to do my fair share of motorcycle trips. This isn’t the definitive guide by any means.
May everyone finds their destination dream trip for 2021.
See ya along the road...
Nana
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