To most of us motorcyclists, motorcycles are really not about getting from point A to point B.  The destination is important, but let’s face it, the ride there is what it’s all about.  So when planning a two-wheeled vacation of a lifetime the idea is to ride the best roads for the most miles that you can fit within your time table and budget.  To some, it’s not just the roads; visiting roadside attractions are what it’s all about, too.  Putting this all together to get the most bang from your miles can be tough.

     Trip planning tools are everywhere now days.  I have used three different computer map programs and I’m sure there are many more out there.  The best of these can plot your route based on your start point and end point, and can route you on the “right” roads based on your road preferences, for example, no free ways.  Hotels/Motels are noted with phone numbers and in some cases a link to their web sites.  Road side attractions can be programmed into your route along with gas stops plotted based on your individual mile per gallon figures.  Whew, gets complicated…but good!

     Once you establish your route (for those with the big bucks) you download the route into your Global Positioning System (GPS) and you’re ready for the road.  You ride along and at any time you can check your route, your speed, the temperature, etc.  Ever listen to one GPS user talking to another?  If it sounds like gibberish, they are probably swapping GPS coordinates; you know those longitude and latitude number thingies.  For the rest of us, we do it the old fashion way…print out a series of maps and stuff them in our map case.

     To compliment any map program you can visit your local book store and buy complete books on just about any area or roadside attraction your heart desires.  Don’t want to spend the money on a book?  Check the web out.  National and State Parks seem to all have their web sites, and just about every bed and breakfast, hotel/motel and Mom & Pop RV have theirs as well.  It’s easy to plan more route and more roadside attraction stops than your time and money can cope with.  It’s good to have a dream.

     Try carrying a laptop, palm top, or cell phone with web presence on your next trip.  On our recent MOA National trip we did and it really came in handy.  We’ve even added a new category to our hotel/motel criteria list…wifi capable.  That means we have cordless connection to the web and all the information and services we can handle, to include the ability to change our hotel/motel accommodations on the fly.  Really worked well.

     And there’s more to come.  Satellite imagery is here and can zoom down to your backyard.  Won’t be long before you will be able to see yourself riding down the road!  Wow!  Folks with backyard pools, beware!  Deryle and Wanda, considering a cover for our pool.