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How does it feel, satisfying your hunger to tour

richardus

New member
What is it about going on a long, multi-day tour that makes us want to keep going back? For me, I see daily life as doing what you need to do to survive, we work, we go about doing our chores, or running around doing what others expect of us for various reasons, and all the while, deep inside, we feel like something isn't being satisfied. Like a tiny hunger that won't go away. Money doesn't fix it, love doesn't even fix it. But when I get on the road and know that I have several days of free adventure and exploration, just me, nothing expected of me. I don't need to be anywhere, do anything I don't want to do. It is 100% free time, just for me to go wherever I want, drift wherever the wind blows me, and survive on only what I can carry. That is when that tiny hunger feels fulfilled. Satisfied. I am at true inner peace with myself and my life. A feeling of euphoria sometimes wells up from deep within while on the road on such a trip and I find myself grinning like an idiot while screaming down the road. Good thing that helmet is on and nobody can see what's really going on there or they might commit me!
DSCN1919.jpg
 
I did two trips this summer that were on my post-retirement ride list that included some incredible sights. Yet, I did not find them as satisfying as I had thought I would. They were "bucket list" rides that most people would love to do. But I realized that staying in a motel alone, was not my idea of a great time, not when my wife of 42 years was at home. (No, she won't ride.) I covered a lot of miles and had some great experiences, but unless I'm with some other people who I can share the experience with, it leaves me feeling still empty. We'll see what next summer's trip is like. I'm already planning a trip up to Banff and Jasper next July with two other buddies.

We each find our fulfillment in different ways. As much as I love riding, I realized that I was looking forward to the fall. Most of my prison ministries take a break during the summer months. But with September, I started back into them again and that's what really gives me the enjoyment.

Chris
 
Trip

I did two trips this summer that were on my post-retirement ride list that included some incredible sights. Yet, I did not find them as satisfying as I had thought I would. They were "bucket list" rides that most people would love to do. But I realized that staying in a motel alone, was not my idea of a great time, not when my wife of 42 years was at home. (No, she won't ride.) I covered a lot of miles and had some great experiences, but unless I'm with some other people who I can share the experience with, it leaves me feeling still empty. We'll see what next summer's trip is like. I'm already planning a trip up to Banff and Jasper next July with two other buddies.

We each find our fulfillment in different ways. As much as I love riding, I realized that I was looking forward to the fall. Most of my prison ministries take a break during the summer months. But with September, I started back into them again and that's what really gives me the enjoyment.

Chris
Let your wife pick the destination and drive Pull a trailer and bike you won't get as much riding as you like but happy wife happy life
 
...We each find our fulfillment in different ways. As much as I love riding, I realized that I was looking forward to the fall. Most of my prison ministries take a break during the summer months. But with September, I started back into them again and that's what really gives me the enjoyment.

Chris

I appreciate the suggestions. :D I really do. I wish. But my wife has sat on each bike I've owned...once...on the center stand...with the engine off. Chuckle...I envy those of you who have wives who will ride with you.

But where I really find my fulfillment is in serving God, whether it is in church during the week, or in the prison. And...I get to be with my wife. It's a win-win. And since I ride my bike everywhere, rain or shine...it is a win-win-win. :D

I have to admit the last hours of my SS1000 going west on I-90 across Eastern Washington weren't as bad as I thought they would be. I just sat back, pointed the bike at the Cascades and marveled at the beauty of God's Creation. The miles went by very quickly. Unfortunately, I still had to get across Snoqualmie Pass, through construction at night after about 900 miles of riding and with rain coming on. But that earlier part was the best part of the trip for me.

Chris
 
I've done more riding this year than I have in the past 5 years since I decided to "call it a day" and stopped working. Several overnight trips, a couple of 4 dayers, and one 8 day multi-thousand kilometer trip. Those plus a 7 day solo car trip to a family event.

I do agree with daboo when he says he didn't / doesn't enjoy staying in a hotel alone. I felt the same way the first time I set off on my own. In fact, I came home early from that first trip. The thing is, I tried to do it all at once - planned a multi-day trip to places I had never been. What I should have done was do a couple of over-nighters, then a couple of 3 day rides, and then perhaps a 5 day ride, you know, worked myself into it. What I find now is that not only do I enjoy travelling alone, I find I meet people much more easily than I did before and those are the most interesting parts of my trips. Of course I much prefer to ride with up to three other riders but now, if I feel like going somewhere, I don't let the lack of someone to share the ride hold me back.

One last thing: I am extraordinarily fortunate to have a wife who used to ride and who understands what riding means to me.
 
Yeah, I'm fortunate too to have a wife that understands what riding means to me. She doesn't give me any grief at all, and in fact encourages me.

I'm used to doing long day trips. Ten, sometimes 12 hours away. I'll usually head off to somewhere like Mt. Baker and do a couple hours of hiking, then head home. My first multi-week trip this summer was with a fellow on a Goldwing. We got along fine and it was good to ride with him. I was home for about a week and a half before heading out to Spearfish, SD. The time seemed too short and I really would've liked to have spent another week at home before heading out like that.

I guess I'm just not like the OP, richardus, who made it sound so wonderful. Sorry to have hijacked your thread, Richard. :uhoh I'll go retire to the sidelines and lurk.

Chris
 
To answer the question: WONDERFUL.

Since I retired I've done multiple solo trips around the US, Canada and Europe (with one other rider part of the time.) I've found I really enjoy the solo experience.

Having no one to answer to, no one to worry about makes for a liberating experience to me. The other part of the solo experience is - people talk to you. It's actually unusual to stop - even just for gas - and not have someone come over to chat. Sometimes they spot the NJ plate and ask how I got there, sometimes they own a bike, or owned one, or their dad owned one. Sometimes they're simply curious about the old dude riding alone in a space-suit so far from home. Solo riding lets me choose where I go, where I stop, where I sleep, where I eat - it sounds selfish, but it really makes for me - a great trip.

Ted Simon and I were sitting on my back porch during one of his "man who came to dinner" visits.. we were drinking some good British beer (there actually is such a thing..) and he asked me if I rode in a group or alone, and which I liked. At that time - it was pretty much a mix. I'd done a few 1,500 mile trips with other people, but no real extended trips. Ted said he liked riding alone. He said (direct quote): "I like it because I don't have to be Ted Simon, I can be whoever I want to be.." and he was absolutely right. Since then - cross-country and back isn't a biggie, Nova Scotia is a short jaunt, head to New Orleans? Sure.. Circle a Great Lake or two? Yup. I've grown to really enjoy my extended solo trips on the bike. I am lucky enough to have a wife who doesn't object - she has said I come back in a much better mood after a long ride. And I think she's right.

My hints to making a go of long solo rides: (1) Make every day an adventure - find something interesting to explore. Worlds biggest ball of aluminum foil? That's worth a days ride.. (2) Have no set time/destination to be anywhere. (3) Make motel reservations no further than 1 day in advance (and I usually make them around 3PM the same day). (4) Be open to others. (5) Say Hello and smile a lot. (6) Stop when you want to - not because you have to. (7) Share the ride - Facebook is great for doing a spontaneous sort of "blog" of a trip like this. A few photos, a bit of description and your friends will join in the ride - virtually. (8) Try new food (I'm sometimes guilty of having the same waffle breakfast and Subway lunch - gotta try to break that habit..) Dinner is never at a chain if I can help it (I think I ate at Cracker-Barrel once on my last 30 day ride..) (9) Don't avoid large cities - take them on head-on. They are really not all that hard to ride in safely, and business class hotel rooms are chump change on a Saturday night. (10) Go out of your way to talk to other riders. You'd be surprised at the good info you can get that way.. (11) Ignore the warnings that the "next state is awful" or "it's too dangerous over there.." - they're always overblown in my experience. (12) Avoid interstates if at all possible. There are almost always parallel roads, or the "old road".. take those, they're a world more interesting, and there aren't the convoys of trucks on them. (13)* Finally - do it NOW. No one is promised tomorrow..

And keep the rubber side down.. thinking now about next spring's trip...

BTW - Richardus - I noticed your photo.. this one is from Border-Inn, at the state line of Nevada/Utah - on the "Loneliest Road" - Rt 50:

IMG_20170611_105937916.jpg

That BMW maxi-scooter had NY plates on it..

Never got to meet the chap riding it - wish I had - I'm sure it's a great story..

border inn1.jpg

border inn2.jpg

* 13 was fixed.. it used to be the 2nd 12..
 
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Great responses

Im loving the responses from you guys. True everyone has a different appetite for their own personal fulfillment. I also agree that it's important to make yourself stop. At anything that
seems even remotely interesting. Most of us are "programmed" to get where we are going, get the job done as soon as possible. We need to practice having all the time in the world, more
difficult than it sounds. Often I will get on the bike and see an interesting road, or spot that could warrant a stop but I hesitate or pass it by only because I "havent ridden long enough". I need to break that habit. There are no rules. Nobody said you have to do X number of miles before a stop is warranted. Who cares if you have only been riding ten minutes? Stop, take pictures. It's the journey, not the destination. And yes maybe you have a long way to go that day, but no hotel or campground is going to deny you simply because you were a few hours later than expected. And I promise if you do it this way, you will be less fatigued at the end of your day's journey. In this pic I stopped in a small native town called Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island for no other reason than I saw a sign that said "milkshakes" and it was super hot out. I ended up not only meeting, talking to and seeing interesting people (including what Im convinced was the REAL Minniehaha) but created a memory that I still think about all the time. It's the simple moments when you weren't really doing anything that special that are the most easily remembered, and end up being the most special, for some reason!
FB_IMG_1506274283356.jpg
I feel... ageless when I ride. I don't feel like an old guy ever when riding. My body doesn't feel it either. I don't feel young, I don't feel old. I just feel like... me.
I too, am blessed with a wife that lets me do what I enjoy. And even though she has gone on a few tours with me, it's not really her thing. So she lets me go on these
trips with best wishes. Wife approved.

Deilenburger: I thought that was your scooter at first lol. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one with this crazy idea! After just getting back from a 3500km trip on mine, I can
honestly say it performed reliably, and nothing feels cooler than passing a truck and six cars at once with it.
 
To answer the question: WONDERFUL.

Since I retired I've done multiple solo trips around the US, Canada and Europe (with one other rider part of the time.) I've found I really enjoy the solo experience.

Having no one to answer to, no one to worry about makes for a liberating experience to me. The other part of the solo experience is - people talk to you. It's actually unusual to stop - even just for gas - and not have someone come over to chat. Sometimes they spot the NJ plate and ask how I got there, sometimes they own a bike, or owned one, or their dad owned one. Sometimes they're simply curious about the old dude riding alone in a space-suit so far from home. Solo riding lets me choose where I go, where I stop, where I sleep, where I eat - it sounds selfish, but it really makes for me - a great trip.

Ted Simon and I were sitting on my back porch during one of his "man who came to dinner" visits.. we were drinking some good British beer (there actually is such a thing..) and he asked me if I rode in a group or alone, and which I liked. At that time - it was pretty much a mix. I'd done a few 1,500 mile trips with other people, but no real extended trips. Ted said he liked riding alone. He said (direct quote): "I like it because I don't have to be Ted Simon, I can be whoever I want to be.." and he was absolutely right. Since then - cross-country and back isn't a biggie, Nova Scotia is a short jaunt, head to New Orleans? Sure.. Circle a Great Lake or two? Yup. I've grown to really enjoy my extended solo trips on the bike. I am lucky enough to have a wife who doesn't object - she has said I come back in a much better mood after a long ride. And I think she's right.

My hints to making a go of long solo rides: (1) Make every day an adventure - find something interesting to explore. Worlds biggest ball of aluminum foil? That's worth a days ride.. (2) Have no set time/destination to be anywhere. (3) Make motel reservations no further than 1 day in advance (and I usually make them around 3PM the same day). (4) Be open to others. (5) Say Hello and smile a lot. (6) Stop when you want to - not because you have to. (7) Share the ride - Facebook is great for doing a spontaneous sort of "blog" of a trip like this. A few photos, a bit of description and your friends will join in the ride - virtually. (8) Try new food (I'm sometimes guilty of having the same waffle breakfast and Subway lunch - gotta try to break that habit..) Dinner is never at a chain if I can help it (I think I ate at Cracker-Barrel once on my last 30 day ride..) (9) Don't avoid large cities - take them on head-on. They are really not all that hard to ride in safely, and business class hotel rooms are chump change on a Saturday night. (10) Go out of your way to talk to other riders. You'd be surprised at the good info you can get that way.. (11) Ignore the warnings that the "next state is awful" or "it's too dangerous over there.." - they're always overblown in my experience. (12) Avoid interstates if at all possible. There are almost always parallel roads, or the "old road".. take those, they're a world more interesting, and there aren't the convoys of trucks on them. (12) Finally - do it NOW. No one is promised tomorrow..

And keep the rubber side down.. thinking now about next spring's trip...

Spot on, Don. Your 12 (actually 13) points are exactly what I try to do. Okay, I don't log onto Facebook while traveling, but I sometimes put up pics and comments as soon as I get back. And your comments about Ted Simon -- Ted has spent several nights at our house. A better houseguest would be hard to find. I've kept in touch w/Ted ever since I first met him, back in the late '90's. A "Ted" anecdote -- just before Ted left on his second trip around the world, the telephone rang. My wife answered. The voice on the other end said, "I'll be coming through Birmingham, and I wonder if you have room for me." My wife answered, "Sure! When should we expect you?" "Next Tuesday, about 3pm" "Great! By the way, who is this?" "Oh, it's Ted Simon!" "Great, see you Tuesday". She never missed a beat, even though she didn't have a clue who she was talking to.

(And yes, she "lets" me take one or two extended trips each year. Did I mention that I have the best wife in the world?)
 
Spot on, Don. Your 12 (actually 13) points are exactly what I try to do. Okay, I don't log onto Facebook while traveling, but I sometimes put up pics and comments as soon as I get back. And your comments about Ted Simon -- Ted has spent several nights at our house. A better houseguest would be hard to find. I've kept in touch w/Ted ever since I first met him, back in the late '90's. A "Ted" anecdote -- just before Ted left on his second trip around the world, the telephone rang. My wife answered. The voice on the other end said, "I'll be coming through Birmingham, and I wonder if you have room for me." My wife answered, "Sure! When should we expect you?" "Next Tuesday, about 3pm" "Great! By the way, who is this?" "Oh, it's Ted Simon!" "Great, see you Tuesday". She never missed a beat, even though she didn't have a clue who she was talking to.

(And yes, she "lets" me take one or two extended trips each year. Did I mention that I have the best wife in the world?)

I'll have to fix the numbering.. :)

I'd really suggest trying Facebook when traveling. You end up having friends in areas you may be passing through making suggestions (some good, some not) of places to stay, things to see, where to eat - and sometimes inviting you to overnight with them. I got to meet people I'd only chatted with on FB or here, when they knew I was passing through their area.

I usually tried to catch up with FB each evening - I spent 30 days on the road this spring, and 10 days last week (circled Lake Ontario, just'cause..) and never put the TV on in the motels. I'd spend the evening eating - usually around 7PM or so, then looking at Google Maps to decide what direction/road to start out on in the morning, and finally responding to and updating FB. After that and a call to home - I was ready for bed. Once every 5 days or so - I'd squeeze laundry in there somewhere (and do FB while waiting for the laundry to finish.)

I found I have very little need for paper maps - if I looked at Google Maps the night before and had some idea what direction to start out on. Then I'll watch the compass display on my GPS - and make sure I'm heading in that direction.

I might have to challenge you on the best wife claim.. I've never heard a complaint about my trips, and have often gotten encouragement in the gifting of travel books and guides for far away places.
 
Long trips and vacations were my thing in the 80's and 90's. I did one major trip a year and many rallies. I am in Toronto and I would ride to rallies on a regular basis 1000-1200 km away on a Friday all back roads get to a rally Friday night and on Sunday it was the reverse all back roads but it was different, it was lonely. I was going home to my condo but it felt empty.

Today (2017) I ride with groups I have found on meetup.com and ride about 500km on a Saturday or maybe a 400km ride on Sunday. I find this very satisfying for my needs.

During the past 5 years I have gone to half a dozen rallies but they have changed (slowed down) and found them not to be my thing anymore.
 
I might have to challenge you on the best wife claim.. I've never heard a complaint about my trips, and have often gotten encouragement in the gifting of travel books and guides for far away places.

I will challenge you all on that "best wife" issue. Voni lets me come riding with her - all summer!
 
You can satisfy the hunger to tour? Who knew? How do you do it?

My season is almost over and I was light this year with miles, about 1/2 what I want, just 10K miles.

Even at the best, when my season is over I plan the next season and I'm planning on next year already.

Thing of it is, South, West, East, North or a combination and then there is that damn issue of Redheads. Oh, and Beer.

If I go south, I can't have good Beer unless it's Rolling Rock and if I leave for longer than a few days, the many, too many Redheads have the need for the 'yoda loving. See the problem?

Tell me how to satisfy the hunger for road trips. The Redheads will thank you and your Rolling Rock inventory won't get hit, too hard.
 
I will challenge you all on that "best wife" issue. Voni lets me come riding with her - all summer!

When Annie started riding ten years ago it became a life changing decision. We had the pleasure of meeting the Glaves at our place in Fairbanks and were inspired by their commitment to riding and how they are a part of a large community of likeminded people. Although Annie did pick-up a bad habit from Voni, an expectation of Princess parking, our meeting got us thinking about our plans for the future. Not long afterwards we had a brother-in-law die suddenly at the age of 52. These events combined with Annie's immediate love of riding motivated us to both retire five years earlier than planned, to sell off much of our belongings at an Estate sale without a dead guy and move to the Banana Belt here in Montana. I have never enjoyed motorcycling more than I have since Annie became my riding Buddy. More often than not, it is she who is getting us out on the road.
 
About the 3rd hotel night traveling alone, and at a different hotel each night, can be a little depressing for me. I traveled and stayed in many hotels during my work career, so I do not always look forward to the end of the riding day at another hotel.

However, I have had very good luck with Airbnb stays. It is a little more work to plan, and you usually cannot book the same day. But it feels more like home and not that "alone in a hotel" feeling.

One of my stays at an Airbnb near Bloomington, Indiana was at a home where the owners were musicians and the man had built his own recording studio into the house - pretty cool.

And there are other options to hotels like B&B's, Motorcycle Travel Network (http://www.motorcycle-travel.net), VRBO, state park lodges and cabins, and of course camping.
 
Back again. Great thread. In reading the posts, and thinking back on my travels this summer, I'm seeing some things stand out.
  • Each day was planned. I was going to places like the 5 national parks in Utah on one trip. They were filling up a month or two prior to the ride and had No Vacancy signs up when we were there. The second trip was passing through Yellowstone and Banff. I'm planning a follow-on trip to Banff and Jasper now...and the motels are already 86% booked.
  • On the first trip, I was riding with someone else...but I didn't know him before we met just prior to setting out. We didn't kill each other on the trip, but weren't best friends. You could say we were just acquaintances.
  • On the second trip, I was by myself, and I admit that I did set some long days at certain points. But heading north to Great Falls didn't seem like the scenic capitol of the world. Calgary, wasn't much better. There's some great things to see once you get in the area of Calgary, but the land from Great Falls to Calgary wasn't IMHO worth exploring. I was probably totally wrong about that, but that's the way it appeared at the time.
  • On my trip next July to Banff and Jasper, I'm going with two friends that I've known for years. We'll be making our reservations now, just because of the location and the timing (around July 4th), but we plan to ride to some really nice areas and use those as a base of operations.

Hopefully, next summer's trips will work out better. :)

Chris
 
Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive.” Robert M. Pirsig

8C2B437F-7EFA-4EBB-820A-2B64A46FFA66.jpg

For me it’s the ride and what is revealed/discovered/offered. I think that for me, touring is the closest that I have gotten to the peace of a deep meditation.......
 
My hints to making a go of long solo rides: (1) Make every day an adventure - find something interesting to explore. Worlds biggest ball of aluminum foil? That's worth a days ride.. (2) Have no set time/destination to be anywhere. (3) Make motel reservations no further than 1 day in advance (and I usually make them around 3PM the same day). (4) Be open to others. (5) Say Hello and smile a lot. (6) Stop when you want to - not because you have to. (7) Share the ride - Facebook is great for doing a spontaneous sort of "blog" of a trip like this. A few photos, a bit of description and your friends will join in the ride - virtually. (8) Try new food (I'm sometimes guilty of having the same waffle breakfast and Subway lunch - gotta try to break that habit..) Dinner is never at a chain if I can help it (I think I ate at Cracker-Barrel once on my last 30 day ride..) (9) Don't avoid large cities - take them on head-on. They are really not all that hard to ride in safely, and business class hotel rooms are chump change on a Saturday night. (10) Go out of your way to talk to other riders. You'd be surprised at the good info you can get that way.. (11) Ignore the warnings that the "next state is awful" or "it's too dangerous over there.." - they're always overblown in my experience. (12) Avoid interstates if at all possible. There are almost always parallel roads, or the "old road".. take those, they're a world more interesting, and there aren't the convoys of trucks on them. (13)* Finally - do it NOW. No one is promised tomorrow..

I could have written these myself save exploring large cities as I'm not real fond of dense traffic--I have a theory: if you're nowhere near other traffic they can't kill you! I especially subscribe to the 'no set time/destination' piece, wherever practical, as it adds to the sense of adventure for me. My longest foray was 9,167m (but who counted!) last year x-country and back and into Canada in a few spots accompanied by my brother and we had such a fabulous time. He was newly exposed to Nav GPS and was bent on sticking w/ every single spot on his complete itinerary and was going to make reservations everywhere on this trip which was to take around 24 days. The idea of not having to think about anything on the road had high value for him I guess. I was able to nudge him out of that mindset and so we only kept reservations for the first 3 nights after which we made reservations one day before, usually around a lunch stop. I figured w/ the common 24h free cancellation policy there would be enough re-opened rooms to insure lodging everywhere, and indeed that was the case even on weekends, which we would book 2 days ahead just in case. So we stuck to our general route, and then assessed weather and so forth to affect the next day's ride.

I've done several multi day shorter rides by myself and I like it quite a bit. I missed out on a planned ride up to Long Beach WA a few weeks ago as I have a nasty grade 2 hamstring tear but next year's ride planned for mid June I will be a close friend and he like me likes to see sights, hike, so I expect we will have a great time we always do. We may reserve lodging in Canmore, Alberta at another brother's time share there as it's lovely and will be cheap to stay at for how nice it is, and explore the usual spots around Banff and Jasper for maybe 3 nights or so, though once again if you stick to hard dates you risk getting caught up in foul weather for days, so we'll see. I don't mind slogging it out in nastier weather per se it's just much nicer to have pleasant weather because just about no matter where you are it's always a joy to be riding :) Frequently on our x-country trip I would come around the bend and couldn't help but exclaim to myself, 'My God!' when soaking up the magnificence of creation. At least until brother T-boned a large deer in Wyoming on his newish '15 FJR. He survived in great shape, flew home out of Cody after which I continued on myself to get back to Nor Cal. His new FJR was totaled.
 
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