Morning Reads: 19 February 2007

[mika]

The motorcycling world viewed from the saddle of a BMW. A daily look at all things BMW, Euro-bike, products and things I find interesting on the internet. With links to news, reviews, events, riding skills, maintenance and racing series updates. Morning Reads is a one stop shop for motorcycling information.

TodayÔÇÖs Birthdays / Calendar

BMW MOA Chartered Club:

club:
Flatlanders BMW Club, #322

founded:
1/15/2005

contact:
Tom Schleff (tom@prconline.com)
1614 South 106 St.
Omaha, NE 68124 US

meetings: Quarterly




Gem??tlichkeit is the warm, comfortable feeling
one receives from pleasant surroundings and atmosphere.
I think you will find that when you come here.

MischlerÔÇÖs BMW
N8131 Kellom Rd Beaver Dam, WI 53916

Ozaukee ÔÇô Washington Daily News

Fond Du Lac Reporter

The Sheboygan Press

Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam

Weather

West Bend WI
Current

10 Day Forcast

United States
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Canada
Meteorological Service of Canada


Travel Information ÔÇô Driving Conditions and other related information sites.

News:

motorcyclenews.com : Ducati finances improve.

automotive.com : Ducati Motor holding announces preliminary full year and fourth quarter 2006.

BBC.co.uk : Wage deal could end Harley strikeThe BBCs take on it.

topix.net : Motorcycle Man

motosport.com : AMA and WERA join forces

AU/NZ: http://www.recalls.gov.au/index.php

Gear:

gadling.com : Zaptag's Waterproof USB Drive Stores Your Important Medical Information

Gizmodo.com : Pill box cellphone strap

Wonderings:

Life happened this weekend and so an abbreviated MR this morning.

Woot

Todays Woot

The Blog

Over Heard in New York | Voice of the City

Bike Candy:

BMW R75/5[url]

MR Traveler
A growing list of links to use for trip planning and on the road.
PM me with links that you have found useful and think should be listed.
PM me with things that you would like me to try and find.

The 2007 Maine travel planning guide is now available at [url=http://www.visitmaine.com/guidebook/request.php/]VisitMaine.com. Or register here for an electronic version.

FOOD
Custardlist.com : Custard stands listed by state.

Winery locator by State within the USA.. From allamericanwineries.com

Roadfood.com : This is the site of the Sterns, authors of the original Road Food book. The site features a restaurant of the day and more.

http://www.travelwisconsin.com/maps_guides.aspx] TravelWisconsin.com[/url] : Maps and Guides - Who doesn't love a free map or travel brochure? Take your pick below. You can download them for instant fulfillment. Or have us mail honest-to-goodness printed versions right to your door.

Sundaymorningride.com Sunday Morning Rides an interactive community portal for motorcycle riders to access, explore, plan, and share motorcycle tracks via a sophisticated ride mapping system that combines GPS, geographic information systems, database, and Google mapping technologies.

Oregonmotorcyclist.com is dedicated to opening a window on the motorcycling opportunities available in this great state and sharing their riding experiences with you.

Motorcycle-USA.com : Ride Guide. Reader driven information so the listings will vary by area.

BMW MOA ÔÇô Two resources not to be overlooked.
Camping with information on packing, planning, the basics, gear, places and tips of all kinds.

Global Touring with Court Fisher : covering Touring in North America, Europe and beyond.

Mapart.com Canadian Maps ÔÇôRoad Atlases, Street Guides, Folding Maps and more.

Radio-locator.com : radio station search engine

A growing messy list of links; I am cleaning up loose ends and it is messy.
WisconsinMotorcycling.com

511.alaska.gov: Alaska Road Traveler Information Service.

Great-Lakes.net: Great Lakes Cirle Tour Information.

mileageslaves.com : Mileage Slaves has a variety of resources for you.

MotorcycleRoads.us: ÔÇ£Your one-stop resource for great motorcycle roads.ÔÇØ

pashnit.com California Motorcycle Roads ÔÇô This site has gone subscription but is worth the entry fee.

Bestbikingroads.com: Aspiring to be the pashnit version of all of the US and Europe.

Off the Road : Your Guide to New Mexico Main Streets.

GERMANY
Web.de : Route planer for Germany.

Stadplan.net Maps

Continental Divide Trail Information
fs.fe.us: Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
cdtrail.org: Continental Divide Trail Alliance
continental Divide Trail Society
[url=http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_trail/continen.htm]gorp.com: Map of the Continental Divide Trail and Travel

Ontario.bikerides.ca: Ontario Motorcycle Rides

USPS.com : Find a Zip. Zip codes are used by many travel related internet tools. If you donÔÇÖt know the Zip Code they are worthless. Find a Zip will help solve that problem.

Canadapost.ca: Travel plans for Canada? Postal Code Lookup is the tool.

Canadian Boarder Serves Agency : Traveling to Canada this summer?

ridefim.com: Welcome to the FIMÔÇÖs Internation Touring site.

AMADireclink.com
The AMA site has organized a lot of useful information that can be accessed using these links. Thank you AMA. For now I feel no need to reinvent this wheel.

AMADirectlink.com Trip planning information including :
Weather websites | Mapping sites | State Tourism bureaus|
Toll- free hotel numbers | Campgrounds | Nationwide dealer locator

AMAdirectlink.com : Local AMA race | event locator tool.

Internet Caf?® Directories
No one directory will deliver all that is available on any subject. Here are three links to start you off before you wade through millions returns on of a search engine will generate for you.

Internet-caf?®-guidl.com - Here is an Internet cafe directory of cybercafes in the U.S.

ca.dir.yahoo.com- YahooÔÇÖs directory to Canadian internet caf?®s.

Wifi Hotspots
Starbucks.com The Starbucks store locator. Not an endorsement but they seem ubiquitous.

Libraries often are excellent sources for internet access. There are too many to list but for the 2007 National Rally in West Bend:
West Bend Community Memorial Library: Home page
:West Bend Community Meorial Library: Acceptable Internet Use Policy.

Map Sources

Madmaps.com : Motor Adventure Destination Maps

Maps.com

topozone.com: interactive topo maps

Trails.com

Trails.com: Best Scenic Drives in Wisconsin

TOURS

adventure.gs

DragonBikeTour.com China

Go-Overland.com : Overland Expedition Resources

KTMtravel.com : An adventure travel resource for all kinds of information.

Steelponytours.co.uk: Steel Pony Motorcycle Tours of Spain.

The Pit Crew View: Racing Series 2007
The Pit Crew View has links to many racing series schedules and more.
Last updated 13 February 2007


THE END

 

[PAULBACH]

What I learned from M1KA today!

Lets combine of a good idea with a good deal.

Mika's link describing storage of medical information provides food for thought. Having those medical records with you is a good precaution.

Zaptag allows you to store emergency contact information and personal medical records on a USB drive. Featuring specialized Windows-compatible health-records software, when a Zaptag is attached to a PC's USB port, the Emergency Record page -- which holds your key information (name, blood type, allergies, and next of kin details) -- is displayed. The rest of the drive -- holding your insurance details, for example -- is password-protected. Of course, Zaptag holds general files, too, like passport scans, driver's license details, itineraries, that hot girl's phone number, etc.

Here is the link (http://www.gadling.com/2007/02/16/zaptags-waterproof-usb-drive-stores-your-important-medical-info/)

Add today's deal from BUY.COM

Kingston 2 x 1GB USB 2.0 DataTraveler Flash Drive Kit. AFTER REBATE you get two 1 GB flash drive kits for $4.95

Now we need a template to get the information into the thumb drive.

 

[txtinman]

I think putting the information in PDF format might be a good idea. I think all computer operating systems can read those. I don't use Window$ so the Zaptag would be useless to me. I think it's a good idea, but there needs to be a way for emergncy personnel to know the information is there in case you're knocked out.

 

[PAULBACH]

Copied the following from the website. Looks like it should work on a Mac if the Mac has a USB port.

As easy as click and drag, the DataTraveler can hold just about any file you can think of - reports pictures, spreadsheets or other important documents. It works with virtually any device with a USB port - even cross-platform from Macintosh to PC and vice versa.

Here is the link.
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204134643&adid=17070&dcaid=17070

 

[txtinman]

I can use the USB devices with my Linux box. I just can't run the Micro$oft software. Thats why I suggested the PDF format. Almost any computer can create and read PDF files.

 

[PAULBACH]

Now we are cooking

Good information - thanks!

Now we need a web link for a template that would include all the information to put into a PDF.

Another hint. These "thumb drives" would fit very nicely in a plastic 35mm film cannister. The canister would provide the waterproof nature needed plus left over space for hard copy of vital information like

Who to contact in emergency
Primary physician phone number.
List of meds being taken - if any