Next Season's Road Trips and Dreams!

[crustybeemer]

Winter is just around the corner here in Ontario, Canada and as a die hard rider I am delaying putting my bike away untill after I squeeze the last possible milage out of it for this season! I have said many times that one begins planning the next road trip the day you get back from your last one! Already I am dreaming and planning next seasons road trips! I have already discussed with my ride buddy that I am seriously interested in three major events (so far!) for the '16 season! Looking at doing the 2nd Annual Battlefield Memorial Workers Rally in Gettysburg PA. in May, the MOA Rally in Hamburg, in July and the BMW Motorrad Weekend at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Raceway in Ontario, Canada, in August! Still need to find a major event (for me anyways!) for June and then there is also September! Even though I am retired, I still have a job and squeezing these events in will be a challenge! Anyone else have the ride bug already for next year and where are you planning on going? Post up! Maybe I will see you there!

 

[Darryl Cainey]

In September is always the Finger Lakes Rally in Watkins Glen NY, held over the Labour Day weekend.

The best of the small club rallies.

 

[36654]

In September is always the Finger Lakes Rally in Watkins Glen NY, held over the Labour Day weekend.

The best of the small club rallies.

Darryl,

It's an American holiday, not a Canadian political party.

Labor Day!

 

[RadioFlyer]

Darryl,

It's an American holiday, not a Canadian political party.

Labor Day!

Well we don't have a Labour Party in Canada but we do have Labour Day on the same weekend. Note that this spelling is perfectly correct.

And now for the relevant content - planning on being in Hamburg (reservations made) and was planning on going to the Barber Museum Vintage Days but now planning on a Tuscany/Corsica/Sardinia tour at that time.

mike

mike

 

[robsryder]

...planning the next road trip ....Still need to find a major event (for me anyways!) for June.....

One June event that I've enjoyed several times in the past has been the Airheads Gathering of the Clans near Boone, NC held around the second weekend in June. It is not necessary to ride an airhead or even a BMW to attend and have a good time. The event is held at a motorcycle only campground, but one is proximate to Boone, NC (and several other small NC towns) if staying in a hotel is preferred.

A key attraction is the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway and many other great roads.

Some relevant links -

http://www.highcountrymotorcyclecamp.com/
http://www.bmwmoa.org/events/event_details.asp?id=597460

 

[nakwakto00]

Dreams and trip planning

Yes! Now is the time I start thinking about next year's ride adventures. One of the things I do is prepare a spreadsheet so I can understand the costs (fuel, food & lodging/camping), how many (approximately) miles per day, the number of days, lodging/camping places, and tours (if any) of my upcoming adventure. Last summer we did a 4,200 mile ride through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Colorado that was planned over the 2014-2015 winter months. While we didn't follow the plan exactly - that would take the fun out of the trip - it did give us a good idea on how much we needed to save to do it. The plan worked great for us as as a guideline but not a strict itinerary. I also added to the planning spreadsheet a to do list, and a gear/equipment checklist. Other riders appreciated it because it gave them an idea of routes, costs, and equipment needed. Finally, for me doing a trip plan like this is fun. It's more fun planning by looking at maps and researching routes and places than watching stupid reality TV.

A few "reality" notes: (1) We rarely met the "Est. Stop" time. But we included it to remind us that we've got to keep going. When we didn't put in the stop time in earlier plans, we found that we would stop and take too long and either not get to our destination or get there too late. Because it's a spreadsheet we can do "what if" scenarios and change our plan. (2) "Est. Avg. Speed" This was put in to help plan time between locations. Some of our friends didn't stop to take pics or rode fast, while others rode slower. The average time gave an idea when we would arrive. It includes the time for stops so some scenic roads might have a very slow average speed. Again we put it in to do "what if" scenarios. Sometimes we added a day or changed a route because of time. Again, the plan is a guideline for planning not a strict itinerary.

 

[36654]

Well we don't have a Labour Party in Canada

I apologize for my ignorance.

but we do have Labour Day on the same weekend. Note that this spelling is perfectly correct.

Only on your side of the border or if talking to another Canadian on this side. With that being said, you're perfectly welcome to spend your Labour day holiday in the US during the Labor day weekend.

 

[gsjay]

Planning next years trips is one of the things that gets me through the Winter doldrums................

The BMW National will be on this years list but it's not all that far away and I don't see me taking a whole weeks vacation for it.

I'm active with the Concours Owners Group and their national event is in Helen Ga. in June. So that's looking like a week long event.

We always try to get away Memorial Day, and the 4th of July and Labor Day and have been trying to go to NEW places!

Last year I planned a trip to Northern California. That kept me sane through the brutal winter.

Long term thinking about a trip back to Eastern Europe and or the Pacific Northwest.

So many trips, so little time.
jason

 

[RadioFlyer]

"Only on your side of the border"
- and in the rest of the English-speaking world!

"or if talking to another Canadian"
- spelling occurs in written communication and not oral
- since writers cannot account for local orthographic variations in readership they spell in accordance with their native practice

"you're perfectly welcome to spend your Labour day holiday in the US during the Labor day weekend."
- I read Darryl's post as referring to his own Labour Day thus my comment that he was perfectly correct
- very magnanimous of you

 

[36654]

- very magnanimous of you

Of course, I'm an American....

 

[Wkoppa]

Superior In Every Way

Just returned yesterday from riding around Lake Superior.

So much to see that I had not thought about in recent years.

Good road, great vistas and too many waterfalls - so you have to pick which ones to see.

Wayne Koppa
#71,449

 

[lee]

Just returned yesterday from riding around Lake Superior.

#71,449

How were the temps on the north shore?

 

[Wkoppa]

North Shore Temps

How were the temps on the north shore?

I rode the section between Sault Ste Marie, MI to Grand Marais, MN on Monday.

Started out at 44 degrees Fahrenheit which got as high as 51 and finished at 42 an hour after dark.

Did not see the sun shine thru the clouds until 3:00 in the afternoon (eastern time) and started to run into fog around Thunder Bay off and on.

I have a temperature reading on my automatic chain oiler and it was interesting how a little fog in the air would make it feel like the temperature had dropped a bunch when it had not. The fog never got to be a real problem but it did look like I was riding in Gotham for a bit.

With a heated jacket and grips (G650GS) with my Stich I was never really uncomfortable.

After I got home on Wednesday (about an hour south of the Mackinac Bridge) in 70 degree weather. I unpacked (made token efforts to clean up the yard) and that night on TV was a show featuring unique geologic areas around the world. They spent a significant amount of time talking about this unique rock formation at a waterfall in Two Harbors that I did not stop at. Made me crazy.

Need to go back.

I ran into these people at the Chicago Bike Show a few years ago http://ridelakesuperior.com/plan-my-ride.php

They have an excellent map that appears to be out of print right now but maybe they will publish again when the shows start. They do a really great job of bringing the options together.


Wayne Koppa
#71,449

 

[lee]

I rode the section between Sault Ste Marie, MI to Grand Marais, MN on Monday.

Started out at 44 degrees Fahrenheit which got as high as 51 and finished at 42 an hour after dark.

Warmer than I expected this time of year.

 

[akbeemer]

"Only on your side of the border"
- and in the rest of the English-speaking world!

"or if talking to another Canadian"
- spelling occurs in written communication and not oral
- since writers cannot account for local orthographic variations in readership they spell in accordance with their native practice

"you're perfectly welcome to spend your Labour day holiday in the US during the Labor day weekend."
- I read Darryl's post as referring to his own Labour Day thus my comment that he was perfectly correct
- very magnanimous of you

I attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto. We had some lengthy written assignments and all students were expected to use Oxford spelling and follow the rules provided in Canadian style and grammar texts. It was particularly vexing when I wrote about US military topics and had to use American spelling when discussing US organizations and the other rules elsewhere in the papers. Also learned what an "indefinite reference" is...... the hard way. To add to the confusion my previous experience in speaking "Canadian" was while living in Newfoundland as a youngster.... that experience proved to be hindrance rather than a help.

 

[WalterK75]

They have an excellent map that appears to be out of print right now but maybe they will publish again when the shows start. They do a really great job of bringing the options together.

Wayne Koppa
#71,449

I went to the website and found a GPS download for the route.

http://ridelakesuperior.com/route-start.php?id=4

 

[Wkoppa]

Warmer than I expected this time of year.

Warmer than I expected this time of year.

How did we live before the Weather Channel?

Every time I see a string of three or four days of acceptable weather this time of year I start looking at the options.

Fortunately where we are in Michigan we have a few interesting lakes to ride around. Just hanging around in the area has lots of interesting stuff.

From where we live we can be in Canada in about two hours and into the states to the south in a little over three hours.

Wayne Koppa
#71,449

 

[crustybeemer]

I went to the website and found a GPS download for the route.

http://ridelakesuperior.com/route-start.php?id=4

Wow! That's awsum! Should be an amazing trip! Be sure to post lots of pics!

 

[pffog]

.................Anyone else have the ride bug already for next year and where are you planning on going? Post up! ...........

March New Zealand for 3 weeks. May, Smoky's for 10 days. Probably a little PA, and WV trough the summer, and possibly a fall trip to the Smoky's with the wife following along on her bike.

Planning for NZ has already started, have plane tickets, looking at maps, have the NZ Lonely Planet, and NZ adventures books on my Christmas wish list.

 

[globalrider]

I have said many times that one begins planning the next road trip the day you get back from your last one!

Anyone else have the ride bug already for next year and where are you planning on going?

That has been the case every year since coming back from the Alps on my first tour there back in 1995. I started planning tour no. 22 while on the flight back, actually even while there after having toured through some new areas the past two years that I said I'd have to go back to to explore in detail.

After 21 years and hundreds of different alpine passes, time for a change. I am going to enjoy all the great micro-breweries in the area between the A9 and the Czech border, from Nürnberg south. Good riding there and into the Czech Republic.