Wednesday, June 9, 2021

North by Northwest - Finally, A Routing Tool I Trust!

I've discovered MotoWhere; a cool page with a companion app that allows me to click waypoints along a path I want to take and then generates an easy-to-follow route on my phone.  After a bit of trial and error, I used it to generate several routes for this trip and I am very happy with the results.

Everyone asks me why with me being the tech toy geek that I am, why I don't have a cool new GPS.  Actually, I do.  OK, it's cool, but not new.  In fact, it's eleven years old, but the manufacturer still offers firmware and map updates.  The reality is it's just another thing to take up real estate on my handlebars, to keep powered on, and to remove and secure when I'm off the bike.  My phone does it all with a slightly smaller display and I can download the routes for when I'm out of the service area.  Of course, I have paper backups for contingencies.

If I stick to my plan (and really, what are the odds of that?) I'm staring at 5,200 circuitous miles to get to Lake Tahoe and fifteen riding days to do it.  Honestly, I've never ridden such a slow pace.  I'm hoping my matured demeanor will kick in and allow me to stop and smell the roses. If you're tracking me, you'll know.  I rode 5,000 miles from Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska in only six days and even though I was ten years younger, that pace took its toll on me. There were a couple of days where I was so tired when I finally stopped, I didn't even set up a tent. I just unrolled my sleeping bag next to the bike and covered up with a tarp. I had transcended tired and was existing on brain frequencies beyond sleep. At that instant, I think I understood L. Ron Hubbard.  But I digress.

From Lake Tahoe I'll have another 1,700 to 1,900 miles to ride to get back home to Texas, depending on the route I take and where I stop along the way.

While the segments illustrated below are in order, they do not represent a day's travel, or any amount of travel time for that matter.  It was just easier to create bite-sized routes.  The red markers were are waypoints I added to ensure the app uses the twisty backroads routes I want instead of the super slabs I usually take.