Trip mapping / planning - your favorite tool?

I'm not one of those guys who can load up and take off for a week with nothing planned. I like to have my options known, to some extent. It is awesome to take advantage of the surprises and unanticipated joys of that mom and pop eatery you got a tip for at the last gas stop, but if that doesn't happen I'm not happy without food. Also, there is nothing worse than returning home only to read someone else's review of the same trip and descriptions of awesome eateries and places we rode right by

Anyway, I used to use Google Maps, but for a week long trip with points of interest and routes laid out, it gets clunky and useless. I used Ride with GPS last year and liked it, but it has been "improved" and not so user friendly anymore.

So, what tools do you use online, those of you who are kindred to my planning spirit?

Along that line just googling best food in whatever town will usually get good results......was down in Kansas last week and that info was spot on..........don't know much about the mapping stuff....I still use paper.............................good luck...............ff

Streets & Trips for the routes, local knowledge for everything else. There is no replacement for local knowledge! ;-)

I generally use the combination of paper-maps (Michelin 1:400.000) - MapSource/Netbook - GPS...
Them paper maps just give me the proper visual information about "the most wicket(TM)" route from A to B, which I then recreate in MapSource, once I'm happy with those stages I load them on the GPS and ... GO RIDE! ;-)

For longer trips, like 10~14 days, where I need to consider things like ferry-schedules, overnight and other stops I add Autoroute Express, which enables me to enter [arrival at HH:MM], enter [fuel stop every XXX miles with 15 minutes], add [lunch/sightseeing stop HH:MM] or define a daily profile [start 0900hrs, end 1600hrs] so it shows me where the overnight stops are going to be.
That framework can then be exported to *gpx for creating the daily sections with MapSource to load them on the satnav.
So Autoroute enables me to check "what is actually possible the reach/cover in two weeks?"; things like Scotland - Ireland - UK - France and back...

The RRs on the various different forums are a fantastic source of info. Find a great road on the map or Google Maps then do a search on YouTube for that road. YouTube will surprise you with the wealth of information on great motorcycle roads. The linked videos almost always lead to great food and hotels/campgrounds close to that area.

I use Microsoft Streets and Trips for a basic overview of a tour. Individual roads and stops are usually selected based on Trip Reports and or posting up in a region forum. I also review my National Geographic "Scenic Highways and Byways" book for ideas.

As I get close to a final plan, I transfer the file to Mapsource and construct daily routes and options for download to my GPS. This also has the advantage that I can crosscheck the respective POIs for detail on potential stops.

If you have a Garmin Basecamp works best but is a pain in the *** to get your "exact" route.
Lots of "way" points are needed to get it to map out your own personal route if you are like us that like the twisties.

If you have a Garmin Basecamp works best but is a pain in the *** to get your "exact" route.
Lots of "way" points are needed to get it to map out your own personal route if you are like us that like the twisties.

fnmag said:

Good luck with a solution to your query. I still use maps and like the idea of the RAN list for local options.

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+1

I'm born again here. After using GPS for 6 years, I went back to an atlas, some pencils and index cards.

I haven't gotten lost since, I've stumbled on more stuff (my head's looking at signs not at a digital screen), and I get much more out of the trip. I think GPS has sterilized road tripping.

Plan???? What's that??? Just pick out your destination, look at a map & find the curviest/scenic roads that go there. Failing that, find the curviest, scenic roads that go anywhere near there. Then take off, head along that route until you find a better road & take that one. Sooner or later you will arrive....

When I ride with 970Mike, he usually has a gps route that hits all of the curviest/scenic roads to wherever we are headed. Sometimes we even start off in the direction we expect to end up... Wherever the days ends is where we stop. Perfect way to travel. I couldn't ride with anyone that has all of the stops planned out. I do this for fun,not having to be on a schedule.

If I wanted schedules, I would get another day job.....

Just a hint---The absolute best rides don't have a destination as such--just Let's Ride!!! Find a road that we haven't been on--or ride a great one again.

- For creating GPS routes I use Tyre (http://www.tyretotravel.com/). It is free and based on Google maps. Can easily create .gpx or .itn (and a whole lot more) files that can be transferred to your GPS.
- Paper maps - Destination Hiways, Benchmark, Butler, Rand-mcnallay, state/provincial road maps
- for hotels I use Booking.com or Trivago.com mostly

I usually travel with a tablet or netbook so I can do a little checking out of things at night, for the next day.

And.....sometimes I just go with instinct (I figure you are not lost if you still have gas!).

Rod

I use TYRE also to plan longer rides. I download to my Garmin Nuvi and away we go. Going for a week long ride in June. I have a few stages of the trip planned, but others are going along as well so we'll all have some ideas of where to go. The internet, smartphones, and gazetteers make planning easier too.

I use Tourstart.org for detailed route planning based upon feedback from the locals. It allows me to focus on the road, just watching for turns. The detailed route downloads seamlessly into my Zumo 550.

Just finished a 1700 mile trip from Las Vegas to Dallas, and it was seamless ......

TYRE software. FREE and it really works, interfaces with garmin and tomtom. Drag and correct route. I use it for planning our annual trip south and amend the route after trip. You will like it. Trial and error.

VFR said:

Plan???? What's that???.

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Start after I get up, follow GPS to wherever or not, camp when I get there, probably do the same thing tomorrow........ that's the plan.

EASt said:

my head's looking at signs not at a digital screen...

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That's exactly why I've the audio feed is linked to the intercom...
I briefly tried it without audio... way too risky, too stressing, and as you say risk of missing important things ahead...
With "Hilde" occasionally gentle whispering, eyes are kept on the road ahead where they belong...
And the "...in 500m make a right..." is the signal for closing throttle, brakes out, prepare to bank right... in 80~90% of the route info one doesn't even need to blink on that screen...

I think GPS has sterilized road tripping.

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You do have a point there...
Now everyone is lingering for downloadable routes for free... it degenerates like nicking music files from the inet... entertainment society and that...
The whole process of building and then experiencing your own route is getting lost...
And with that the folks also blow off all responsibility... they nag you for routes, you send them, and then you'll never hear the end of them complaining... too many curves, not enough curves, there was some gravel, why are there now new waypoints on my GPS, didn't find a nice restaurant/B&B, is was too hot, it was raining, jadda-jadda-jadda... damn!!! Plot your own routes and leave me alone... :|

And the next big problem arising out of that inet/cloud-route-sharing: nice places and roads getting more and more crowded... :-(

And the device up there isn't the high curt either, its a navigation assistant, nothing more... following that magenta line is not a must, no one prevents me to turn left, right, make a stop here, there, to then return to the route or not...

ST1100Y said:

That's exactly why I've the audio feed is linked to the intercom...
I briefly tried it without audio... way too risky, too stressing, and as you say risk of missing important things ahead...
And the device up there isn't the high curt either, its a navigation assistant, nothing more... following that magenta line is not a must, no one prevents me to turn left, right, make a stop here, there, to then return to the route or not...

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Boy do we have exactly opposite opinions of how to use the GPS. Even in the car I turn audio off, how hard is it to remember turn left on xxxxxxxx in a mile, and there is absolutely no stress if I miss the turn for a couple blocks or even miles because the GPS KNOWS where I am and where I want to go. See an interesting road, I take it with a GPS when I didn't in the old paper map days; again - the GPS always knows. Do that with a map and I spend the next half hour figuring out where I am before I can even think of where I want to go and how to get there.

The GPS is an absolute Godsend for the dysfunctional wanderer just looking for an interesting ride, not a route. The only stress involved for me would be what if it didn't work, and for that I carry a backup GPS .

I like to follow my nose and good looking roads without the GPS. Once I am lost I turn it on.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I'm not a fan of GPS. I'll consult it at stops if needed to find stations or food but never for planning. For that I start with fold out state level paper maps of the areas I'll be going thru. Just before I leave I'll then buy a large size atlas and cut out the pages for the states I'll be going thru. Those then are highlighted and go into the map window on the tank bag. Since I carry an iPad and iPod Touch, checking routes/mail etc on the road is pretty easy but I don't tend to do it much. For that matter, its pretty rare that I follow the exact route planned anyway. Moto trips for me are about freedom to wander. Key to that is gaining an internal framework for the areas I'll be going thru, almost an intuitive feel for the place. I never seem to get that from looking at little pixilated screens.

I use AAA maps, about the only reason I belong to the Auto Club. In California we have a large number of local area maps, but I have not found them in other States. With maps, you can look at the total picture of the direction you are planning. You can tell which Forest Service roads are paved and which aren't. Friends tell me a GPS can really get you in trouble on FS roads. GPS is for young folks who don't know how to read a good map! (smile)

Ed