Tomorrow I plan to attempt the longest single day ride I’ve done in years. While it’s only 637 miles I’ll be doing it on my ‘09 Suzuki DR650SE dual sport on mostly twisty back roads. 637 miles on a big bike with a fairing on the highway is really not all that challenging. However, riding a dual sport that far on twisty back roads is a bit of a challenge, at least for me. My body never seems to work all that well. I did manage 550 miles over the weekend which hopefully means I’ve had a good warmup. On longer rides, a muscle next to my left shoulder blade has this nasty habit of cramping so badly that I can’t even turn my head, which tends to suck. It’s incredibly painful. I’ve also not been feeling so well over the past few days which adds to the headwind. “There’s always a reason not to do a thing.” On the plus side, this is the most involved and detailed plan I’ve laid out using the ride planning/mapping platform I’ve been building for what seems like forever. It’s never ending but it already represents what I suspect represents the beginning of a compelling alternative to BaseCamp. It’s online and browser based. You can engage with others directly on the map. This makes it super easy to get other people involved in the planning. For example, I collaborated with @america_rides_maps to lay out this route. Wayne suggested Route 42 on the far side and then 311. 311 rocks. The software is still only in Alpha 1, and there are still a ton of bugs that I’m slowly working through, but it’s honestly coming along and is already useful. Documentation and demo videos will be forthcoming. If you’d like to download a GPX file of this route, College Park, Md to Waynesville, NC just click through to the site and sign up for an account. If you’re curious what’s going on during my trip, click through and check the Posts tab … I’ll be posting photos and updates as I have cell service. I hope I can sleep tonight … it’s going to be an early day tomorrow. #motorcycles #suzuki #dr650 #motorcycletouring #twistyroads #virginia #blueridgeparkway #northcarolina https://www.instagram.com/p/CTyKeBmLrSr/?utm_medium=tumblr
