The first "long" motorcycle trip I ever took was in 2014. It was on a my 2007 SV650 up to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Roughly seven to eight hours from here if traffic is in your favor. The account was extensively documented in previous posts. Reading through those posts now, it reads as a comedy. Of course, this was my first trip outside of jaunts down to Daytona or Orlando, but I was wound up tight about everything. This post will serve as a reflection piece on how my approach to motorcycle trips has changed.
Weather:
I'm fairly certain that I checked the weather every day for where I was going after I booked my hotel. In hindsight, this added a certain level of stress that I probably did not need. Staying informed is one thing, but it seemed as though the more I checked it, I thought it was less likely it would be that foul weather would roll in. This tactic clearly did not work, as it rained for the better part of my "adventure day" and for the entirety of my return trip home. Seeing as I had already purchased a hotel room for a few nights and taken the time off from work, rescheduling would not have been so easy, so I just rolled with it. While this did not take away from my trip, I'm sure the pressure of knowing it was going to happen weighed heavily on me. It should go without saying, but checking the weather every day isn't going to change anything. Mother nature will do whatever she wants and you just have to adjust accordingly, whether it be a reschedule or just dealing with it.
Nowadays, I rarely check the weather aside from the notifications that pop up on my phone from time to time. Living in Florida, things are quite unpredictable and one must be prepared for whatever comes your way. Sometimes you can get lucky and actually see where the rain is coming down and adjust your route accordingly. For trips, I may check it once or twice just to stay informed, but as mentioned before, continuous checks aren't going to change anything. More often than not, I find that not checking the weather at all and just bringing what you need to handle whatever comes your way works quite well. That obviously expands into making sure that you have the proper gear and whatnot. Perhaps a post dedicated specifically for kit will make its way on to here.
Routes:
Google maps was my best friend before I went on that first trip. There were specific roads that I wanted to ride, but I do think I made a fundamental mistake in over-planning. My to and from route was quite strict as I wanted to get up there and back home as quickly as possible. It was mostly highway anyway. The over-planning occurred during my adventure day. I had actually made a route that I was going to follow. No room was left for much deviation. Some people may like that, but after making multiple trips up there, this was the wrong way to do things, in my opinion. Again, staying informed is one thing, but leave the room for deviation. Areas like the Smoky Mountains have side roads all over the place that hide little hidden gems like great food places, dams, waterfalls, and who knows what else.
If you're an adventure rider, exploring the hard top loosely is still the way to go, but when you do happen to take things off the beaten path, I would recommend following a .GPX file. Just upload it and follow the line and you won't get lost. This may sound obvious, but the first few times I went off into the fire roads, the use of preloaded Google maps was how I tried to get around. More often than not, the maps didn't cover the areas I was travelling in. It wasn't until later on that I discovered the magic of the .GPX file and life became much easier. So do research to be prepared, but not too prepared. Sometimes it's not an adventure until you get lost.
Accommodations:
Rather straightforward; determining a place to stay. Street riders would most likely stay at the plethora of resorts, hotels, and airbnb options. Nothing wrong with that, but getting yourself tied down with a reservation could be problematic given unpredictable weather at times. Some places may be more flexible than others with rescheduling, so I would inquire when making the original reservation.
Moto-camping in my opinion is the way to go. Ultimate in flexibility and more often than not, you can find spots that are free. Obviously, they won't have the facilities such as showers and toilets, but if you feel like going full mountain man and bathing in the river and pooping in a hole you've dug yourself, by all means, prepare yourself accordingly. Speaking from experience, that always makes things more exciting.
How things have changed:
Moto-trips are now approached much differently than they were before. What used to be weeks of preparation can now be condensed into a day, give or take. The mountains have become a familiar visiting place for us now, so I will admit that familiarity does go a long way in reducing the amount of planning that goes into trips to that general area. New places do get a little more research and route planning done, but as mentioned before, make it loose. Give yourself the ability to make the detour or get lost a little bit. Who knows what you might find or the people you'll meet. Since you're on a motorcycle, people will generally want to try and talk to you more anyway, it seems. While I did make the mistake of trying to cram too much mileage into each day for my Colorado trip, the otherwise "less is more approach" helped me quite a bit. That particular trip was for a total of 9 days. Time spent planning it was less than a week.
Obviously there are different types of people out there, and some would see this kind of shoot-from-the-hip approach for a motorcycle trip irresponsible. These words are just my opinion, so take them with a grain of salt, as one should with all things. All I hope for is that something in here might help make your life a little easier on the road.
With all that being said, how do YOU handle your motorcycle trips?
Happy riding!
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