Wednesday 24 March 2010

15,000 miles in 23 States

It is now just 3 months to go to the start of my tour. Preparations are on track, with only minor things to do now. I need to arrange temporary insurance and buy some summer bike boots that are good for both riding and walking in.

In preparation for the tour, my wife heard my hints and for Christmas bought a Garmin SatNav system for me. The really good thing about this system is that you can enter your proposed route into some computer software called MapSource and then transfer it to your Garmin unit.

This provides a tremendous advantage over the TomTom systems which require that you enter the route directly into the TomTom unit, which is fine if you have one or two destinations to go to, but pretty useless if you have a long trip to do that you want to enter.

Since Christmas, I have diligently been sitting at the laptop, putting my intended route into MapSource and yesterday, I finished this. I am now able to give a better prediction of the distance I am likely to travel which now stands at just over 15,000 miles.









Here are the 23 States that I will get to.....
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Maine
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Plus, I will be very briefly riding into Canada.

In case you were wondering, the image is 15,000 in sign language.

13 comments:

Mr. Motorcycle said...

I'm guessing you ain't riding the red bike.

Sounds like a real challenge, but a fun one nonetheless!

Gary France said...

MM - Correct. I will be doing the trip on my Road King. I wouldn't want to put that many miles on the red bike, plus I like my back the way it is....

Canajun said...

Now it's starting to get close enough to smell. Going to be a great trip.

Unknown said...

Gary:

Why go for the dual purpose riding/walking boots when you can bring along a pair of PINK Crocs. Your choice, at the end of the day, smelly boots, or the fragrance smell of Pink.

I got really excited when I read that word Canada, but you forgot to put BC on your list. And now 13,800 miles has escalated to 15,000., plus Canada puts you over 16,000. miles.

bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin

iansolley said...

i thought it was that sign from Close Encounters of the Third Kind!
I have a night to kill in Las Vegas on October the second, if that fits in. Or I think my Nova Scotia trip is off now so I might be riding in Vermont in June? Otherwise I will see you and Mrs F in St Tropez in about 5 weeks.

Gary France said...

Canajun - It smells of nearness!

Bob - Sadly not BC this time, but Quebec. Don't worry, the next time I am in Seattle to see my wife's folks, I am going to arrange a small bloggers convention.... Chuck, Sonja, you, me.... Chuck can photograph it, Sonja can show us her new bike, you can video it and I can write about it.... a true piece of multi-national collaboration. Hmmmn, pink crocs for 15,000 miles? Not sure about that. LOL

Ian – That was a great film at the time and still a classic now. I remember that part of the film well. In the picture above, I thought the last three symbols looked very dodgy indeed.... It looks as if we might miss each other in the US. I am riding through Vermont in the middle of July and I don’t get to Vegas until about the 11th October. That’s a real shame, as it would have been great to catch up over there. As you say, we will be catching up in St Tropez. Jackie and I get there on the afternoon of Thursday 6th May, so I will give you a call when we have checked in. I assume you are going to the Warr's get together on Friday night and on the ride out along the coast on Saturday morning?

FLHX_Dave said...

Dude! I got coffee for you if you get over this close. I also have some friends from GB who opened a Brewery here if you want a good pint.

Gary France said...

Dave - I will be riding down the California coast from SF at about the last week of October. Either a coffee or a pint sounds great!

Gary France said...

Dave - I forgot to say.... Whooooooooooooo!

Chris said...

It'll be a great trip! I'm a looking forward to meeting you in MN.

Unknown said...

Gary:

I feel so left out. You're on everyone else's route . . .

and I gotta say, WHooooooooooo too

bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin

Gary France said...

Oh Bob, I am so sorry that you are not on my route. To try to make up for that, I created a special piture of your alter ego, Canadian Stig. I am sure we will catch up one day.

SonjaM said...

Too bad, you don't have BC on your list. I will certainly have my bike when you come come over next time. Cheers from Auckland, SonjaM