Triumphrat

Bier · 10-06-2011, 10:18 AM

So I just got back from my first multi-day ride with my bonnie. I live in Cincinnati and had to go to Cleveland (about 240ish miles) for work for a couple of days. Since the weather was supposed to be nice (actually got drizzled on for 3 hours but that's another story) I decided to take the opportunity to pack up my tank bag and a backpack and hit the road.

Even with the bad weather it was great. Took almost twice as long to get there since I didn't take the interstate but it was well worth it as the journey was the whole point. I'm now hooked on touring and am looking to plan weekend trips, vacations etc.

This brings me to my question about trip planning. Is there a tool that exists (GPS system, google addon, whatever) where you can enter how long you want to ride in a given day and based on the route profile you create (such as avoid highways, posted speed limits, etc.) it spits out how far you'll get along a route in that time frame? Reason I ask is I had originally thought I'd do the trip faster than I did based on the actual distance, but when I hit towns where posted limits dropped to 25 and now there are traffic lights every 100 feet, etc. etc. it really changed the time I took to cover those miles.

Thanks for any help.

saphena · 10-06-2011, 10:26 AM

Have you looked at google maps [Get Directions] function?

I use that as the basis for my long distance rides although I'll use google's estimates as my starting point and modify them based on my own experience. I generally assume that I'll ride the speed limit everywhere but build in some slack for "normal" stoppages, etc

jimg010 · 10-06-2011, 10:28 AM

I use this site http://ridewithgps.com/ to develop the ride then up load to my GPS...You have to plot your route

Bier · 10-06-2011, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saphena

Have you looked at google maps [Get Directions] function?

I use that as the basis for my long distance rides although I'll use google's estimates as my starting point and modify them based on my own experience. I generally assume that I'll ride the speed limit everywhere but build in some slack for "normal" stoppages, etc

Yeah I used this with the setting to avoid highways and it works better than nothing. Guess where I would need something more is when I need help trying to figure out how far I could get on a given day. Once I get away from roads I know it's hard to say if stretch of road "X" that's 200 miles will take the same time to cover as road "Y" that's 300 miles but the average speed limit is higher, no lights, yadda yadda.

Calliway · 10-06-2011, 11:34 AM

When I ride I think about how far in a day I want to go and plan that way. When I ride from Edmonton to Nelson I know that it is a two day ride. I need to cover 590kms on day one and about 450 on day two. I plan to ride the whole day so that I can stop when I want to stop, look at what I want to look at etc.

For me 500kms in a day is a very nice day filled with riding and exploring.

saphena · 10-06-2011, 12:07 PM

The problem is that no automatic tool will be able to fill in the blanks such as your personal riding style, how hard your butt is, whether you're happy maintaining high speed on country roads, how hungry you'll get and so on.

I like to ride serious distances, see my sig, so I'm often riding roads I know only from looking at a map. When I started long distance riding it took a while before I could be confident that my time/distance projections were accurate - they are now.

Here's how I do it:

1) Plot the route using google maps
2) Build a spreadsheet of route segments by road type and shape
3) Assign a target cruising speed to each segment
4) Calculate the time needed for each segment at cruising speed less X

X is a factor you'll have to work out for yourself from experience. It caters for the fact that you can't ride a 60 mile segment @ 60mph and expect to arrive in exactly 60 minutes.

Road type: motorway/interstate; major road; minor road; dirt track
Road shape: how bendy & hilly is it? how many small towns along the way? is it bear/deer country?

In the UK my target cruising speeds are 70mph, 60mph, 30mph but might be reduced for wiggly roads. My personal value of X is typically 12mph so that a 100 mile stretch of motorway would take about 1 hr 43 (70-12 = 58mph)

If you're not used to riding at night or in fog your target speeds will need to be reduced even further.

Only when you have that information can the question "how far will I get in 7 hours?" be answerable.

LoVel · 10-06-2011, 04:00 PM

We use the, if you haven't got to where you want to be you haven't ridden long enough yet, method. This really only works for longer trips and you must always build in an extra day are two just in case you have a *&%^ it day.

There are hotels and camp sites all over the place. Just stop when you can't take it anymore.

The wife and I prefer to camp. We are up and packed at first light and ride until we want to stop. Which is normally at least one to two hours before dark thirty. It really is great fun to not have a specific set point or location.

We ended up in a parade one day in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. Almost made us have to pitch the tent in the dark on the the bank of the Susquehanna river. Wouldn't trade this stuff for the world.

I know it is a rambling lost post but that is the way we ride. Everyone should try it.

dwr302 · 10-06-2011, 09:42 PM

I've found over a bunch of back road trips that I'll average roughly 50mph over a full day. So over eight hours, even with gas stops and lunch and whatever else, I'll cover about 400 miles. I usually run about 70mph on the back roads but always keep it close to the legal limit in towns. If you have time you can take the little roads. If you need to make time you can take the more direct state roads. Thats about all the planning I do.

doxiedog · 10-06-2011, 10:56 PM

The adventure starts,when you get lost.

uncleal · 10-06-2011, 11:25 PM

Most of the time, I don't know where I'm going, so it's difficult planning how to get there. That's why I bought the bike in the first place.