If you’re having trouble finding the right fit for your helmet, I recently added some updated fitment tips and troubleshooting proper helmet fit on the Gear 101 section of my website here. Hope this helps!
GPX Routes for Virginia and West Virginia
This week I’ve been having fun riding around VA and WVA before and after meeting up with a friend in Roanoke. Here are the individual GPX Routes I created, feel free to download any or all of them:
Staunton VA to Hagerstown MD (I did this because I didnt have time to do Elkins to Hagerstown)
Elkins WV to Hagerstown MD (if you have more time than I did)
You might be wondering how I do my routing and directions on the fly while I’m on a trip like this. Because I refuse to bring a laptop for a 3-5 day trip. I do have my iPad sometimes but it’s not a laptop.
But when I’m out on a ride, or on a short trip, these are the 3 things I use: in conjunction with my iPhone so that I can do two very important things: A/ Create, save and/or share a route on my phone (without a computer) and B/ Receive turn by turn directions into my helmet.
Bluetooth Intercom (Sena or Cardo or Other). Right now, I’m using an older Sena SMH10R since my Sena 10R is on my Bell. But this Summer I’m going to spring for a new Cardo Freecom 4+ with JBL speakers. Woo hoo!
InRoute app (iPhone only) - Read my Review here which shows you how to make GPX routes on the fly, as well as exporting them to share with a friend, or saving them for later. This feature is what differentiates it from Google Maps. At least for those of us with iPhones. I’m guessing Android users might have more privileges, and if that’s the case please post a comment below.
As much as I like this app, the only thing I hate right now is the sound quality of the Voice. The female US English voice is too high pitched, so I started using the male UK English voice and it’s much better. I’m hoping that when I switch to Cardo, it’ll be a little better. The Google Maps voice (I call her Gigli) is much, much clearer and smoother.Google Maps: I mainly use this as a search tool for things like gas stations, restaurants, etc. Although you can create a multi-waypoint trip, you are limited to so many waypoints (far less than 100, I think 10ish or something) and you can’t save them on an iPhone. So InRoute really works better as a trip planning tool.
So I use #1 and #2 so that I can get turn by turn directions through to my helmet so I don’t have to look down to view the directions. I do have my phone mounted to a Ram Mount just in case, but I generally try not to look at it and just rely on the audio.
I created all of the above routes on my iPhone, using the InRoute app, no computers needed. You do have to pay a monthly or annual fee in order to have many waypoints but it’s worth the $30/year subscription for 100+ waypoints.
If you have any questions, please post a comment!
For more trip photos, please follow me: instagram.com/gearchic
Trip Planning for a Multi Day Solo Ride
One of the maps I created from my last solo trip several years ago down to NC
I’m going to be riding this week somewhere. Initially I was thinking of going back South, towards the Carolinas, Virginias and Tennessee. I really love the riding down there, so I guess I just am drawn to going back there. I’m open to going North instead, but I don’t honestly know much about the riding in that direction.
Unfortunately the weather this week has hampered my leaving on time because if I don’t absolutely have to, I would rather NOT ride in the rain all day for 2 days. So I will leave as soon as the weather lets up tomorrow, or Tuesday morning if need be.
Someone asked me about my trip planning and what / how I am going to plan for something like this. Well, for me, it’s not going to be too much work, but I will be thinking about the following things.
But I won’t know exactly what I’m doing until I sort out all the people that i want to meet up with first. I know people have lives, so I certainly don’t expect everyone to meet me on my schedule. I will likely play a lot of my day to day destinations by ear.
Me and my friend Tamela meeting up 4 years ago in West Virginia. That was a fantastic trip!
Who Do I Want to Visit? Who Wants to Meet Up, and Where?
I’ll be looking a routes and using an online planning tool, Furkot.com. It’s my favorite tool for long distance planning because it takes in to consideration your mileage per day, hours you want to travel, breaks, gas stops and hotel stops. I can also take the route and import it into my iPhone app, InRoute. It’s freaking amazing.
How Many Points Do I Have for Free Hotel Nights?
(I’m NOT a moto camper, this queen needs a real bed and shower)
Who can say no to free hotel rooms? I have some points with Holiday Inn Express so I will likely route some nights onto those if I’m not staying with a friend. We’ll see.
What’s My Daily Budget?
Of course, doing a trip like this costs money! Hopefully between the free hotel nights and 1 or 2 friend’s couches, I will only have to pay for my food and gas. Not too bad. I’m a huge Waffle House Fan so i will be looking for those as much as possible. :D
Am I the only one who LOVES Waffle House while traveling? #smothered #covered
What Gear?
For this trip, I’ll have to take my trusty Revit Neptune GTX Suit. It’s a full multiseason suit with two removable liners; one is waterproof and the other one is thermal. So since the temperatures are going to be cooler from the high 40s/low 50s at night to mid 70s in the afternoon, depending how high the elevation is I’ll need something very versatile. I know that it’s going to rain on my way out of Philly and possibly coming back in next Monday. #firstworldproblems
I also will be taking my cool weather, waterproof Rukka Gloves, and my Dainese Torque Out boots. I do have Daytonas for when there’s heavy rain riding but if I’m only going to be in light to moderate rain, I don’t mind my Dainese because they’re water resistant and that’s good enough. The majority of this trip is dry and cool, so I can easily make those work. Daytonas are so bulky and heavy, it’s hard to go back to that kind of touring boot when you wear lightweight sport boots so much .
I’ll also be wearing my Shoei RF-1200 because I need a quieter helmet, and my Bell is SO LOUD (even with earplugs). It’s also so tight, that for 8 hours a day it’s just too much. That’s really my summer, light riding helmet. I decided not to spend money right now on the Cardo Freecom 4+ headset that I’ve been drooling over. I will probably wait until Summer.
The reason I want to convert is because of the JBL speakers and the jogdial! Oooooohhhh. It has a very low profile, just like my current Sena 10R. But with these two vastly different features, I think it’ll jut be a much better headset overall. And the fact that it’s waterproof is a HUGE bonus.
What Luggage?
With my Triumph, I always use my Kriegas. They’re simply the best traveling luggage for low profile, waterproof, non saddlebag-hanging luggage with maximum volume. For trips like these, I have 40 Liters of packable space which doesn’t include my little Cortech tankbag.
Emergencies?
For emergencies, I’ll have my AAA membership and my AMA membership handy. I’ll also find the closest Triumph dealers and metric line dealers that might be able to help me if I have to get something fixed or serviced. My bike is in pretty good shape, so I don’t anticipate any issues but if I do, these will be my main lifelines.
I’ll carry just a few things might come in handy as far as tools and supplies:
Antigravity Microstart Power Supply with me in case I need a jump
a tire gauge
zip ties
folded duct tape
folding leatherman
allen key tool because pretty much everything on my bike can be tightened/loosended with 4 metric sizes
And that’s it! I can’t prepare for everything, so I’ll do my best and know that I can call for help if I need it. I’m mostly going to stick to paved, highway roads and will let my husband know what I’ll be doing every day so if I’m alone, someone knows where I’m headed.
Join Me on The Lean Angle
(Left: Alisa Clickenger/Women’s Motorcycle Tours, Right: Porsche Taylor/Black Girls Ride Mag,)
I never have enough to do so I started a brand new motorcycle show on Facebook, called The Lean Angle.
We’ll be streaming live on Facebook, on our page here: Facebook.com/LeanAngleShow.
The Lean Angle will cover a wide range of topics as it relates to motorcycles. Alisa has a strong solo travel, dual sport background (in addition to street touring) and Porsche has a lot of experience in solo travel, sport touring and cruising. And you know me and my sporty bike addiction.
We hope to be on at least once a month for ~60 minutes but will do our best to try and see you a little sooner. With summer around the corner, our schedules are hectic but we all love talking about motorcycles so check out our first episode which aired last night!
And you DON’T even need a Facebook account to watch! But if you do have an account, post a comment in the episode and let us know your thoughts including what kinds of topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes.
So it doesn’t matter who you are, what/when/how/where you ride. Join us on The Lean Angle!
