I had an ambitious schedule. Spend three or four days on the motorcycle finding the best map candidates. The rejects are usually quickly noted. I was hoping to hit two, maybe three maps worth of roads. Find the promising areas not identified from home – there are always undiscovered treasures. Just riding along, pass a road not on the list, and circle back to check it out. Occasionally you find a gem. Most times, you quickly know why it was left off the route list. Serendipity is rare.

Believe it or not it takes up to a week to plan out a map before I do the rides. Even so, the plan changes once I actually experience them. The goal is efficiency but is never achieved. I know ahead of time the majority of the roads I choose to investigate as potential candidates to include on one of my America Rides Maps will be rejected. I’m very selective. Just because a road appears as a wiggly line on the map doesn’t mean it is good enough. There are lots of wiggly roads. Few of them meet my standards. I’m only looking for the best.

Of those few good ones, I need to plan to ride them at least twice. Once in each direction, and at different times of the day. The best roads often see up to four passes. If it’s that good, I like it enough to work it in to my travels again. Revisiting a road is the only way to determine the traffic load. Just because it was devoid of traffic at 11 AM doesn’t mean it stays that way.

Some roads are better in one direction but not the other. Views seen approaching and climbing the mountains are quite different from those leaving. The views are relative to others in the area. All these factors come into play.

Then there’s the arguments with the GPS. She says there are roads where none are visible. Submerged the bike in a river once following her advice. Good thing she’s waterproof. The trout were laughing with her that day. She-devil in a box.

Enough whining? Did I mention the rain that wasn’t supposed to be happening? Both days? Karma. I’ve already logged more than a thousand miles in Virginia and I’ve hardly begun to get a grip on it.

Time to get serious. Back to the drawing board. More time planning. I’ll return next week. This time with the precision of a military invasion. Focus on one small area at a time. Secure it and move on. No need to revisit. At least that’s my new plan. Slow and methodical. You don’t rush a masterpiece. I hope this is one when I’m done.

Wayne@americaridesmaps.com

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