How do you plan your tours? Or, do you?

chrismckay

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Im not sure where would be the relevant forum to post this on so I will just tag the question onto here...

Basically I am curious to know how everyone goes about planning their trips.

My usual "go to" is Google maps, from there I will enter a start point and a destination and let the software calculate, I then enter any known points of interest then recalculate, then zoom in on the route and pick out any decent roads after checking with street view
Everyone is different, but I prefer to have a few days booked ahead, I will consider parking for the bike and somewhere with a decent bar and perhaps central.....this will be done via booking.com and checked via streetview.

On motorway days I find that 300-400 miles are long enough, stopping every 100 for a comfort /petrol stop, I also plan these into my route as it gives me the chance to find somewhere beforehand that sells decent coffee and has a sitting area, I like to have a flick through my phone and a cup of coffee ...and if i cant find a better service station by googling it into my plan then its all the easier.

On camping trips, I will always have a hotel pre-planned incase its raining or I cant be arsed.....pre-planning allows me to know that there is somewhere within my budget that will tie into my planned route. Also i have the nearest petrol station and grocers to the campsite loaded onto my satnav.....these will be the two waypoints before the campsite....I now have my supper and beer and fully fueled for next morning.

These are just some of the wee things that work for me.....:D.....anybody else care to share.

Chris :thumb2
 
My advice on planning trips is try to keep each day below 5 hours riding time.

That gives 2.5 am & 2.5 pm then you add fuel stops lunch and coffee breaks time gets can be easily eaten up.

What I am saying is don’t over estimate your daily distances.
You want to be arriving in good time to have a shower and a beer before an evening meal :thumb
 
I’ve started a fresh thread for you.

It’ll save it getting muddled up with your holiday plans.

Richard
 
do people still use the excuse of being on a bike tour to go to sleazy bars to watch scantily clad ladies earn a fiver the hard way...? or is that now frowned upon...?
 
do people still use the excuse of being on a bike tour to go to sleazy bars to watch scantily clad ladies earn a fiver the hard way...? or is that now frowned upon...?

Only if they've planned it several months in advance via assorted software, and done a Google street view of the place too. :augie
 
so now I need to plan getting lost and finding the wrong part of town...? then finding some local sleaze bar where young ladies are eager to practise speaking english.... so I can ask for direction back to my hotel....?

seems like hard work....
 
We do a basic plan then divert to suit the weather always worked for us, maybe book first night then find accommodation as we go.
 
Generally start off with where we want to go for whatever reason e.g. Alps, Italian Lakes. This year we want to visit Slovenia, never been and its far enough away from Ijmuiden as a final destination.
Then look at how to get there, day 1 is usually a mile muncher blast across motorway, have done up to 470 miles to get to where we want to be, this year its around 370 taking us to area around Wurzburg, from then onwards its planning to ride on best biking roads possible, daily mileages around 200 and riding time up to 5 hrs max. I generally download many recommended roads on line at sites such as Best Biking Roads.com.
All accomodation is booked in advance on booking.com, all routes planned and loaded on Sat Nav, generally try to stay away from major cities if possible as they can be a pita to get in and out of and you generally will get better value outside so small towns with plenty of eating out choices.
If possible we try and plan a day off the bikes relaxing, often we have booked a hotel with a pool for two nights if we are somewhere the weather is guaranteed, e.g. Italy. read a book chill whatever.
Hope that helps

p.s. not one for museums etc, for us its all about time riding the bike on good roads with hopefully a better chance of nicer weather than the uk.
 
Booking the Tunnel is as far as my bike touring 'planning' goes...

Then it's just a general direction, areas to visit, maybe a Rally to call in at.

Over-planning simply leaches the fun, and unpredictability, out of touring...


All accomodation is booked in advance, all routes planned and loaded on Sat Nav

That's too much like 'normal life'... I want my travels to be the opposite;)
 
To those that wing it with accomodation

How do you cope with "gotta-find-a-hotel-frenzy" :eek: come 5p.m. and you've not got a bed booked / dont know where you're sleeping tonight?
Mrs Og is chilled about this / i however end up with visions of sleeping on a beach or in a park if i've not got a bed booked in advance. :blast :blush:
 
Booking the Tunnel is as far as my bike touring 'planning' goes...

Then it's just a general direction, areas to visit, maybe a Rally to call in at.

Over-planning simply leaches the fun, and unpredictability, out of touring...




That's too much like 'normal life'... I want my travels to be the opposite;)

I'm much the same but generally book open tunnel tickets as I live 700 miles north and there's no guarantee when I'll get there. Same for the return trip. Hotels I find "on-the-hoof" (or rubber if you prefer) as I don't know which way I'll end up heading (last minute mind changes) or where I'll stop (I'm happy riding all day if the weather is nice and that means 07:00 or 08:00 to 17:00 [beer time]). I usually take in a MotoGP race so that's my time off the bike but beer tent partying all night is hardly a rest!
 
We tend to book the ferry or Tunnel and then the first night in wherever.

We know roughly where we're heading and, when we stop for a lunch break, use Booking.Com to find somewhere suitable.

Never had any problem.
 
We tend to book the ferry or Tunnel and then the first night in wherever.

We know roughly where we're heading and, when we stop for a lunch break, use Booking.Com to find somewhere suitable.

Never had any problem.

What's this "lunch break" you speak of?
I ride until my TC GSA needs fuel and I'll nibble trail mix and have a toilet visit, if necessary.
I have water I can drink while riding so thirst isn't a problem.
 
Fill up and a can or something and then see how we're progressing.

Or a piss works too.

We're not the intrepid explorers that we would like to think we are :D
 
How do you cope with "gotta-find-a-hotel-frenzy" :eek: come 5p.m. and you've not got a bed booked / dont know where you're sleeping tonight?
Mrs Og is chilled about this / i however end up with visions of sleeping on a beach or in a park if i've not got a bed booked in advance. :blast :blush:

I always book a hotel in advance for each stopover, you can always cancel and rebook if you change the plan en route.
 
I always book a hotel in advance for each stopover, you can always cancel and rebook if you change the plan en route.

That's what we've done thus far. Probably ten years at it now?
... but i have to admit - it does detract from the 'fun / exploring / discovering' aspect. :(
 


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