Getting Ready for the Trip
Background
It was three years ago, that I made the first attempt to
travel to the Four Corners of the United States. This trip covered 40 states,
11,500 miles in a 25-day journey. It was quite an experience that had its challenges.
I spent nine months planning for that trip, initially determining the route to
reach the four corners and then determining what other objectives I wanted to
achieve. The trip’s schedule was centered on attending my 45th High
School Class Reunion. I decided when I finished the trip to start thinking
about the next adventure.
I joined the “Southern California Motorcycle Association
(SC-MA)” in 2014 since they are one of the Sanctioning Organization for the
long-distance riding community. They also offer a series of other rides and
have awards for completing multiple events. In the fall of 2016, in earnest, I
started looking at this objective as I began the planning process for a series
of trips in 2017.
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| TRUE-X 4-Corners Trip Map |
In September 2016, I decided to go for the “Triple Crown”
award by completing three events. The first was the “California Missions” trip,
the “TRUE-X 4-Corners”, and finally the SC-MA’s premier “3-Flags Classic”
event. Although I have been planning the TRUE-X for 18-months I added the other
two trips to the plan. The 3-Flags run is an annual event and occurs over the
Labor Day weekend each year. Since this trip has fixed dates and starts in
Abbottsford, British Columbia on August, 31st. All the other
components of the trip must support making this date.
My initial plan was
to do all three trips consecutively with a one or two-day break between each
run. In addition, since the 3-Flags trip start is 50-miles from the Blaine,
Washington corner. I reordered the 4-Corners so that I ended up there in the
end. The San Ysidro corner is the closest to my home, so this always makes this the
logical starting point. In April, I needed to attend training in the Los
Angeles area so I decided to split the California Missions trip off and
schedule it around the training. Since there is no time-limit for this trip, I
re-planned this trip to place the training into the middle of the schedule and
completed 18 of the 21 missions over the Easter weekend. I completed the
remaining 3 missions after the training before returning home. I will cover the
details of this trip in my next post.
The BLOG
When I was planning the 2014 trip, I decided to document the
journey daily and chose a Google site to accomplish this. Initially this was to
keep family, friends and co-workers informed on my progress. I used the blog as
well as my Facebook account as the mechanism to let them know how the trip was
progressing.
In addition, I had built a spreadsheet that planned the trip
day-by-day which included a hotel to stay at and the distance to be covered. It
also estimated my fuel consumption and costs. During the trip, I tracked every
gas stop so that I could see my actual gas mileage and other information. To simplify
the overall process, I developed checklists for the 4 major events that occur
every day (starting out in the morning, the end of the day, each gas stop, and
finally what I needed to do each evening).
This information has proved to be invaluable in planning
this trip. I decided after the trip that I wanted to try the harder version of
the 4-Corners trip which is called “TRUE-X”. On the original trip, I started in
San Ysidro, California and travelled to Blaine, Washington then Madawaska,
Maine and finally Key West, Florida before returning home. This TRUE-X trip requires a
stop in the small town of Lebanon, Kansas which is the “Geographic Center of
the Continental United States” between each corner for a total of three visits.
The Equipment
I spent time reading the blog from the previous trip and
made note of what gear worked and what did not. It also described that on some
days the route was complex and needed to use a GPS device. Since I did not have
a way to charge my cell phone on the original trip meant that I couldn’t use
that. On two days, I ended up getting off course and loosing time.
On the California Missions trip, I used my cell phone to
provide the directions. I encountered problems with the power cord and battery
life so it was not as dependable as I needed. Since the TRUE-X means travelling
on non-Interstate highways when travelling to Lebanon, Kansas a GPS is critical
to completing the trip efficiently. In addition, I will be travelling for
6-days in Canada and 3-days in Mexico, the cell phone will not work on those
days. I spent a couple of weeks evaluating GPS units and finally settled on a
Garmin Zumo 595LM. I chose this unit because it had a large screen but most
importantly that is was designed for use on a motorcycle. This unit is
weather-proofed and vibration resistant. It also has detailed planning tool for
the laptop that allows a great deal of control over the route and schedule.
These are features that my cell phone doesn’t offer. My wife and I took a
road-trip to Wisconsin and we used the GPS unit. I was able figure out its use
prior to the trip. After some initial difficulty, I figured out the problem and
used it exclusively on the trip home. I am continuing to learn how to use the
features that far exceed the capabilities of a cell phone.
I also purchased a separate feature that allows the GPS unit
to monitor the tire pressure which will provide a level of safety needed for
the bike’s operation.
Although the GPS unit is the largest expense item it is not
the most critical item that will improve this trip. I also discovered safety
glasses that offer bi-focal reader lenses from Duluth Trading. I can now see
the gauges and the details on the GPS and phone. I have three pairs ranging
from clear to dark sunglasses and one that is in between. This will allow for
the protection of my eyes in all lighting conditions.
What’s Next?
In my next post, I will describe the “California Missions
Trip” where I visited all 21 of the Spanish Missions that are the backbone of
California’s history. I will also do one additional post before I leave on
August 8th with the details and schedule of the trip.
I also have scheduled to have the bike serviced by my local
Harley-Davidson dealer in preparation for the trip along with having the power
connections for the GPS installed.
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