Spyderfest or Bust (FROM THE EAST COAST)

[armyspydervet]

I am starting this thread in the anticipation of my registration to Spyderfest later this evening. This will be my first Spyder rally, and I am really looking forward to the event and meeting new people.



I would like to link up with anyone ryding to Spyderfest from the east coast (I am coming from DC/Northern VA). I know there are many people coming from NY, NJ, PA, VT and other eastern states and thought that we could travel together for a majority of the route. Being a newbie to long distance trips on three wheels, I thought it would be fun/wise to link up on the way to Spyderfest and travel in numbers. I have a few routes in mind, but I am more than willing to follow the preponderance of the experienced Spyderest ryders traveling to ensure we all get there together.

Realizing we have four months to plan, I at least wanted to get the conversation started. As I stated earlier, I am really looking forward to this event.

Also, anyone leaving the prior Saturday or Sunday? Or are most people leaving Monday? I took leave at work through the following Tuesday to give me enough time to get home.

[Brentc]

Well said. I'm also headed to my first spyderfest and can't wait. I share the same thoughts on pairing up with as many folks as possible. I'll be headed from upstate ny so consider me in on whatever the plan ends up being.

[bmccaffrey]

Very interested

[armyspydervet]

So here is the route I would like to take, fully realizing this may not be feasible for those coming from the Northeastern states. I would like to take I81S though the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest to I64W into West Virginia. I have traveled I76 and I70 many times by vehicle and it is well resourced, but BORING!

Just my opinion. Seems like Bob D has done this a few times so I'm interested to hear his thoughts.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

.....I'll be coming from upper Vermont and travelling on the Major Highways ( direct ) to Springfield........my Spyder will be inside my truck and I always bring a cr*p lode of tools and extra stuff ....just in case......So if I see anyone stranded along the way I'll stop and lend a hand.......It's what SPYDERLOVERS DO.......................Mike

[Haze]

This will be my first Spyderfest. I'll be traveling from Pittsburgh, PA.
Would like to join up with the travel group along the way. I'm open to
any route. I'd like to depart PA on Tuesday if my work schedule permits.

[Brentc]

I'm going to try and find a way to do a shareable map of some sort and layout a generic route showing the initial plan. Might be useful for people to see whether or not they could join up. I'll try no plot different waypoints as people post to the thread. I'm hoping some type of google map will work, but if anyone has a different thought on something they have used in the past, please shoot it out here.

[Bob Denman]

I'm planning on riding with you guys also!
One point to ponder...
FUEL STOPS...
The 998 bikes seem to need fuel at the 110 mile mark...
The 1330s can often stretch to 200 miles...
We should try and set up a route that (perhaps) can have the 1330s filling up at every other stop made by the 998s... Is this possible?

As far as laying down SERIOUS mileage in a day:
Morning start times need to be taken seriously
Everybody needs to have their bike ready to roll! (No last minute fill-ups....)
Minimize downtime for fuel and food.

I've always tried to leave early, combine the stops together (whenever possible), and survive on the "fastest" food that I can swallow!

Any suggestions?

[Brentc]

Bob, I think you make some good points. My initial thinking is a two day trip of about 10 hours or so of on the road time. I have a 622 trailer and am fine with packing snacks and food for the road, or stopping for some quick bites to eat. Good point of the fuel piece as well and we will have to factor that in. My hope was to put a map up that we can use so people know where to be roughly and when.

I am actually sitting at my split screen computer now learning the ins and outs of google maps!
I was just about to look at the route info posted earlier and use that as a general baseline. I know there were a few folks from the Ohio area also interested on earlier threads adn hopefully we can begin to form a plan.

[armyspydervet]

I am traveling home today back to DC from Chicago, but what I will do is map out the main routes and screen shot them and post them. Over the next few months we can decide the best one. Just from looking at the map myself, I will say up front that the WV route is not the shortest for those of you coming from NY, but it doesn't add that many miles. But I will make sure all three routes are main interstates and I will go with whatever is in the best interest of the group. Obviously I won't be ryding up to NY from DC, so those of us not coming from NY/NJ will need a link up point somewhere anyway.

Thoughts on SENA - Does most Ryders use a SENA? I was thinking of making that my next purchase prior to SF. Is that something people use a lot during group rydes?

[Bob Denman]

Take a look at Rand McNally's TripMaker also...


http://tripmaker.randmcnally.com/

[Trbayth]

If you have the factory GPS you also should have access to Basecamp for mapping out routes. It's not the easiest software to use but stick with it and you'll get it.

Bob and I have been discussing routes a bit and we've kicked around ideas about I80 West to Ohio then southwest to Springfield or a more southerly route through Tennessee. Basically "out-and-down" vs "down-and-out"

10 hours a day is a lot. You need to figure in time for food, fuel, and potty breaks. If we end up with 4, 5 or 6 bikes it may take a bit to get them all through a fuel stop. And yes, we'll need to be extra attentive to "PBO"* times.

I have a Sena 10C (smile!) and think I can link with up to 4 people simultaneously.

As for fuel, on my ST assuming I pack it with fuel and at highway speeds with no or light headwind I can get to 130/140 miles before I'm sucking fumes.









*PBO: Parking Brake Off; can't very well say "KSU", right?

[Brentc]

OK, I took a stab at setting up a first pass of a route. I looked through the thread and pulled everyone off that said they were interested and added them to the map. Please let me know if I missed someone, or if you'd prefer not being on it. I set it up with a day one and day two scenario so I should be able to tweak it easy enough if we wanted to try other routes, or as mentioned earlier we could look into the Ohio route as well. Once we have it somewhat together I could add the turn by turn and it might give people a rough idea of what time to leave so we all meet up at roughly the same place and time day one. Hopefully here is the link to the map and you should be able to look at it. If tehre is anyone interested in being added, please PM me so I do not miss the thread.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...hw&usp=sharing

[jaherbst]

I'm planning on riding with you guys also!
One point to ponder...
FUEL STOPS...
The 998 bikes seem to need fuel at the 110 mile mark...
The 1330s can often stretch to 200 miles...
We should try and set up a route that (perhaps) can have the 1330s filling up at every other stop made by the 998s... Is this possible?

As far as laying down SERIOUS mileage in a day:
Morning start times need to be taken seriously
Everybody needs to have their bike ready to roll! (No last minute fill-ups....)
Minimize downtime for fuel and food.

I've always tried to leave early, combine the stops together (whenever possible), and survive on the "fastest" food that I can swallow!

Any suggestions?

Yes, slow down and smell the roses. (Diesel smoke) Remember it's the "ride not the destination". I know, I know Spyderfest will be great but not rushing and fewer miles per day will make the ride much more enjoyable and memorable. Just a reminder from the little known, less cared about facts from the private files of one J. Herbst.

Jack

[Bob Denman]

It looks intriguing...
However; with the health issues that I've got; I'd like to figure out a way to meet up with someone just a bit earlier in the trip...
(An extra set of eyeballs ALWAYS makes it safer!)

We have lots of time to kick this around... Thanks for "throwing the ball into the field"!

[Brentc]

I didn't even see your post prior to setting up my google maps piece. See what you think of the link i posted and if you've got a better method we can definitely do that

As for Sena, I have the 20s unit and think that's a great idea, although I might need a lesson on pairing to new helmets.

I am traveling home today back to DC from Chicago, but what I will do is map out the main routes and screen shot them and post them. Over the next few months we can decide the best one. Just from looking at the map myself, I will say up front that the WV route is not the shortest for those of you coming from NY, but it doesn't add that many miles. But I will make sure all three routes are main interstates and I will go with whatever is in the best interest of the group. Obviously I won't be ryding up to NY from DC, so those of us not coming from NY/NJ will need a link up point somewhere anyway.

Thoughts on SENA - Does most Ryders use a SENA? I was thinking of making that my next purchase prior to SF. Is that something people use a lot during group rydes?

[Joanie]

As a member of MoGang (the crazy individuals who take a week off of work to assist in putting on SF) I want to say thank you to all new "newbies" and "oldies" (Bob) coming from the north east!!

You will have a wonderful time and as of 1/1/2015 at 9:53 a.m you are in the first 777!!

For the newbies some of the oldies will tell you just be prepared for any type of weather. Missouri is constantly changing.

MoGang will meet next Saturday, January 9, after that we will have a tentative schedule to post. I am pretty darn sure it is going to include fireworks this year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all see you soon.

[Brentc]

Bob, it appears that you and Trbayth are relatively close and could probably hook up sooner that the day two stuff. I was also thinking of altering my route to go through the PA area and meetup early with Haze in his neck of the woods. If memory serves me correctly, there was someone in Morgantown who was thinking of going as well. I just tweaked the map and rerouted through PA and Morgantown just on a whim

It looks intriguing...
However; with the health issues that I've got; I'd like to figure out a way to meet up with someone just a bit earlier in the trip...
(An extra set of eyeballs ALWAYS makes it safer!)

We have lots of time to kick this around... Thanks for "throwing the ball into the field"!

[Trbayth]

That looks a lot like the route I took last year. I would suggest not going through the heart of St. Louis. Take I255 to I270 to I44 to go around the city.

The ride across Indiana and Illinois is quite dull. Miles and miles of flat, straight road through huge farms.

[Bob Denman]

We can sort all of this out; there's lots of time!

[Bob Denman]

Joanie,
Am I really an "Oldie"?

[Trbayth]

You could stay on I81 and meet just East of Hershey. Or you could just come down the Thruway to I287 first then West on I80.

Also, don't forget that Dee and Mike are coming from Vermont. They might want to join up as well.


Why do I have CW McCall's "Convoy" running through my head right now?

[Brentc]

Thanks, updated on google

That looks a lot like the route I took last year. I would suggest not going through the heart of St. Louis. Take I255 to I270 to I44 to go around the city.

The ride across Indiana and Illinois is quite dull. Miles and miles of flat, straight road through huge farms.

[Brentc]

Joanie, from what I have seen so far, you guys at your end do all the hard work. I'm looking forward to enjoying the great time your planning.

As a member of MoGang (the crazy individuals who take a week off of work to assist in putting on SF) I want to say thank you to all new "newbies" and "oldies" (Bob) coming from the north east!!

You will have a wonderful time and as of 1/1/2015 at 9:53 a.m you are in the first 777!!

For the newbies some of the oldies will tell you just be prepared for any type of weather. Missouri is constantly changing.

MoGang will meet next Saturday, January 9, after that we will have a tentative schedule to post. I am pretty darn sure it is going to include fireworks this year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all see you soon.

[Brian Kay]

Those are some serious miles, and a lot of mountainous terrain to navigate through... Whatever you all decide, add 20% to your anticipated time/schedule. Usually construction during that time of year gets in the way, and being an el nino winter, you may have a wet Spring and potential bad weather to deal with. Just food for thought, but sounds like a lot of fun!

If I was to map out a route from Atlanta, I could drive north and meet y'all in Lexington KY... That's a 7-hour ride considering stops for me. Gosh, I would love to make it to spyderfest. Right now, no official plans to attend though.