XS East Route Selection

[MartyA]

OK folks, we have 3 final drafts. Vote for your favorite 2.

Map 01 is a circle from Brattleboro VT to Bennington south to MA then east on the Mohawk Trail then swing into a little bit of NH then back to Brattleboro.





Map 02 is a loop into NH from Brattleboro with 8 covered bridges.





Map 03 leaves Brattleboro to the west then zig zag north to the Quechee gorge and then south along the River Road all in VT.

[MartyA]

sorry missed the edit time - Map 01 has several covered bridges in NH also.

[blue giant]

Decisions, Decisions!


I'm going with 1 and 2. I don't know the area so I may regret my decision. I will of course go on what ever routes the masses decide.

Paul

[MartyA]

Mostly this is extending the fun. Any of the routes would do fine. I am hoping someone from the area, or someone who otherwise has knowledge of these areas, says Holy Cow that road is under construction, or That town sheriff has an anti-biker policy or That town is way too crowded avoid it at all costs.

Otherwise just look and pick 2. It's all good!

[dpotter58]

Let's see, map 1,& 2 or2& 3 or 1&3 or.....yes.

[MaximPhil]

Decisions, Decisions!


I'm going with 1 and 2. I don't know the area so I may regret my decision. I will of course go on what ever routes the masses decide.

Paul

All of the above After a long hard look (prints so small i could not read the town names) i too went with 1 & 2. it all looks so good.
Paul maybe we can ride from the border south together.
Phil

[randy]

I'll be driving the routes in mid-April to refine the stops, etc.

[blue giant]

All of the above After a long hard look (prints so small i could not read the town names) i too went with 1 & 2. it all looks so good.
Paul maybe we can ride from the border south together.
Phil

Sounds like a great plan Phil!

There will be several of us leaving the Ottawa area on the Friday morning.

[exquized1]

sorry for the Hijack but I have 1 simple question. What program are you useing to get your maps? They seam so much clearer than mapquest. maybe it would help me with my route planning.

Thanks - Matt
xssively lost in Il.

[randy]

Were using microsoft streets and trips

[MartyA]

Hi Matt!
I use Microsoft Streets and Trips. I have the 2005 version on my laptop and Sally has the 2008 version on her desktop. For now I work with the 05 version up to the final draft then use the 08 version to verify restaurant and motel locations. All of the versions update road construction information, but all the other information in each version stays the same. Streets and Trips can identify many different types restaurants, such as BBQ and Thai and Pizza Hut and McDonalds, and motels and hotels and police stations and banks car rentals and schools and parks and all that, but all that is current only to your version. If a new highway was built in 2006 it won't be in my 2005 version. If the Holiday Inn in your town was changed to a Rodeway Inn in 2007 it will still show as a Holiday inn in the 2005 version. If the local Shell station closed in 2006 I won't know that using the 2005 version. That is why I have the 2008 version also. In a few years I'll probably buy the 2012 or 2013 version and dump the 2005 version.

As for using the software it is simple. Pick some points along some roads and then generate a route. Or pick your starting and ending points and it will plot the fastest route, or the shortest route, or routes that avoid 4 lane or toll roads. Once you have the route you can switch to the other types.

The numbers you see are what Randy Rago and I used to force the program to draw a route along specific roads. There are forced turns, specific gas stops and restaurant stops, specific distances we try to maintain between timed stops.

The software has a menu selection so you can "Copy Map" which copies whatever zoom level you are at on your screen, then you paste that view into whatever photo-chop software you use, then save it as a .JPG file. Then you can post it like a regular .JPG photo. The detail like Phil mentioned depends on the size of the image. You lose some pixels when you reduce the size of the .JPG file.

On topic part:
For this post the routes are basically set. I'll eventually pass it through the 08 version and Randy will drive the routes for final version verification. Just look at the general routes and decide if you want one that is 100% in Vermont, one that is almost 100% in NH with lots of covered bridges, or one that hits the big honkin' Bennington battle Monument then swings to MA and a few covered bridges in NH. There is no "Tail of the Dragon" or twisty routes in this part of the country, like we had in WV. So go ahead and pick. It's all good.

[Jerry]

Any idea of the mileage of the various routes? On the face of it, #1 and #2 look good to me.

[Huron52]

They all look good. But I'm going to wait until the scout reports back

[Bibleman]

New England ride

Hi, I just retired from the Post Office here in New England and recently got back into riding. I picked up a coupla '80 xs11 specials and looking to put lots of miles on them. When is this ride going to happen exactly and are "All welcome Here and Hereafter"??? - John

[randy]

John,

All are welcome, the more the merrier!

This rally will be on Memorial Day weekend, FRI-SAT-SUN May 22-24. Go to this thread for hotel info:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20129