Wanderer or Route Rider ...which type are you?

[rboe]

My heart says wanderer, but the facts say otherwise.

Since I started riding again the only time I get out on trips; when I have a destination in mind. Once there I'll wander a bit though.

Ideally, the dream when I was much younger, was to strike out and take a year to knock about. Now, with a wife, house, dogs, cats.....way too much structure to be a hippy or gypsy. Not good or bad, it's the way things are and I would not want to get rid of the wife, house, dogs or cats (well, the cats are iffy.... ).

[Django]

In fact, I'm a route rider. My routes contain fuel stops and I book my rooms in advance.

However, I would like to be more a wanderer...

[Ron in MO_imp]

Wanderer here too. Since adding a Garmin to my bike, I'm not as concerned about getting lost or finding gas and food. In groups or on occasion I will plan a route and plug it into the Garmin for help along the ride.

There are lots of beautiful back roads out there just calling us!

[emptysea]

As with most polls here, I seem to be somewhere in the middle.

I am a RR when I'm leading other riders. This is true for both day rides and touring, although I will wander a bit with other riders in tow if I am riding in familiar territory. The problem I have with wandering in a group-ride scenario is the dead-end, the gravel road, the stop sign at a 4 or 6 lane crossroad, the "round-em-up" gesture I have to make to signal a U-turn. I tend to stick to the planned route to avoid comments and dirty looks from my friends.

I am a W when I'm alone...except when I am a RR. LOL. I have not had many opportunities to just ride out alone and stop wherever I want. My spouse knows the perils of this hobby and likes to know my route when I head out alone. Day rides, though, are almost always wandering rides. Long rides are usually a combination of styles. For example, when I rode solo from Chicago to Cincinnati in 2014, I had a planned route, but at a stopping point in the middle of Indiana, I looked at my map and changed my route. I did this because it looked like a more interesting route than the one I had originally planned.

So, I am not sure how to vote in the poll. I guess I will say I am a RR because most of my rides are planned.

[Inhouse Bob]

I suppose I am a bit of both, but not on purpose. I always plan things out but then generally forget to pack the maps and end up lost for hours. So there ya go.

[Sam Mac_imp]

Mostly local riding for me. 50-100 miles in the AM then pool time in the PM.

[Obleo]

I do both ,but for those that like to wander but want their better half to know you location , there is an app for your smart phone. It's called find friends, wifey knows where i am at all times. I feel like aim not alone if something bad were to happen.

[kmoney_imp]

I usually ride routes that I plan before hand. If I want to explore new roads, I usually use Google maps or "drive" bits of them with Google Street View. It's not so much that I don't have a sense of adventure, but more that I get sick of running into poor pavement conditions or stuff that turns to gravel or has gas stations that are closed, but still shown as open etc (Northern BC and Alaska is brutal for this)...

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

When I first started tripping, 17 years ago, newly into my 50's, I rode with a friend who was a type A squared personality. He would lay out an entire week long route with stops planned, certain times to be at certain points, no flexibility and no allowance for sight seeing. His deal was "hey, let's get moving, we're burning daylight". I always smilingly ragged on him about perhaps just one time stopping at 4pm to get our rooms or set up camp, have a brew and take a swim or some such. Never happened though, it just wasn't in his nature to relax. About 10 years ago, he moved away, but I miss him a lot. I always enjoyed his company, even though we are opposites in a lot of ways. How he lived, his example, helped me a lot to shape my life now. Mainly, because I do the opposite. I always got a kick out of his fetish to plan to the tiniest detail, his absolute overthinking of everything, his need to think he had to be in control of nearly every situation, mistrust and suspicion of people he didn't know, his fear of Face Book, on and on. I mean, the guy was very intense. He is a first class mechanic, and once he knew you and got to like you, he'd do absolutely anything for you. So anyway, after a couple years of trips to NC from FL and his moving, I started leading a few friends on the trips. I'd get us there, a fellow rider who knows good roads in N GA, TN, NC would take over, then I'd get us home. It's great, we still do it. My buds are so easy to get along with, so "go with the flow" I couldn't ask for better friends. If you were at Bland this year, you met my 2 best buds, Lee and Pat. But even given that, I still longed to do solo rides, and a few years ago started to do just that. Unlike my intense friend who packed everything on the planet, I pack the most lightweight minimal gear and go. Once underway, no freaking Interstates. Take the little side roads. Stop and take pics. Engage people, make new friends. Try out new things. The "Then Came Bronson" kind of deal, except I've got the $$ I need, so don't have to work odd jobs to keep on going. Freestyling is so totally liberating it's unbelievable. If like me, you have minimal ties to worldly possessions and home, you're perhaps now a single person with no one to make happy or keep pacified but yourself, kids are grown, no pets - you hear what I'm saying. Sure, a lot of you aren't near to that kind of lifestyle and maybe even can't imagine it! Maybe find it repulsive! But I love it. After 40 years of having my own business, being responsible, focused and dedicated, I find this type of freedom to be an apt reward If you haven't tried it and would like to, try a little at a time. One or two nights out in the world, then back home. If it agrees with you, ultimately make it as long as you like. A great old friend of mine I met at a Moto Guzzi rally here in FL years ago, Ohio Jack (RIP), was an inspiration too. Retired, he'd hit the road for weeks at a time on a ratty old white Guzzi with top box and hard cases. His Guzzi ran like a champ and was approaching 300k miles. For me now, at 67 and 1/2 years young, I'm still at it enjoying trips the CB. As you know, I got a new Yamaha XSR900 triple 'cause while wonderful, the CB just didn't quite fill my need for speed and razor sharp handling in the twisties. So between both, I've got my bases covered. Hope you enjoyed an overly lengthy diatribe from an aging senior who plans to ride as long as he can, and see lots more of this beautiful country of ours. Participating in this forum always brings a smile to my face. Good riding my friends

[CIP57_imp]

I did not vote fitting into both categories. My day trips normally around 250-300Mi are never planned. I often get lost in the mountains using the GPS when its time to find the fastest route home.

I'm still working full time, my overnight or weekend trips are planned and usually with a destination in mind. With a few friends in New England (Vermont & New Hampshire) I use there home as a starting point to map out the route.