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

[Cormanus]

I'm somewhere in the middle. On many day rides I often know where I'll go only after I've been there. I love spotting a turn and thinking 'I wonder what's along there' and taking it. On longer trips when I have to be somewhere, I will do a fair bit of planning, but I'm not averse to changing routes along the way if something looks particularly interesting. I have a very forgiving wife who, provided I check in from time to time, doesn't worry too much if I change direction or plans. I'm planning more wanders.

 

[Hondahawkrider_imp]

I do both.. I spend a fair amount of time with topo maps and set a route.. However, I allow for detours if I see a fun road

It was the nice thing about the rally, all those signs saying "trucks don't go here"

"Here's your sign" it's a fun road

 

[riceburner_imp]

Both.

 

[rickcb]

Route rider. I've never liked surprises.

 

[metallyguitarded_imp]

I truly admire and am somewhat envious of the wanderers. I am a route follower except on those rare occasions when I get lost. Getting lost doesn't cause me any anxiety and I've actually enjoyed it. Still, I'm more of a planner. Just like on those rare occasions when my wife asks me to cook dinner. I better have a recipe in front of me or I'm in a panic. I watch in amazement those shows where chefs put in a dash of this, a pinch of that, taste, then adjust. How much is a pinch? And a dash has to be less, right? But how much less?! Adjust? Exactly how big of an adjustment are we talking about? I wonder if there's a correlation between riders who are wanders and cooks who aren't wedded to recipes.

 

[flynrider]

I'm most definitely a wanderer. Usually the only definite parameter I have for a road trip is when I need to be back home.

Last summer when my plane broke on day 1 of my flying vacation, I just loaded up the bike and headed for cooler weather. I ended up touring the Colorado Rockies for a week and having a great time. I could have just as easily ended up in Montana or Wyoming.

My biggest wander was after quitting my job in '87. I started off just following the Rockies northward. When all was said and done, I'd visited Banff and Jasper parks in Canada and returned by riding down the west coast from Bellingham, WA down to L.A. It was about 4 weeks on the road and one of the most fun road trips I've done. I hope to do a lot more of those once I don't have a job to return to.

I'm also guilty of airplane wandering. Once on a trip from Chicago back to Phoenix I happened to see a promising weather report while in Kansas. I ended up in West Yellowstone Montana instead.

 

[memphismike_imp]

We are Wanderers!! We never book a bike trip in advance. We might have a general idea of direction, but we hit the road and then look for accommodations as evening draws nigh!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JustCruising_imp]

For myself, mainly a planner, but have been known to bin the plan and go 'off piste' Only do this if I have plenty of time and the weather is fair though. Don't use a sat nav at all on the bike but carry a local folded map just in case
Sometimes if out for the day will plan the first stop and when I get there decide where next. Thats initial planning and then keeping options open

 

[Rebel73_imp]

I'm the type of guy that likes to roam around
I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself fallin' for some girl
Yeah, I hop right onto that bike of mine, I ride around the world

Oh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name

They call me a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around

Oh, well, I roam from town to town
I go through life without a care
And I'm as happy as a clown
I with my two fists of iron and I'm going nowhere

 

[jrns_imp]

I'm the type of guy that likes to roam around
I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself fallin' for some girl
Yeah, I hop right onto that bike of mine, I ride around the world

Oh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name

They call me a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around

Oh, well, I roam from town to town
I go through life without a care
And I'm as happy as a clown
I with my two fists of iron and I'm going nowhere

LOL ...good one!

 

[Cormanus]

Good one, Rebel. I had exactly the same thought as I looked at this thread last night and couldn't be bothered looking it up.

 

[rotor]

All my trips so far were solo wanderings. This summer I did 4.5 K kms loop with a friend (nice fellow!) who planned the trip day by day, booked accommodations, decided on stops for three meals a day...

Now my problem is how to tell him we will no more ride together without offending him. Any suggestions?

 

[the Ferret]

Just be honest, not all people do things the same way and he probably knows and understands that.

 

[emptysea]

All my trips so far were solo wanderings. This summer I did 4.5 K kms loop with a friend (nice fellow!) who planned the trip day by day, booked accommodations, decided on stops for three meals a day...

Now my problem is how to tell him we will no more ride together without offending him. Any suggestions?

As one who would have likely done the same planning that your friend did, I do not have any suggestions on how to break the news to him that you don't want to ride with him. As a planner of many of the routes on which I lead my friends, I would love to hear what bothered you about your friends plans. I ask because, in some ways, I am the host of the party and I want to be sure that all of my "guests" are enjoying themselves. If there are any suggestions you have from a "wanderer's" point of view on how a "planner" can plan a trip that is enjoyable for a wanderer.

Thanks,

MTC

 

[mattmcuomo@yahoo.com]

...and the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride
So in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied
Gives me all I need

...and with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save
To the game you stay a slave

Rover, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

Sent from me......

 

[the Ferret]

Likewise I am the planner for personal trips and for the Men's Fall Trip which comes up next month. Motel rooms have been booked for a couple of weeks now, daily riding routes have been planned for a couple of months. My particular group likes it that way, and to end any restaurant arguments each day a different member gets to pick where we eat dinner, so we don't have that "where do you want to eat? " I don't care where do YOU want to eat?" "I don't care, someone pick someplace" scenario. Some will be cheap meals, some will be expensive meals and some somewhere in the middle.

 

[rotor]

All my trips so far were solo wanderings. This summer I did 4.5 K kms loop with a friend (nice fellow!) who planned the trip day by day, booked accommodations, decided on stops for three meals a day...

Now my problem is how to tell him we will no more ride together without offending him. Any suggestions?

As one who would have likely done the same planning that your friend did, I do not have any suggestions on how to break the news to him that you don't want to ride with him. As a planner of many of the routes on which I lead my friends, I would love to hear what bothered you about your friends plans. I ask because, in some ways, I am the host of the party and I want to be sure that all of my "guests" are enjoying themselves. If there are any suggestions you have from a "wanderer's" point of view on how a "planner" can plan a trip that is enjoyable for a wanderer.

Thanks,

MTC

If the group you are leading rides in a pack ("formation") I have nothing useful to say: this is a practice I consider to be both a danger and nuisance to other road users, and thus very much disprove off. If the planning means that you decide on the times and places where the individual riders will meet for rest-stops, meals, gas and to overnight, I can say this:

Depending on the company and the leader, I might join, but only if there is a clear understanding that I can at any time change my daily schedule if I give enough notice (by an SMS for instance) so that nobody ends up waisting his time waiting for me to show up. I would however assume there is a deposit for the booked accommodation that I loose if I chose not to show up.

 

[emptysea]

how interesting... riding in a staggered formation with sufficient following distance is generally considered to be the safest way for a group of several riders to travel. I have never considered my encounters with organized motorcycle groups to be a nuisance when I was a driver.

If I understand your post, you prefer to ride with other people when it means you don't actually ride with other people, but maybe just meet up with people for meals or overnight accommodations. I don't think that your friend will be offended if you just tell him what you told us. He'll probably be relieved.

 

[kmoney_imp]

Yup. Riding in proper staggered formation is pretty much standard practice on every ride I've gone on. Riding side by side in a big square however is a different story. There was a crash here last long weekend that sent 15 riders to the hospital -- they were riding like this, front rider clipped a motor home trying to pass, took rest of the group down since no room to maneuver.

 

[rotor]

how interesting... riding in a staggered formation with sufficient following distance is generally considered to be the safest way for a group of several riders to travel. I have never considered my encounters with organized motorcycle groups to be a nuisance when I was a driver.

If I understand your post, you prefer to ride with other people when it means you don't actually ride with other people, but maybe just meet up with people for meals or overnight accommodations. I don't think that your friend will be offended if you just tell him what you told us. He'll probably be relieved.

Just to clear up the terminology, this is what I call "pack riding".

That practice is tolerated in US and Canada, mostly bcause there is such a long tradition of this behaviour. It was pretty harmless when the roads were orders of magnitude less congested than they are today. Sooner or later, North American traffic laws will catch up with the rest of the world, where this is a sanctionable offense. But since this is clearly a tangent on the toppic of planning vs. free roaming, I will stop here.

Quote:I don't think that your friend will be offended if you just tell him what you told us. He'll probably be relieved.
His view on pack riding happens to be exactly the same as mine. Our differences had to do about the length of day's ride, how many sit-down meals and where in a day, whether to reserve accomodatin in advance or push on when the wether and day-light hours permit, and so on...