Motorcycling Road Trips:
Preparing for summer 2025 road trips#
Posted 2025-05-16
Motorcycle road trip weather is upon us, so I have been enjoying the planning ritual for 2025 rides. I have two major (for me) trips planned -- details below -- and there should also be many of the standard day trips to closer-by hiking and jogging destinations.
The first road trip -- early June -- combines two very different themes united by a locale: 1) delving into the science history of Los Alamos, and 2) revisiting the peace and wonder of walking the "Ancestral Puebloan" paths at Bandelier, Chaco, and less-frequented spots in the vicinity. This is a 4-overnights trip within my home-turf, Rocky Mountains realm -- total mileage 1045.
The second trip -- early July -- is this year's spin on the annual Great Plains crossing to have some time with family. To mix things up a bit, I will be returning to the Denver area via South Dakota, including angling through Badlands National Park to take me southwest to home. Total mileage comes to 2279.
I'm grateful to Google My Maps' robust "Add directions" tool for possibly the most versatile way to plan, tailor, and save multi-destination trips. These I can and do translate over to Google Maps so that I can leverage its navigation when needed along the way.
Other riding-related excitement is the addition of cruise control. I am in the midst of adapting a universal cruise control module to my Versys 650 LT. Cruise will be a boon for the many stretches of my planned travels that involve miles and miles of arrow-straight roads. I'll write a blog covering the nerdy technical adaptation as soon as I have the last touches complete.