So, I caved and picked one up before a recent trip to the Gap.  I say caved, but really, I'm a gadget fiend, and I have used an eMap for the past few years for basic navigation - so it's not a far stretch.

For me, the main drive for purchasing one is for its ability to find gas stations, hotel/motel accomodations, food, etc on the fly - we often 'wing it' when we travel, and give ourselves a rough idea of the area we want to end up in by the end of the day.   Sometimes we go further, sometimes not, and often it becomes a 'ok, we've gone far enough for the day, let's see if we can find a place to stay'.  Once while we were cutting across Wyoming, we found ourselves running pretty low on gas with no clue how far it would be before we ran into civilization again - it sure would have been nice to be able, with a few button presses, to find a gas station and how far we'd have to travel to get there.

I found a great deal on a Zumo 450 at Comp-U-Plus (currently selling for 519$).  I'm a Sirius guy, so I didn't need the added XM on the Zumo 550, nor the bluetooth.  Both come with a ram mount and all the trimmings for wiring it up, City Navigator and a usb cable (which happens to be the same as my phone usb connector).

First impressions?  Awesome.  It did the 'here's gas and a warm bed' job quite well (though I am sure most GPS devices work similarly).  I was very impressed with how easy and intuitive the interface was.  Very easy to navigate around the menus with gloves on, easy to upload routes and custom POIs (I will post a few POIs I've found for dealership lists, etc in its own section on the blog one of these days), and pretty good at coming up with routes on the fly (as long as you want highwayish routes).  In addition, the waterproof case is sure nice - It rained a bit while we were on the road, and it was nice to not have to worry about pulling over to quickly pack the device up in my tankbag.  Apparently, it's bug-carcass-proof too, as it managed to repel junebug innerds without skipping a beat as well

As I don't bother to RTFM, I need to go over the best methods of coming up with routes on the fly that allow me to map specific roads I want to travel - I'm sure its relatively simple, but I didn't spend much time playing with it.

The Gas Tank feature is nice too, though it's just an estimator which works against an arbitrary number you enter for your typical estimated MPG.  About 25-30 miles before you hit the target number you entered, the device alerts you that you are approaching the threshold, then displays a small gas icon in the corner which shortcuts you to a list of the gas stations in the area - very nice!

Seriously, at 519$ you can't beat it.  Absolutely recommended by me.

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...is paved with good intentions.

My riding trip was a bust in terms of riding. But good times were had nonetheless.

My bike blew up, sorta. So i drove my car down to Tennessee to meet up with my pals at the Gap last week. I snapped this pic driving back up the Blue Ridge on Wednesday.

What's wrong with my bike, you ask? Well, in girlspeak.. it was 'broken'. Mechanical failure due to a teensy-weensy oversight when it was in for servicing. A simple mistake. Everyone is human, right? ...Remaining... Calm... Not going to flip out again.... {deep breath - finding a happy place}

I did get to ride a bit however. 1 day we went 2 up across the Gap & the Cherohala and another I got to ride Kenny's bike for the day while he drove the chase car. I've never been so scared on a bike before. Totally horrifying to give up the control.

2-up on the Gap

Click for a larger View:

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Amazon has the Griffin Airclick Ipod remote on sale for $6.99.

I happen to think its great because it allows you to keep your ipod tucked away in your jacket instead of your tankbag. No earphone wires in the way etc. No monkeying around trying to poke the controls thru gloves and the tankbag window. Its so much easier.

I use one on the triple.

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Just thought I'd toss up a quick plug for http://www.motorcycleroads.us/ .  They provide localized descriptions of great riding roads all over the country, broken down by state and regions of states.  Support these guys, send in any of your good routes if they haven't gotten them already!

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Wow. Wowee-wow-wow. Yesterday was quite arguably the nicest riding weather so far this year. It was just delightful. Kenny & I took a ride to Massachusetts, to stretch our legs a little and prepare our rumps for a road trip. These bums of ours have been too long in their winter slumber. We clicked out about 450 miles yesterday and during the last hour - I could tell. My body wasn't used to it.

We started our day off with breakfast in Cornwall, CT. Coffee and breakfast outside near the covered bridge. I saw a cigarette wrapper dancing on the breeze. Its crinkly, cellophane body rolling and turning as the air swooped up underneath. One day it would no longer dance in the wind tossed away carelessly as garbage. In the meantime, it sparkled and laughed in the sunshine despite what some people thought about it on the surface.

Self-absorbed as I am, it made me think about my own life. I don't have to be beautiful. Or thin. Or anything. I just have to enjoy my time in spite of what others may think about my outsides.

Man, I missed riding.

Welcome spring, I'm so glad you could make it.

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