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I need to find gas

3K views 41 replies 13 participants last post by  JustPassinThru 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm trying to plan a trip from Port Clinton, OH to Pittsfield, NH.

The Tyre to Travel program that came with my TomTom picked a nice quick route that avoids the NY State Thruway. Only an hour plus in time and shorter in distance. Yee-ha!

No - this is not being ridden on a t-dub.

I would like to locate fuel stops based on range and a motel based on hours ridden. I have a bucket load of POI files giving me gas stations, eateries and motels along my route. Now comes the slow, cumbersome, clumsy back and forth between map and roadbook trying to find the best suited. Not fun!

I'm looking for suggestions for a better trip planner, or end arounds someone's found for Tyre; and I am will to spend money if need be. Only stipulation, needs to be compatible with a TomTom GPS. The boy and girls in Amsterdam aren't being too helpful on this.

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
Why not be a free spirit and make those decisions on the fly? It is only 700+ miles and 11 + hours via northern routes and it is not like it is empty remote country without frequent towns and services like the Gobi Dessert.
I'ld simply plan on looking for fuel every 3/4ths of a tank and if I thought I couldn't do 11 hours in the saddle look for a motel when tired, or plan for one say 60% of the way, somewhere around Syracuse. Make an adventure out of it.
 
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#29 ·
This needs to be framed.

You'll find gas from Ohio to Mass. Just about every twenty miles you'll find gas. Motels? You're gonna be so slow, on the TW...planning is not gonna work.

Around suppertime, start watching. If you see an especially interesting place earlier, like an historic hotel or BnB...stop then. Otherwise...around about dinner, start looking for the good places. If you don't find one by eight or so, settle for Motel Sux or Stupor Ate. Around about sundown, start looking at the dives, or the very-spendy ones.

But let it flow! This is all part of the adventure. Long ago, I spent one bike-traveling night homeless...slept for two hours on a tree lawn; there was no room at the inn. At any inn. Presque Isle, PA, 1986.

I lived. I was sore for the next day but I had a memory for a lifetime.

Seven hundred miles is not that far. Just roll! You're only looking at two nights, anyway...budget for more; enjoy the trip.
 
#3 ·
Not really trying to over think this one . . . But as with flying and mountain climbing knowing plan "B" options before hand is comforting; keeps your adventure from becoming an epic adventure! Really what I want to know is that point of no return. Buy gas here or you will run out before your next option.

Anyway, I'm not sure I-90 or I-86 falls into the category of scenic byways of North America. Things won't really turn enjoyable until Rt 9 in southern Vermont. Sad though that NH realigned Rt 9 for safety reasons. Use to ride the old Rt 9 on my bicycle quite a bit. That was a scenic ride!

More than likely this will turn into an in-a-moments-notice, grab my gear and go - running fast and running light kinda trip. So, okay, I'll do it your way.:)
 
#4 ·
I like to use the Gas Buddy application for my smart phone. This allows me the flexibility of spontaneous travel and still feel confident I can find gas when needed. I used it extensively a couple of years ago when I went cross-country in the RV-bus. Very useful when I needed to find diesel every 100 miles.
 
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#6 ·
Smart Phones....are for people that don't know how to build a fire, and make Smoke Signals :smiley_simmons:
;) Dude... you KNOW I drive a "short bus", RIGHT? :p
 
#9 ·
Screemingbanshee stated he won't be piloting his TW so I rather doubt he will have either a 1.8g.TW or 2.7g. Clarke tank.:)
I do understand his concern about a reasonable flight plan to avoid running out, that just makes sense. Sometimes not every whistle stop in farm country has fuel sales.
Now out on my favorite HWY 50 in central Nevada the choices are real simple, only gas is at the only towns and they run about 90 miles apart from each other. Makes buying gas buying decisions real easy. Get it while you can!:p
 
#10 ·
loving this thread, TWilight and Fred you guys are RED's (like myself) and will always just go for it and figure it out as we go but we are always ready to get rolling !

I suspect screaminbanshee is a BLUE personality type thus planning is not only essential for him it's fun!

we need another BLUE to chime in on a strategy here to help screaminbanshee :)

Home :: ColorCode Personality Science take the FREE personality test

btw I dunno Fred he might not be a RED but TWilight I know is RED

I love Nevada 50 & 93 where signs saying "next gas 116 miles" aren't kidding !
 
#30 ·
loving this thread, TWilight and Fred you guys are RED's (like myself) and will always just go for it and figure it out as we go but we are always ready to get rolling !

I suspect screaminbanshee is a BLUE personality type thus planning is not only essential for him it's fun!

we need another BLUE to chime in on a strategy here to help screaminbanshee :)

Home :: ColorCode Personality Science take the FREE personality test
Finally took the test. I'm WHITE. I'm all about Peace, logic and being rational. Also happen to be INTJ, so that confirms the rational side, and being an artsy-fartsy Pisces, the peaceful, 'go with the flow' definition fits too. So, yeah, the color code thing seems to work. ;)
 
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#12 ·
I guess I must be RED! I love a road trip but absolutely hate a plan other than the final destination. I always fly seat of my pants and will be there when I get there. On the few trips when we ever made prior arrangements for lodgings along the route we were completely dissatisfied with the places we picked using those on line route planners. It sure didn't look like a flea bag motel in the pictures. I highly doubt that fuel will be much of an issue unless you are searching for a particular brand or Non ethanol along the way. Making us go by a clock completely ruins the concept of a road trip for us but one thing we have learned the hard way is to start the search where ever you are at no later than 6 PM for lodging. We have found excellent meals at hole in the wall eateries and lousy meals at 3,4 and 5 star rated places. I say just put it in drive and go!

GaryL
 
#13 ·
if you want a scenery kinda drive...and have time.. I would head up to US 6...then cross PA that way. Its a nice road, lots of places to stop, but not the fastest way. You will still have to use some hiways here and there. then you could take 17 in NY... these are the old roads before the interstates were finished up. GaryL will know 17 as the old 'Southern Tier expressway'..it still is 4 lanes in some places.
 
#31 ·
IIRC, US 6 is a drag race. I rode that route, thirty years ago - on my SR 500. Good ride - but that thing had no trouble keeping up with the Double Nickel of the times.

Today, traffic is probably heavier and certainly faster. And the TW is great at many things - but fast travel is not one of them.

I'm with Twilight in that I'd ash-can the AAA Tourbooks; but you can use a GPS or Google Maps to find secondary roads you won't get mowed down on.

Of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained...you could TRY it; on a weekday it may be okay...
 
#14 ·
If I was going from his Point A in Ohio to point B in NH I would stay north and follow Lakes Erie and Ontario. Route 5 in NY up to Route 104 along Lake Ontario and then go through the Adirondacks on Route 28 over to Bennington, VT. Go through Keen NH and on to Pittsfield. My route is likely twice as long but I always figured it is not the destination but all about the ride. Lots of nice scenery along my routes and going through the mountains in NY, VT and NH are spectacular rides.

GaryL
 
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#15 ·
How the hell am I a "blue"! I would never plan my trip in advance for a long one day ride. Never!

I would however agree with the definition of a "blue" as being perfectly descriptive of my personality. Must not be settled science yet.


Tom

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#24 ·
Thanks Tom. I just worked in the garden all day getting it ready for the season and found 5 ticks on me when I went to shower. Those bastards just give me the creeps and there is no way to stop them.

GaryL
 
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#28 ·
22!!! Good Lord In Heaven!!! :eek:
 
#33 ·
Finally had the time to take the test and just as I suspected I came up Red. Actually describes me quite well which did surprise me since I am skeptical about such tests.

Route 17 which has been being transformed into Route 86 for many years now is in my back yard and a road I would certainly avoid on a TW. When I must hop on to 17 I always go for just a few miles until I can get off and on to old 17 again. Old Route 17 is often marked as 17A, 17B, 17M and such and is the original 17 that traveled through all the small towns and country side, much better for the TW however a lot of stop and go in the towns. I call old 17 a secondary road 55 MPH and a lot of 30 MPH zones and new 17/86 an interstate highway you stick the cruise on 70 MPH and roll. 17/86 is still under construction in many areas between Binghampton and Harriman where bridges, exits and entrances and intersections are being transformed. It is a great route in a car or SUV but not on a TW.

GaryL
 
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#35 ·
Name of "Old 17" is all over the place. In Chautauqua County, part of it is NY 394; another part is NY 430. Down around Bath, IIRC, it's US 15.

THIS is where the OP DOES need a GPS, Google Maps, etc. The ride on the old road is worth it - but it takes some dead-reckoning.

The most useful thing for him, at this point, would be a compass. As part of a GPS, or just a liquid ball clipped to the zipper of his riding jacket...just keep heading east-northeast, and he'll be all right; have a fine time.

Just like Robert Pirsig.
 
#39 ·
I thank you all for your comments and route advise. A couple of things I should mention again, I will not being riding Tiny Wonder, but my DR650. Second this will not be a trip of pleasure and leisure. It's one of those the phone rings and I best be half way to Ithaca before the sun rises, man-on-a-mission trips. Southern tier route adding an hour of time for seven less miles - using I-86 to Albany then routes 7 and 9 into NH - is best as it has more curves and hills to combat "white-line fever" that can happen on the NY Thruway. I give up the regular rest stops of the Thruway though, and don't want the nagging doubt of "should I have gotten gas at the exit behind me".

I spent my early childhood in the Finger Lakes region so I know what a fun trip this could be. Fun this trip isn't going to be.
 
#42 ·
Just for the halibut, I did a Google Maps search. Didn't get directions/driving time.

What I didn't know, being a Southern Tier expat, was that the new I-86 ties into the NY Thruway at Albany. Now, you say it is only five miles longer in total distance, but requires an extra hour? Google Maps, as well as TomTom and some other GPSs, just use a standard average non-expressway speed of 30 mph on non-Interstate travel.

I don't know what the state of construction on I-86 is; but the last time I traveled it, about 2000, it was complete except for a few sections around Bath and Hormel. That was to Binghamton. I have never been further east on 17/86.

But, seriously. If you want to make time, take the cage. If you MUST take the bike, the Southern Tier Expressway is probably the best. Gas in all the small towns. Unless you're riding late at night - and I don't recommend that. Deer do love NY. Which is another reason to take the cage...a deer collision is bad news, no matter when or in what; but with a car, it's JUST destruction of the car.

With a bike, it's destruction of your body.

Hope you find a way to do what you need.
 
#40 ·
Well, Now I understand the entire trip with purpose. Sorry for all my input and I honestly never looked into such a ride where the object was to get there straight forward yet avoid the super highways like the NY T way. I have done trips like this trying to avoid the toll roads where ever possible but you have a rather strange set of circumstances. I used to run the trip from Norfolk, VA. to my home in the NY Catskills on a 1972 Kawasaki H-2 while in the USN and I understand all about that White Line Fever and the monotony of such runs where you want to get there rather quick but avoid the big rigs and all the hustle while enjoying the ride. Did that run a few times, sun into the rain, on the bike when it changed from 70 and sunny in Norfolk to snow in the NY Mountains. Let us know how things went after the trip.

GaryL
 
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