SPORT TOURING

Sport Touring Corner

By Norm Kern, MSTA Editor / ReasonsToRide.com Contributor

“Should I buy heated grips or heated

The Rise of Technical Routes

Last month's MSTA FlyBy Week report included commentary on new "technical" routes that turned out to be a big hit at the event. In the follow-up survey, technical routes ranked high in popularity, second only to twisty routes. Those two categories outranked destination, short, touring bike friendly, EZ navigation and adventure. What are technical routes and how do they differ from twisties? In MSTA, we define twisty routes as featuring sharp curves and elevation changes with mostly smooth clean pavement. They are preferred by riders of sport and sport touring bikes Technical routes share the sharp curves and elevation changes of twisties, but also include county roads that may contain potholes, patches, gravel on pavement, slips, etc that are severe enough to require a slower pace. They are perfect for riders of ADV style bikes, as they take you on little back roads with the most interesting terrain and scenery.

The evolution of technical routes

I began riding AMA enduros in 1967. They are a unique kind of motorcycle event- the competitive goal is to maintain a prescribed average speed, usually 24 MPH, over a route that is typically sixty to 100 miles in length. Riders leave the start, four on each minute, and there are checkpoints along the way where their time is taken and they lose points for being early or late. A route card is provided with some instructions but riders mostly follow arrows posted on trees and poles along the route. This sounds easy but the route contains off road sections with single-track trails, mud, ruts, rocks, creeks, steep hills, etc. The off road sections are connected by dirt, gravel and paved roads and the events are held in rural areas, mostly in the southeast quarter of Ohio. I rode enduros for over 20 years, and they introduced me to a whole new world of little county roads, farms and fun out of the way places. After the off road stuff became too difficult and I quit competing, I kept coming back to explore those areas on my road bikes. My enduro riding was all in the pre GPS era and the routes never had maps. Often I finished events where I wanted to quit but had no idea how to get to the finish other than following the arrows. Going back and finding particular county roads later was difficult, because the only way to see them on a map was to buy an Ohio county road atlas. This was an 11x17 soft bound book that did not fold easily and was almost impossible to carry and use on the bike. When I joined MSTA and started attending rallies in the early 2000s, I bought my first GPS, which enabled me to mark waypoints and save tracks of rides. Garmin Mapquest ran on my computer and used the mapsets from my GPS unit, enabling me to see all the roads in any

area I was interested in. I could see where I had been, see where other roads nearby went, whether they were twisty and put together new routes to explore. My favorite MSTA event was the Mail Pouch FlyBy in Marietta, Ohio, which I started attending in 2001. By 2004 I was saving my FlyBy tracks, (still have the files!) Eventually I was creating GPS routes and helping the FlyBy route masters. About 2010 my friend Jennie Kimes created a 160 mile twisty route from the FlyBy hotel to Hillbilly Hotdogs in WV. It was her first effort- none of us got to pre-ride it before the event, and it used lots of West Virginia county roads that turned out to be in fair to poor condition. That was okay- our group had a running joke- "No day is complete without some dual sporting" and sure enough one of the roads on the route turned to gravel. Jennie was terrified of the gravel but we all made it through. We all had a good time and I loved this route so much that I added it to the existing FlyBy routes for the next year. I was a little surprised by how much some people loved this route while others hated it, but each side had their reasons. Sport bike riders complained about the route. Their bikes have thin seats, stiff suspension and low, short handlebars, so the county roads were much too rough for them. I had to put a warning in the route description. Over the past ten years, a trend has been developing in MSTA, as many members have migrated to big adventure bikes such as the BMW R1200 GS, Suzuki V Stroms, KTM 1290 Adventure, Ducati Multistrada etc. They feature longer travel suspension, comfortable seats, wider handlebars and an upright riding position. These riders loved Jennie's Hillbilly Hotdogs route and wanted more like it, so I created the "Technical" route category to distinguish these routes so those who are seeking them can find them and the sport bike riders can avoid them. I love riding and creating technical routes and am delighted to have found an audience for them, so for this year's FlyBy Week I added some new technical routes based on some of my personal favorite roads that hadn't been shared before. As an added refinement, all technical routes will have the rougher sections marked with red flags on the event website's maps. Riders can see at a glance how much of the route has rougher pavement so they can make an informed decision. Go to flybyweek.com to check out all the technical routes. An all new website that's optimized for phones and tablets will be live on Jan 1 with more new routes later in the spring.

Connect with local Ohio Motorcycle Sport Touring Association riders at these monthly breakfasts: Southwest Ohio Breakfast, 9AM, November 19 Village Family Restaurant 144 S. Main St. Waynesville, OH 45068

Central Ohio Breakfast Meet - November 4 Portside Cafe 6515 S High St Lockbourne, OH 43137