Best place to ride in the U.S.?

Navigator said:

I know they are very useful Steve but I've ridden throughout the US and Canada and found my way using only maps on a tank bag.

Years ago when I rode my 07 Classic from Florida to Washington, I used paper maps. I chased dirt farm roads in America's heartland, getting lost at times and not sure where I was. I always found my way, which was part of the adventure.

I do know of their utility though and shall always have one in my saddlebag should I get lost. I just like riding a bike instead of taking a bus to look for America.

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So then, Mike, I reckon that sextant in your avatar was a useless tool as well?

1olbull said:

So then, Mike, I reckon that sextant in your avatar was a useless tool as well?

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Nope, it was extremely useful, like maps and charts.

I was a Navigator on two ships and have used a sextant to navigate throughout the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and up into the Black Sea. We didn't have decent electronic navigation aides, such as GPS back then. We had Omega for use on the high seas but it was pretty worthless. I performed the initial test and evaluation of the Magnavox 1105 SATNAV during my last deployment and it wasn't bad.

@Oz Knight
www.motorcycleroads.com You can look up great roads in any state you go through.

RocketlllMan said:

@Oz Knight
www.motorcycleroads.com You can look up great roads in any state you go through.

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I haven't been on this site for awhile, but I was stationed with and worked with the rider who started it. GREAT Guy!!
-MIG

Landstar said:

7 Pictures That Prove West Virginia Is America's Switzerland

West Virginia has been called the "Switzerland of America," and here are a few glimpses of why that nickname is so apt for our state!

www.onlyinyourstate.com

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God's country it is. I've ridden and driven through West Virginia and know there is so much more to see than I was able to during my journeys. Another time.

New River Gorge West Virginia

I have a newfound appreciation for your sextant.

I would actually like to learn how to use one.

I saw a show on PBS recently about a Shackleton attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914, and the show (unlike the Wikipedia entry) credited Captain Frank Worsley with the fact not a single man was lost during the three year voyage after their ship the Endurance was caught in ice and sank.

In part of the saga, the three boats land on a dot of rocks and ice "Elephant Island", where most of the men were left to make do, while five, led by Worsley set out in the one remaining ocean worthy boat, and using sextant with infrequent sightings because of weather, managed to guide the boat 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic and reach South Georgia Island.

Navigator said:

Nope, it was extremely useful, like maps and charts.

I was a Navigator on two ships and have used a sextant to navigate throughout the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and up into the Black Sea. We didn't have decent electronic navigation aides, such as GPS back then. We had Omega for use on the high seas but it was pretty worthless. I performed the initial test and evaluation of the Magnavox 1105 SATNAV during my last deployment and it wasn't bad.

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Michael_G said:

I haven't been on this site for awhile, but I was stationed with and worked with they rider who started it. GREAT Guy!!
-MIG

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Nice

Joesmoe said:

I have a newfound appreciation for your sextant.

I would actually like to learn how to use one.

I saw a show on PBS recently about a Shackleton attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914, and the show (unlike the Wikipedia entry) credited Captain Frank Worsley with the fact not a single man was lost during the three year voyage after their ship the Endurance was caught in ice and sank.

In part of the saga, the three boats land on a dot of rocks and ice "Elephant Island", where most of the men were left to make do, while five, led by Worsley set out in the one remaining ocean worthy boat, and using sextant with infrequent sightings because of weather, managed to guide the boat 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic and reach South Georgia Island.

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It will be interesting to see what will happen if our GPS network is ever taken down. The Navy quit teaching celestial navigation because it really is a bit of a challenge to learn, the understanding of spherical trigonometry, and what the computations are, that is, the star sightings/elevations/time that are used to compute a fix, what the values used in the sight reduction (computed altitude and azimuth) really mean. I had developed a pretty good sextant skills when a Navy reserve officer, a Merchant Marine First Officer, asked me what I was doing as I was computing a sun line off the coast of Charleston, SC. I showed him the process and the next thing he said was "I see. You have no idea what you are doing. The Navy teaches monkey see monkey do." He then told me that for the next two weeks I was going to learn and understand spherical trig. He taught me to understand what the values used in computing a fix really mean. After the light bulb went on I computed a fix on a blank piece of table, filling in the computed values to get a very refined fix. Real Sailor/Explorers such as Shackleton knew this. They understood the math, angles and values of celestial navigation. They understood the celestial bodies along with their relationship to each other and planet Earth.

The other obsolete skill I have is the ability to send and receive Morse Code, which I learned back in 1968. It's one of those things that never leave. It's still stored somewhere down inside my aging brain housing group. It would probably take me several weeks to get back up to about 28-30 groups a minute.

Edit: I just thought of one more. I can still work on carburetors.