Old Road Maps

This past weekend I stopped by Rosemary Remembrances II, a shop in Jim Thorpe, PA, and came across some old road maps which were never used and in mint condition with normal age markings. The father of the proprietress once worked for Atlantic Refining Company and had these maps all these years.

The maps are from 1956 and were published by Rand McNally for Atlantic Refining. These maps were once given out free at participating Atlantic Gas Stations when you filled your gas tank or asked for directions (and the station also checked your oil / tires and washed your windshield. Those where the days!). Rosemary Remembrances II has a good number of maps for PA, OH-IN, MA-CT-RI, NJ, and NC-SC. Also city maps for Miami, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.

If you are interested in these old road maps, visit Rosemary Remembrances II in Jim Thorpe or contact Marj at (570) 325-4452 or Marj@RosemaryRemembrances.com.

Biker Wisdom

Never ask a biker for directions if you're in a hurry to get there.
Biker Wisdom

New Roads

Added the following new roads:

1) Missouri: SR 47 - nice road in the Ozark Highlands.

2) North Carolina: SR 1005 - AKA Football Road as fans repeatedly used it to reach University of North Carolina games, it runs between Chapel Hill and Greensboro.

3) South Dakota: Rochford Road - in the Black Hills National Forest, its the only paved road into Rochford, a ghost town.

Motorcycle Package - Holiday Inn - Oneonta, NY

The Holiday Inn in Oneonta-Cooperstown, NY is a proud supporter of motorcycle touring and has a special package for motorcyclists. The package includes:

Complimentary breakfast for two, a $20 value
Complimentary covered motorcycle parking in front of the lobby in a well lite area
Buckets available upon request to shine your wheels
Free wireless internet
Complimentary business center
24 hour fitness center
New York State travel map

Rates are $139 per night plus taxes through the end of August and $99 per night plus taxes for the fall beginning on 9/1/09.

Contact the motel directly at (607) 433.2250 and ask for the Motorcycle Package.

Quote

“Riding a motorcycle is ten percent hands and feet and ninety percent mind and eyes.”
-- Cliff Brown

Cash for Clunkers

About.com is taking a poll with the question, "Should motorcycles be included in the 'Cash for Clunkers' program?".

In the article Basem Wasef points out that a majority of motorcycles average 40+ mpg and that "the motorcycle industry has been suffering of late and could certainly use the sales stimulation currently being enjoyed by the auto industry". He goes on to highlight the downside by saying "it would take even further funds to incentivize a bike program, not to mention the fact that learning to safely ride a motorcycle requires a lot more training and personal responsibility than simply hopping in a car.". I agree with him on these issues.

Which brings me to my point? Training and responsibility of drivers and an inept Government program!

Why did our government give taxpayer money away to individuals without anything in return? For example, these individuals could have been required to attend a certified driver safety or training course, with the incentive paid upon successful completion. Most State have such courses.

Emphasis could be placed on driver responsibility, especially inattentive driving such as use of cells phones, text messaging, eating, and reading while driving. This would be welcome to all drivers as it might help decrease the number of accidents, or near accidents, due to inattentive driving. A win-win situation for everyone, especially motorcyclists who have to deal with inattentive drivers every day.

The ‘Cash for Clunkers’ in my humble opinion, is another Government program implemented without much thought or deliberation. Just another ‘give away’ and lost opportunity.

New Roads

Added 6 new roads:

1) Arizona: Charleston Road, nice little shortcut between Sierra Vista and Tombstone.

2) Florida: CR 274, parallels I-10 in the Florida Panhandle.

3) Kentucky: SR 91 and SR 365. SR 91 ends at the Ohio River where you can take the ferry across to Cave-In-Rock, IL. The ferry is free to motorcycles. SR 365 is a nice little backroad you can take to get off US 60 for a few miles.

4) Minnesota: CR 7, "...the best road close to Bemidji, MN.".

5) New York: Schroon River Road, located just north of Lake George, home of Americade, it follows along the Schroon River.

State Regional Maps

MotorcycleRoads.US has been online for over 6 years. During that time we have received well over 2000 roads submitted by riders from all over the United States and Canada. We thank all those riders for sharing their riding experience with others.

As MotorcycleRoads.US has grown and developed over the years, we have taken steps to improve our product and service to the motorcycle community. However, sometimes an effort to improve comes with a few pitfalls. An example is our Google Maps which list and display roads in a region of a state.

We developed these maps to provide a visual map of the roads in that region so that our readers could plan longer rides. This has worked out very well from the feedback we have received, however, with the many roads included in the region, some region maps include a long list of roads.

This long list resulted in very large files needed to display some regions and caused a delay in downloading to the user's computer. To alleviate this display, we pulled some roads (usually those 10 miles or less) from the map and listed them below the map. We also added some suggestions for loops or long routes in the region displayed.

We had some concern about doing this, but think this compromise will benefit our readers in the long run.

New Roads

Added 5 new roads submitted by my readers:

1) California: SR 155. Twisty road ending at Lake Isabella.

2) Hawaii: SR 30. AKA the Honoapiilani Highway. Maui Island.

3) Indiana: Devils Backbone Road. "...great views, elevation changes, and enjoyable sweepers."

4) Montana: SR 78. Connects I-90 with US 212 (Beartooth Highway).

5) Ohio: Stonelick-Williams Corner Road. Covered bridge along the route.