Day 24 – Planning

Some of you have asked questions:

“How does the “machine” work? How is the route planned, how do you find a gravel pit, hundreds of kilometres away, and then find each other there.“

Firstly, Anna does most of the work on this. She plans the route because it matters a lot to her but less to Spike and me. We just stick to the highway, try to get to the next location early and be set up when she arrives. 

The first consideration is to find an end point which provides about 110 – 160Ks of riding. Google Maps, Wikicamps, Facebook caravanning groups can all provide input. Next she looks to see how much of the distance can be done on less busy side roads rather than the main highway. There are a few tools for this. One is Strava which conveniently tracks other rides done by Strava users in the same country. Interrogation of these previous rides can also provide pictures and comments. The proposed route is then checked again on Google Maps. The Satellite view Is especially helpful when it comes to gravel pits and obscure spots. I get input during this and especially at the parking end of the process. 

When we finally arrive at the chosen spot there is of course some sanity checking. Sometimes, because we get there first, Spike and I go for a Reccy on foot and paw to see if there’s something better just around the corner. The other day we swapped a noisy dusty gravel pit for a quiet side road into a cane field about 1K distant. Victory snatched. 

Caravan parks are also a bit hit and miss. Google of course shows them in their best light because they’re paid to. Sometimes the reality is very different. Google maps satellite is helpful here too, along with reviews, but it’s a bit of a lottery. The price is not necessarily a good indicator either In fact, some of our least favourite parks have been the most expensive with vans packed in like sardines. Generally the cheaper ones have actually been better. 

Finding each other en route can use two different technologies. Firstly “location sharing” on Google maps which shows each of us how far away the other is. Mobile coverage so far has been good so this has worked perfectly, but she also carries a small Garmin satellite tracker. I can interrogate the tracker via an app and we have Starlink on the van which also reaches into the truck so I always have reception irrespective of 4 or 5g coverage. So the, as yet, untested theory is that even in the remote, mobile unserviced bush I should be able to see her. A side benefit of the Garmin is that it can also send and receive texts and leaves a breadcrumb trail so that I can follow the crumbs to find her in the event of some sort of cock up. I think it also has a fall alarm. So if she goes over the high side and is lying in a heap, I will get an alarm and be able to find her.  The Strava device she carries on the bike and uses as her primary navigation device has similar features but relies on mobile networks. 

When all this has been debated and worked out, Anna enters the details, sometimes as Lat. and Long. and sometimes as an address, into a spreadsheet which we share. She tries to keep the spreadsheet updated to at least one week ahead, or one “block” between rest days. All this requires quite a bit of work but we are getting better at it. Spike takes a more non-executive role in the process and so far has not deemed it necessary to interfere.