Hello From South Western Ontario Canada

[sonuvabug]

Hello All. New member here from Canada. Lots of riding experience throughout Canada and mid to eastern North America but not much GPS know-how.

Just purchased a Zumo XT to help me with my newly acquired ride planning duties as a Ride Leader for our local riding club.

I have invested a lot of time researching, reading and watching content about this great tool and how it works. I figure I'm about 30% of "the way there" and still have lots of learning to do.

Any help, suggestions or insights you can provide are greatly appreciated. Hope I can reciprocate somehow.

~ BugJr ~

[Peobody]

Welcome to the forum BugJr.

[sonuvabug]

Thanks for the welcome Peabody.

I see you're from NC. We'll be heading Maggie Valley way later this riding season.

Any "must do" routes you can recommend would be greatly appreciated. Will likely do the "Dragon" just to say we did it again. However, we know there are many great roads in and around MV. Can't wait to get back down to that area.

BugJr

[ZFtracker]

Welcome Sonuva.

My favorites when in the area; Cherohala Skyway, Diamondback, Devil's Triangle, Six Gap, Devil's Whip, Foothills Parkway, the Snake, Back of the Dragon, the Rattler, the Python, Murder Mountain, Warwoman Road, Wayah Road, and Moonshiner 28.

I'm sure locals have some good recommendations. Hope to be there in May myself.

[sonuvabug]

Welcome Sonuva.

My favorites when in the area; Cherohala Skyway, Diamondback, Devil's Triangle, Six Gap, Devil's Whip, Foothills Parkway, the Snake, Back of the Dragon, the Rattler, the Python, Murder Mountain, Warwoman Road, Wayah Road, and Moonshiner 28.

I'm sure locals have some good recommendations. Hope to be there in May myself.

Thank you for the welcome ZFtracker. I also appreciate your list of the Maggie Valley area ... some of which I knew about and some not. I'll definitely research those "not" ones out before our trip.

[Peobody]

The list by @ZFtracker is excellent for twisty mountain rides. If you like leisure mountain riding, the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway are awesome although perhaps most of their length is too far east. Now, if you were dropping down out of the Toronto area then the mountains of West Virginia then over to Virginia and down the Skyline and Blue Ridge to Maggie Valley would be epic. Also, Mt Mitchell is worth consideration.

[sonuvabug]

Funny you should mention WV. We spent 2 weeks, based out of Canaan Valley, last year riding those terrific mountain roads. We do plan on heading north of Asheville on this trip too ... just not sure exactly where as there are more great roads to ride than time available to ride 'em.

Once we arrive and after a day or so acclimating, we tend to lean towards the more technical, twisty roads since we have none of those near where we live. In fact, the week before MV, we'll be acclimating and riding in AR using Eureka Springs as our base.

I appreciate your input and suggestions.

[Peobody]

riding in AR using Eureka Springs as our base.

I've been there! That was the trip on which I tried to use my iPhone for navigation (no maps on phone). I learned real fast how limited the cell service can be in rural U.S. I purchased an XT shortly thereafter.

[sonuvabug]

riding in AR using Eureka Springs as our base.

I've been there! That was the trip on which I tried to use my iPhone for navigation (no maps on phone). I learned real fast how limited the cell service can be in rural U.S. I purchased an XT shortly thereafter.

We minimize our use of cell phones when travelling to the USA as BELL Canada, our service provider, really gouges us on the rates when crossing the border. I think it's over $12 a day now ... scheesh!

We envy the cheaper rates you pay in the USA. Problem here is NO real competition and a monopoly amongst the "Big 3" that control the market.