Goodman4
Pressing on
I got the New England Butler map a couple weeks ago. It just was published in early April and I got it right as it came out. I read the reviews on here about the map options a long time ago and have bought several Mad Maps per the recommendations. I thought I'd share my findings and especially the unique value of the Butler map.
First, for my routing while on the trip, I use the GPS. I don't usually take any map on a trip unless I'm going to wing it in a section. I think the value of Mad Maps is to get oriented and decide where you want to go. A lot of the motorcycle road websites are helpful, but the reviews are so arbitrary that you have to take them with several grains of salt. Trip reports are by far the better option, but I still find it hard to get perspective on the route without a paper map and then letting Google maps tell me how far an idea will take me.
The Mad Maps are organized with a day ride loop in an area. I've NEVER done an exact loop they suggest, but have done many sections of their loops. That works well for me and I'm a fan of them.
When I first got this Butler NE map it threw me because I found it hard to read. I'm usually pretty good with maps and instructions, but it just didn't pull me in and I looked at it 5 times before I knew what I was looking at. It doesn't help get oriented like the Mad Map concept does at all.
The basic concept of the map is that they have listed three categories of roads all through the area. Good, Better, and Best roads. The dumb thing is Good is orange, Better is dark orange and Best is light orange. And there's a lot of other orange things on the map too.
It was almost impossible at first for me to find the "best" roads which is one of the things I plan my trips around. Then I realized that they have squares with numbers by each "best" road and you can find them that way. The numbers match a description of the road on the back of the map. The NE Butler map has 49 total "best" roads listed.
The thing that makes this map different and worth the money in my opinion, is that the coloring system (while lame for color choice) shows the exact SECTION of the road that is good and which sections aren't. I have done poor planning before by riding the wrong section of a road and missed the best part. For example, I rode the triple nickel in Ohio which was ALL marked as a great road on the Mad Map. It was good, but later I found out the good part was north of where I got on it. If I had known, I could have easily rode the better part. Another example close to home: I like Hwy 100 - Fountain Run in South Central KY, but I would say it is good for 95% of the way east, and then only gets great past Tompkinsville as you get close to 90. I rode it twice and got off at Tompkinsville and went south before I accidentally hit it from a Virginia trip one year and was shocked by a few real twisties in S Central KY! All motorcycle sites just list the whole road and don't distinguish the eastern part as different. The Butler concept would probably have sections of fountain run as good and some as not special at all, with the eastern few miles as great.
Now I've not ridden to New England yet, so I can't vouch for whether they get it right or not, but I've been making lots of adjustments due to the Butler map once I understood it. I'll be seeing what other maps they have produced.
Hope this helps somebody,
Paul
First, for my routing while on the trip, I use the GPS. I don't usually take any map on a trip unless I'm going to wing it in a section. I think the value of Mad Maps is to get oriented and decide where you want to go. A lot of the motorcycle road websites are helpful, but the reviews are so arbitrary that you have to take them with several grains of salt. Trip reports are by far the better option, but I still find it hard to get perspective on the route without a paper map and then letting Google maps tell me how far an idea will take me.
The Mad Maps are organized with a day ride loop in an area. I've NEVER done an exact loop they suggest, but have done many sections of their loops. That works well for me and I'm a fan of them.
When I first got this Butler NE map it threw me because I found it hard to read. I'm usually pretty good with maps and instructions, but it just didn't pull me in and I looked at it 5 times before I knew what I was looking at. It doesn't help get oriented like the Mad Map concept does at all.
The basic concept of the map is that they have listed three categories of roads all through the area. Good, Better, and Best roads. The dumb thing is Good is orange, Better is dark orange and Best is light orange. And there's a lot of other orange things on the map too.
It was almost impossible at first for me to find the "best" roads which is one of the things I plan my trips around. Then I realized that they have squares with numbers by each "best" road and you can find them that way. The numbers match a description of the road on the back of the map. The NE Butler map has 49 total "best" roads listed.
The thing that makes this map different and worth the money in my opinion, is that the coloring system (while lame for color choice) shows the exact SECTION of the road that is good and which sections aren't. I have done poor planning before by riding the wrong section of a road and missed the best part. For example, I rode the triple nickel in Ohio which was ALL marked as a great road on the Mad Map. It was good, but later I found out the good part was north of where I got on it. If I had known, I could have easily rode the better part. Another example close to home: I like Hwy 100 - Fountain Run in South Central KY, but I would say it is good for 95% of the way east, and then only gets great past Tompkinsville as you get close to 90. I rode it twice and got off at Tompkinsville and went south before I accidentally hit it from a Virginia trip one year and was shocked by a few real twisties in S Central KY! All motorcycle sites just list the whole road and don't distinguish the eastern part as different. The Butler concept would probably have sections of fountain run as good and some as not special at all, with the eastern few miles as great.
Now I've not ridden to New England yet, so I can't vouch for whether they get it right or not, but I've been making lots of adjustments due to the Butler map once I understood it. I'll be seeing what other maps they have produced.
Hope this helps somebody,
Paul
