That’s one hell of a spreadsheet. You have taken my ‘little black book’ to an entirely new level.
Those that have been on my wanders, will know my ‘little black book’.
Hi Richard. I'm most definitely not trying to teach you (or any anyone else) to suck eggs. However, here's my outlook for tour planning that I find effective.
As part of pre-tour planning, I utilise my spreadsheet template to create a tour itinerary with relevant information. Small details can solve big problems, AKA perfect, preparation, prevents, poor, performance.
Although it's never happened to me whilst touring solo (or whilst accompanying biker-mates on tour), I must confess that I still chuckle when I recall a biker-mate friend who always extolled the benefits of "no planing and simply ride". Anyway, he did confess, his outlook of ignoring the "five P's" often had fundamental limitations
:
a) the time when he joyfully arrived at Plymouth to take the ferry to Bilbao; however he should have been at Portsmouth, consequently he missed his ferry. Apparently, this also occurred for return ferry ports, mistakenly returning to Bilbao, rather than Santander!
b) Not keeping regularly hydrated when riding in extreme heat; he eventually decided to have a rest break at a nice cafe (with potential new overseas lady biker-mates), however when the bike stopped, he was so fatigued that he could not lower his foot down in time and he was immediate ejected from his bike. His blue BMW R1200 RT now seemingly resembled a beached blue whale!
Whilst away on tour, I utilise a hard copy of the tour itinerary (the most recent was four sheets of A4) as a concise reference guide and note sheet. Perhaps this is broadly comparable to your venerable "little black book".
Moreover, because I don't posses a mobile phone (out of choice), a tour itinerary is useful, concise guide (perhaps a metaphorical comfort blanket), which resides in my tank bag together with a small pocket note book, pen and pencil.
Whilst away on any tour, it's especially enjoyable to completely forget about time, deadlines and completely immerse yourself in the moment. However, it's really important to maintain a pragmatic approach: hope for the best and prepare for the worst; remain organised to maintain sufficient fundamental essentials:
a) Water, food and fuel;
b) the total balance of cash remaining;
c) the expectation of daily riding hours, is it realistically achievable due to fatigue or prevailing inclement weather
FYI: I utilise the "imprest system" to merely top up the daily float "cash wallet" and return the balance to 100 euros. The amount used to return the balance to 100 is what I've spent.
As a benchmark, I always budget for an absolute minimum of 50 Euros per day, to include food, fuel and accommodation. For this particular tour, I returned home with only 20 Euros; however I still had £250 (Sterling) cash, together with my unused debit and credit cards.
Kind regards and best wishes to all for your subsequent tours.
Jan