ADV Cannonball

Send us Fan Mail
A coast-to-coast adventure rally sounds wild, but the real story is how regular riders turn a huge goal into a workable plan. We’re joined by three newcomers to the ADV Cannonball Rally who could not be more different on paper: Alex heading in on a Yamaha XMAX 300 scooter, Matt bringing long-distance experience on a Yamaha Tenere 700, and Jan travelling from Oslo, Norway to ride his BMW F800GS in the US. Their mix of nerves and excitement is exactly what first-timers feel before a long-distance motorcycle rally, and we get specific about what they’re doing to be ready. 

We dig into the things that keep riders up at night: the strange new sound that might mean a mechanical failure, what to carry for basic roadside repairs, and how light you can pack without setting yourself up to suffer. We also talk tires and strategy across long pavement days followed by rougher off-road sections, including the real challenge of trying to schedule a tire swap mid-route when you roll into town late and dealerships close early. If you have ever debated tools vs weight, or wondered what “minimum viable kit” actually looks like, you will hear a few hard-earned perspectives. 

Navigation is the other big pillar. Offline maps, backups, dead zones, and a key warning: default GPS routing can claim you’ve arrived while leaving you stuck on the wrong side of a river or ravine. For remote checkpoints, you may need to build your own track instead of trusting turn-by-turn directions. We round it out with safety planning like Garmin inReach satellite communication, layering for heat and potential high-altitude cold, and setting realistic goals whether you just want to finish or you want to chase awards. 

If you got value from this, subscribe, share the episode with a riding buddy, and leave a review so more riders can find it. What is your number one piece of prep you would not skip before an adventure motorcycle trip?
Support the show
Free Music from the show on SPOTIFY and on APPLE
Aaron's Ride Outs Map HERE
Support us directly on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Aaron-Pufal
Support us on Patreon HERE
Buy us a Coffee HERE
The Motorcycle Book and Film Clubs.
The Living List Document GOOGLE DOC
Contact the Podcast [email protected]
ADV Cannonball Rally Home
GPS Checkpoint Rally & Event App Home
ADV Cannonball Rally on Facebook Instagram TikTok
Mailing Address ...

Send us Fan Mail
The Isle of Man TT isn’t compelling because it’s polished. It’s compelling because it’s real public roads, real consequences, and a level of commitment that most of us can’t even imagine. We ride out to meet legendary motorcycle journalist and author Stuart Barker, then let him pull back the curtain on what the TT actually is: a 37.75-mile mountain course with hundreds of corners, brutal hazards, and a culture that refuses to pretend the dark parts don’t exist.

We talk about Barker’s career inside the racing world, why he believes honesty is a form of respect, and what he learned from interviewing riders and families who’ve lived through loss. Along the way, we break down road racing versus circuit racing, why the TT takes two weeks, how newcomers learn the course today, and why the event keeps drawing riders back even when prize money is modest and the risks are obvious.

Then we swing back to our own chaos: Europe route scouting for the 2027 ADV Cannonball Rally, rally app improvements, and the kind of practical navigation advice that saves your day when you’re cold, wet, and staring at a glitchy GPX track. We also give a clear warning about extreme checkpoints: they’re optional, they’re serious, and “self rescue” isn’t a slogan.

If you like motorcycle racing, adventure riding, and stories that don’t flinch, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a riding buddy, and leave us a five-star review so the algorithm gods stop pretending we don’t exist.
Support the show
Free Music from the show on SPOTIFY and on APPLE
Aaron's Ride Outs Map HERE
Support us directly on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Aaron-Pufal
Support us on Patreon HERE
Buy us a Coffee HERE
The Motorcycle Book and Film Clubs.
The Living List Document GOOGLE DOC
Contact the Podcast [email protected]
ADV Cannonball Rally Home
GPS Checkpoint Rally & Event App Home
ADV Cannonball Rally on Facebook Instagram TikTok
Mailing Address ...

Send us Fan Mail
We’re working overseas, riding bikes, and gathering content for the next episode!
Support the show
Free Music from the show on SPOTIFY and on APPLE
Aaron's Ride Outs Map HERE
Support us directly on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Aaron-Pufal
Support us on Patreon HERE
Buy us a Coffee HERE
The Motorcycle Book and Film Clubs.
The Living List Document GOOGLE DOC
Contact the Podcast [email protected]
ADV Cannonball Rally Home
GPS Checkpoint Rally & Event App Home
ADV Cannonball Rally on Facebook Instagram TikTok
Mailing Address ...

Send us Fan Mail
GPX files sound boring until they’re the reason you miss a checkpoint, get rerouted onto a worse road, or spend your night untangling tracks on a tiny screen. We sit down with Rick Claus to talk navigation for the ADV Cannonball Rally, and we keep it practical: what to buy, what to avoid, and what to practise before you roll up to the start line.

We compare three real-world approaches to adventure motorcycle navigation. First, dedicated GPS hardware like the Garmin Zumo XT3 and Garmin Tread, where ruggedness and GPX handling are strong, but the software ecosystem can feel dated. Second, modern CarPlay and Android Auto head units like Chigee, which give you a bright screen and app flexibility while your phone stays safe in your pocket. Third, phone-only navigation apps, where the price is right but the single point of failure is hard to ignore on a multi-day rally.

We also get into the details that actually matter on the road: why you should turn off auto reroute on Garmin, why offline maps and offline routing can save your day, and why we like a layered setup with OnX Offroad or OsmAnd for navigation, plus Waze and Google Maps for alerts and fast fuel searches. We talk tracking and strategy too, including how rally apps cache data, how leaderboards change decision-making, and why we keep a Garmin inReach on our body for safety if things go sideways.

If you’re getting ready for the ADV Cannonball or any long-distance ADV ride, subscribe, share this with a riding buddy, and leave a review so more riders can find it. What navigation setup are you planning to run this year?
Support the show
Free Music from the show on SPOTIFY and on APPLE
Aaron's Ride Outs Map HERE
Support us directly on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Aaron-Pufal
Support us on Patreon HERE
Buy us a Coffee HERE
The Motorcycle Book and Film Clubs.
The Living List Document GOOGLE DOC
Contact the Podcast [email protected]
ADV Cannonball Rally Home
GPS Checkpoint Rally & Event App Home
ADV Cannonball Rally on Facebook Instagram TikTok
Mailing Address ...

Send us Fan Mail
A 2008 Honda Goldwing dragging a custom 50-gallon fuel trailer just rewrote what “fast” looks like across a continent, and we cannot stop thinking about it. We unpack the new cannonball record, what made the attempt smart, and where the line sits between brilliant planning and outright chaos for long-distance motorcycle riding.

From there, we get into the gritty stuff that actually changes outcomes in an ADV checkpoint rally. We talk tracker tactics, plus a public leaderboard update that now shows the age of each GPS fix so you can finally tell whether someone is truly close or just out of range. We also explain why we added optional extreme off-road checkpoints, how strategy works when you are not required to grab everything, and the safety basics we never want riders to skip: emergency water, tools, tyre repair, bivvy gear, and a satellite communicator.

Then we shift gears into community and storytelling. We head to the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival screening in Victoria and chat with the festival’s founder about why a motorcycle film festival can unite riders who never normally mix. In the lobby, we run into a real Dakar rally bike and hear Don Hatton's story of desert damage, exhaustion, and the kind of anger you only feel after you have had to walk away from a machine at 4 a.m. 
We close with ADV Cannonball Rally news, including the 2027 America’s Baja edition going live, 2026 rule updates like suspending park ferme before the final day, new signups, and a little biker music to send you back to the garage.

If you ride, dream, or just want better stories on two wheels, subscribe, share this drop with a riding buddy, and leave a review. What part of rally strategy do you want us to break down next?
Support the show
Free Music from the show on SPOTIFY and on APPLE
Aaron's Ride Outs Map HERE
Support us directly on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Aaron-Pufal
Support us on Patreon HERE
Buy us a Coffee HERE
The Motorcycle Book and Film Clubs.
The Living List Document GOOGLE DOC
Contact the Podcast [email protected]
ADV Cannonball Rally Home
GPS Checkpoint Rally & Event App Home
ADV Cannonball Rally on Facebook Instagram TikTok
Mailing Address ...