FIRST GEAR

GREG DREVENSTEDT

Editor-In-Chief

love planning motorcycle journeys . Spending hours doing research – reading relevant travel features from past issues of Rider , plotting the route to maximize curves and scenery , finding unique points of interest , etc . – gets me excited about the adventure that lies ahead .

But when it comes to road trips by car , my wife does the planning . Carrie exhaustively reads travel blogs and reviews for Airbnb rentals , hotels , restaurants , etc . – something I have little patience for – and she always comes up with great itineraries that include unique places to stay , restaurants to try , and things to do .

We ’ re planning to take our Toyota 4Runner on a road trip to New Mexico this summer . At work , Carrie often uses ChatGPT – a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to process information and answer questions , write content , and so on – to help her solve problems . ( You may have seen the ChatGPT commercial during the Super Bowl , which used dots to illustrate the evolution of life , from the first dividing cells to today , with the tagline “ All progress has a starting point .”) To save some time with trip planning , Carrie asked ChatGPT to provide guidance for our road trip . Results from ChatGPT can be refined by revising your prompt , and after several iterations , it returned a workable but somewhat wonky itinerary .

I ’ m a visual person , so I asked Carrie if ChatGPT could create a map of its suggested itinerary . That ’ s when things went off the rails .

The map you see on this page is what ChatGPT created . If you have even a basic understanding of U . S . geography , you can see how absurd the results are . Interstate 10 , which in the real world runs east-west from Jacksonville , Florida , to Los Angeles , California , is shown as two separate highways that wander aimlessly through most of the western states . I-40 is a mess too .

Speaking of states , several have been merged – California and Nevada have become a super-state , and Oregon and Washington have been colonized by Southern California . The mountain states are one big blob . Furthermore , Texas has been renamed Taos , Arizona has been renamed Santa Fe , and the Dakotas have morphed into “ Newta Fe .”

What makes me cringe – or laugh , depending on my mood – are the goofy misspellings and misplacements of city names . Albuquerque shows up in various places as Albuqu , Albuurque , Albuscrouf , Abousrouh , and others that aren ’ t even legible . Taos , Tucson , and Flagstaff are duplicated , scattered around multiple states , and butchered beyond comprehension .

Rider , on the other hand , is a source you can depend on for in-depth – and accurate ! – motorcycle travel guidance , inspiration , and information . Every issue includes travel features that provide a deep dive on the best places to explore by motorcycle . Every feature includes a route map and a link / QR code to view the route on REVER ’ s website or app ( you can also download a GPX file for use on your GPS ).

This issue includes our semi-annual Rides & Destinations Guide , which starts on page 48 . Every spring ( April issue ) and fall ( September issue ), we publish a travel guide divided into major regions – Northeast , South , Midwest , and West . It includes some of our favorite rides as well as summary information and advertisements from tourism bureaus around the country .

For over 50 years , Rider has delivered real – not artificially generated – insights and information about motorcycle travel and adventure . The robots haven ’ t taken over yet , so we ’ ll continue doing what we do best .

RIDERMAGAZINE . COM / APRIL 2025 / 5