Gold Wing Road Riders AssociationRides from Tom Banks' Archives
Tom Banks was a member of Chapter D along with his wife Marilyn. Tom passed away December 17, 2011. Tom was an advid motorcycle rider that usually put more miles on his white Gold Wing Trike than many of us do in our automobiles. Tom was also meticulous in documenting any ride that he and Marilyn took on their trike or any ride that he led for the chapter. With Tom, you didn't need a GPS. He was the GPS. He knew how long it would take to go from point "A" to point "B."
After Tom's passing, Marilyn gave the chapter all his routes that he created. Those routes/rides are now being made available to you for your riding enjoyment. I know Tom would want you to enjoy them.
| Ride | Mileage | Ride | Mileage |
| Avella/Breezy Heights | 131.2 | Brady's Bend Overlook 1 | 87.5 |
| Brady's Bend Overlook 2 | Breezy Heights | 203.1 | |
| Carlisle Area | 208 | Catskills Leaf Tour | 834 |
| Chicora Little Amy's | Chimney Rock | 270 | |
| Clay Haus | 325 | Claysville | 78 |
| Conneaut Lake | 195 | Cooks Forest | 264 |
| Covered Bridge Festival | 110 | Covered Bridge | 244.3 |
| Cyprus Clock | 155 | Eagle Hotel Restaurant | 182.7 |
| Green Cty Covered Bridge 1 | 160 | Green Cty Covered Bridge 2 | 255 |
| Kinzua | 348.7 | Kinzua Jakes Rocks | |
| Kittanning | 185 | VA & WV Leaf Trip | 995.5 |
| Geneva on the Lake | 103 | Catskills & Letchworth | |
| Oakherst Tea Room | 185 | Ozarks Knoxville Wing Ding | A lot |
| Pig Roast 2011 | 162.8 | Pymatuning | 114 |
| Tail of the Dragon | 385 | Scenic ride from Ashville, NC | 237 |
| Scenic Water Falls Ride | 296 | Shaker Woods | 194 |
| Shakleyville | 226 | Shenandoah Apple Blossom | 572 |
| Smuckers | 248.8 | Somerset Area 1 | 125 |
| Somerset Area 2 | Cherohola Skyway | 615 | |
| Tripoli Launch Ride | 314 | Wooden Nickel | 120 |
| Yankee Peddler | 112 |
Between May 19, 2010 and June 21, 2010, Tom and Marilyn took a 9272 mile (give or take a couple hundred) trip across this great country of ours. His route cue sheets are in the below file. Tom's meticulous route calculations matched the computer generated layout I used to plot their route to being either spot on or within five miles of the daily route. I have included a screen shot from Google Earth showing their route. Each colored section represents one day's route.
This is a file containing the cue sheets. The file is a little more than 5MB. Cross Country Trip
Click on the graphic to display a larger map.