ORCOMM, On the Road Communication

So, I'm a big fan of on the road communication. With the ubiquity of cell phones and cell towers, we have grown accustomed to communicating at the push of a button. And now, at least on my Iphone, I can hail Suri and say - "call Mergatroyd" and by God that durn device knows to call the wife! No button pushing needed. Well, believe it or not, there are some places in this world, that cell signals are... wait for it... wait for it... flat-lined! Can you believe it? My ride last year (The 2012 Cascade Traverse By-Pedal Expedition to Save the Endangered Human Folly) did indeed see a fair amount of "dead zones". The good part, I did not bump into Christopher Walken. Ok, silly reference, I know. I did use a satellite tracking device that allowed others to see my progress as well as allowed me to issue an "SOS" to EMS if something went awry in my travels. This made me have some comfort on the road and Meragtroyd likes it too. This year, I am implementing a better COMPRO (aka communication protocol) and I have to tell you it's pretty cool.

So, on Lolo pass, in Idaho and Montana, there is no cell service. I dunno... must be pretty desolate up there. That is why Lewis and Clark had a whole bunch of problems in the late summer of 1805 trying to cross the Bitterroots. Enter 2013, enter technology. Or at least, enter... a different technology. This year, I will be usng the Delorme InReach satellite communication device. This baby allows two way texting, when out of cell service, as well as SOS functionality. I have been using the SPOT Tracker for a 5-6 years for motorcycle rides (my other two wheel passion) as well as last years Folly Tour, but it's pretty limited in its capability. The Delorme definitely ups the ante and I feel much better being on the road now. Of course, my rides are pretty tame in terms of adventure (I ain't going across Africa on my own), but as the Boy Scout motto says... be prepared.