Dave Cooper/for the Nevada Appeal Diana Nankin, 29, of San Francisco, is the lead cartographer of the group of five women's cartographers traveling by motorcycle from San Francisco to Athens, Ga. The team overnighted in Carson City on Wednesday.
A team of female map-making motorcyclists sped through Carson City recently, aided by advanced global positioning system, as part of a nine-day trip.
Led by Jenny Lefferts, chief executive officer of Motor Adventure Destinations Maps, the team drove into Carson City on Wednesday and spent the night at the Piñon Plaza Best Western. The route the five-member team is taking will be available on the www.MADmaps.com Web site at the end of the month.
The MAD Maps company specializes in regional and national scenic back-road maps.
The team started Wednesday in San Francisco and will end in Athens, Ga., where the 2006 International Women & Motorcycling Conference will be held Friday to July 3.
About 1,000 female motorcyclists are expected to attend the event.
Each of the riders has a portable TomTom Rider GPS navigation system mounted on her Suzuki motorcycle. Since they are in the business of map making, they plotted the course, said Virginia Newman-Yocum, spokeswoman for MAD Maps.
"By having a GPS system mounted on a motorcycle you have the turn-by-turn directions," she said. The MAD Maps scenic navigational route was electronically uploaded onto the GPS system.
Riders have a headset and touch screen adapted for motorcycle gloves.
A highlight of the ride was No Man's Land, which stretches from Nevada to Utah on Highway 50, said Newman-Yocum.