Last night we had another great night at Best Made for Mappy Hour.

The night officially began at 7:00, people began to come in, beer in hand and maps ready. Nick of Best Made brought out the cast iron skillet, hot plate, and kernels. Before we knew it there was fresh popcorn for everyone!

Jamie was the presenter of the night. She handed out maps for everyone to look at while also showing off some of the technology she's used on her trips (ranging form the Catksills to out wast). A passionate cyclist, she shared her expertise in trip planning, technology, and navigating at speed.

If you missed it - here are some quick tips from the night:

-Be prepared to navigate: bring a mix of physical maps + technology (recommended: Strava)

-Use clues like terrain and elevation to mentally mark your position on your journey

-Biking in the city is possible. Plus great places to easily go outside the city are: 9W to Piermont and the Rail Trail from Van Cortlandt.

After the presentation, introductions exposed the breadth of expertise we had in the room. Experiences ranged from paddling in Wisconsin to cliff diving, surfing, scuba diving, cross-country cycling, desert conservation, backpacking and on and on.

Along with their usual star chart, Best Made had a new world map up on the wall and post it notes ready. Throughout the night everyone stopped by the map to put up a note with their dream destination:

Even though Mappy Hour was supposed to end at 9:00, the group kept on chatting, laughing and planning until well past 10:00. Finally, it was closing time and we had to settle with meeting again at the next event.

Thanks to everyone for coming - and we can't wait to see everyone for the next Mappy Hour at Best Made.