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mmike; I still used microsoft trip and street 11,but I also check the route with google earth,works most of the time. ddominic

I find that old fashion paper maps is the best way to start the planning. If your a member of AMA or AAA they will give you all the maps and tour books you need. After I get the route planned then I go to Expedia.ca to find hotels and then Maps to see exactly where the hotel is located and if there’s a McDonalds near by so I can get an Egg McMuffin to start my day. Even though I have a current GPS on my bike I still color copy the maps in sections and keep them in the clear map pocket on my riding pants. GPS is great but at times it makes me feel lost, I like to look at a map and see where I am in the world. The little screen doesn’t do that very well. GPS is great for planning fuel stops as well.

This response is about general route planning as I have yet to ride the 3FC. I'm sure I'll use it for that as well when the time comes. I use Google maps as a starting place. I usually know roughly where I want to go and I may have anywhere from 3 -7 places along the route that I want to include. I let Google do the routing and of course it tries to get me everywhere on as many interstates as it can. I then grab the little guy that represents "streetview" and drag it across a section of the map which highlights the map in blue and shows a lot of the roads that aren't showing up on your current level of zoom. Obviously I search the highlighted areas for the curviest roads between the points that I have previously selected. Upon finding a curvy road I then actually select a few "streetviews" of it to see what it looks like. I then move/drag the Google route off of the interstate and on to the curvy roads.
After I finish that I get the "share" link and transfer that to "GPS Visualizer" to convert to a GPX route. Unfortunately GPS Visualizer now requires a Google API key which is a small pain to get but it is free (so far) and I've prepared several routes and have yet to be charged. Anyway once GPS Visualizer has converted the google route to a GPX file, I then import it into Basecamp and fine tune it there. Another tedious task as it comes over as a track and needs to be converted to a route. I usually select 30 points or less when it asks how many points to use. Once you have confirmed that the route is generally how you wanted it to go and that Basecamp hasn't changed it too much then you need to go and check it point by point because of slight variations in maps there will usually be a few points that are just a little off near intersections and the GPS will have you do a right turn followed by a U turn when all you needed was a left turn. You have to grab those points and drag them to the correct side of the intersection. Sometimes they are not near an intersection and just off to the right of the road and they need to be dragged back to the lane you want to be in.
Well now that I've written it all out, it sounds awful! 😮
Still I've tried Basecamp as the starting point and it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-rrrrrrrrr constantly fighting it to make the route go where I want to and not where it wants to go.
On a rainy day, my tedious multi-step method is a great way to armchair enjoy a ride yet to be. I also consult Butler motorcycle maps to make sure I'm not missing some great nearby roads.