Into Glory Ride

The bikes may be in storage now, but it won’t be long before the winter is over and we’re rolling again.  We’ve got 3 kickass trips planned for this year: a weekend trip to Delaware/Washington DC in May;  a 9 day trip to New Orleans & Jacksonville in June;  and another 9 day trip to North/South Dakota around the time of Sturgis.  Not sure if we’re going to attend the Sturgis rally or not, but I think I hear the motorcycle gods whispering that bad things will happen if I don’t go.  We’ll see what happens.

The dates of the trip aren’t 100% firm yet,  so if you’re interested in joining us for any of them and you have a scheduling conflict, speak up soon!  So far we’ve got 4 riders confirmed and we may have up to 6.

More news to come over the next few months in prep for our warm-up trip.  Until then I’ll do what I’ve been doing for the past 10 weeks: head down to the garage and stare longingly at my bike for hours and hours, praying for warmer temperatures.

Some recent developments:

• Katy and I are in the process of buying a house,  so I’m lacking funds/time to do any lengthy trips this fall.
• The trip to the south (New Orleans/Florida) that was scheduled for this fall is being pushed back to May 2010.
• The Mt. Rushmore trip is being rescheduled for mid/end of summer 2010 next year, or maybe May 2011.
• Alaska is still on the table for July 2011/2012, depending on the timing of the Dakotas trip.  This trip is the one that puts the fear back in me… this is my great white whale.   New Orleans or the Dakotas don’t seem to difficult, but I’m sure they’ll be fun.  When I think about trying to get to Alaska and back I get that same nervous feeling I had when I was on the California trip.  Good lord I can’t wait! 
• I want to write up something that discusses the gear we used on the last trip, but I think I need to go deeper than that.  Gear is one thing, but attitudes, assumptions, strategies.. those were are more important than I realized.  I’ll get something up on the site over the next few months.  First I’d like to have a chat with Vargs about his experience on the last trip, now that we’re a few months away from it.

I wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know where we’re going from here:

• The Deep South trip will be happening late this summer/early fall.  I’m planning on it being a 7-9 day trip from PA to New Orleans, then east to Jacksonville FL, then back to PA.  I’ll be posting more details as I get them.
• The South Dakota trip is going to be postponed to next summer.  I have a project at work that cannot be rescheduled and it will be going on through the end of this August.
• The Alaska/Pacific Northwest trip is slated for July 2011.  It will take over a month and will require some extra gear.  Start saving your pennies now.
• I would like you to come with me on all of these trips.  Let me know if you can make it. 

Meanwhile, Katy and I will be doing some weekend trips here and there.  We’ll be posting the photos to the site.

Oh,  and I still plan on doing a gear analysis and a more extended debrief from the last trip before I start heavy planning on the next trip.  Stay tuned…

Sunset in OK...

Just to close the lid on this trip I’ll post this wrap up thread, but not too much really happened from New Mexico to PA. We ended up riding from Albuquerque, NM to Cincinnati, OH over 36 hours, stopping only for a 90 minute nap in a rest area in Arkansas (or maybe it was Tennessee). There wasn’t much to take pictures of, and once the terrain became familiar again we really just started burning for home rather than looking for photo ops.

We made it back to south-west PA on Saturday afternoon, and I made it to Bethlehem around midnight that night.

Thanks to everyone for watching the site. We’re planning more trips for the (near) future, so if you’re interested in coming with us, please let me know. I’d love to ride with you. It’s not nearly as expensive as it seems, and it’s probably more fun than anything else you’re thinking of doing.

Stay tuned for a gear analysis and news about future trips.  We’re thinking South Dakota (Mount Rushmore) before the end of the season…

I like to be here when I can.

I just got into Bethlehem a few minutes ago, and I wanted to let everyone know that both Vargo and I made it to our homes safely. I’ll be posting some photos, gear analysis, and a synopsis of the end of the trip sometime tomorrow. Now, however, is the time for sleep.

Mojave - Malibu - Grand Canyon

Check out the new pics.

There are way to many ways to die at the grand canyon, and they feel free to tell you all about it! So beware if you go to the grand canyon, YOU WILL DIE!

Disclaimer ( You will not die at the grand canyon if you take proper precautions.)

So camping less then 10 miles from the grand canyon was one of the coolest parts of this trip. After setting up camp in a national forest We settled in to cook some canned pasta and reflect on the days events. After a few hours of talking we decided to call it a night. We decided to douse the fire as the ground was covered with dry pine needles. Using most of our water we doused the flame and embers. As if on que as soon as the fire was out we heard a coyote baying at the moon maybe 200-300 feet from where we were. This was rather unsettling. We looked at each other and headed as fast as we could to the tent. I was laying there with my little pocket knife at the ready and ken had a trusty e-tool at his side. Moments later we heard the baying again, this time it was answered by others, it became clear that it was not alone. Luckily nothing came of it and we never even saw the coyotes.  The only evidence that we saw of their existence was coyote prints over our tracks as we left the camp. The prints were no more then 50ft from our tent. Scary indeed, yet kind of cool at the same time.

Wow, is it Wednesday already? Ok.

We left Vegas for LA on Monday, and rode up the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica through Malibu and to Oxnard. We started heading east and spent the night in a ‘discount’ hotel in the middle of the Mojave desert (in the town of Mojave, no less). Tuesday we went back through Barstow and headed east on 40 until we came to the Grand Canyon where we camped for the night. (I’ll let Vargo post the details on that one). Today has been relatively uneventful: we spent the morning at the Grand Canyon National Park and then headed east. We’re currently in a motel in Albuquerque, NM; washing our clothes and taking the first showers we’ve had in days. (gross)

In non-shower related news, one of the lids to the hardcase saddle bags on the touring bike blew off and slid under the wheels of an 18 wheeler, but when we circled back to pick up the pieces it miraculously survived save some scrapes across the top. The Motorcycle Gods are indeed smiling on us.

I’ll be posting a lot of pictures before the evening is up, so check back for that.

We’ll be on the road again in the morning, and we should be hitting the Pacific by about 2pm. Pics and happiness to follow. Then we’ll begin the long trek to the east. We’ve adjusted the route to head back through the middle of the country rather than the top. We can hit the northern states during the Alaska run, and we can clean up the south on a trip to New Orleans. So for now we’ll be heading back through Oklahoma, Tennessee, and the like.

Thanks to the Billers for letting me shack up with them for my last night in Vegas. Next post will be from Cali or Arizona with some tasty pics (hopefully).