ArcPosse Roadtrip

Been almost 2 years...

2010-01-15T11:43:00.003-05:00

It's been almost two years since the cross country trip. Parts of it seem like just yesterday, other parts seem like a lifetime ago.

Read all the wackiness from the beginning...

http://arcposseroadtrip.blogspot.com/2008/05/day-1-mount-hood.html

West Virginia trip

2008-09-30T06:58:00.002-04:00

Ok, this wasn't an ARCPosse trip, but it seems a good place to post a ride report, anyway. My brother Mike and I joined the Sport-Touring.net ESTN (Eastern meet) in Marlinton, West Virginia for some "Road kill and twisty thrills". Every year, the Sport-touring.net folks gather around this time in the Southeast for their Eastern rally, and this year in Marlinton, the date lined up with the local "Roadkill cookoff". Great times!

( http://sport-touring.net )

We rode the Interstate down to Rt. 220 off I-80 (95->495->66->80) then stayed off any real highways the rest of the way into Marlinton. We hit a couple hours of light rain through Virginia - as predicted - but nothing nearly worth all the worry. Friday wasn't about enjoying the ride so much as getting there in a timely fashion, in plenty of time for dinner, drink and friends. SUCCESS! We pulled in to town at just about 5pm, topped off the tanks, then trudged to the motel to check in and get situated. We ran into Garry at the conference room, then we unpacked and started looking for friends and rustling up some dinner plans. Had a great evening catching up and meeting people and telling war stories. I asked Doug if Mike and I could tag along on his Saturday loop - all set to go!

Saturday we got up, put down a breakfast and joined up Doug's group. This consisted of Doug (R Doug on ST.N), Erik (FizDog74 on ST.N), Vince (I'm sorry to say I don't know his screen name on ST.N) and my brother Mike (not on the forums) and me. Doug has posted the particulars of his route and I can tell you, what a route it was. An excellent mix of some technical twisties, some sweepers, some open road with great vistas and the occasional HOLY CRAP hairpin or downhill surprise. What a great day of riding. (pictures below)

We made several stops throughout the day, including a snack stop at Paint Creek or Paint Bank, where the general store's rocking chairs and old time porch made it especially difficult to get back on the bike. It was so peaceful and nice that Vince fell right over trying to get situated on his bike. Or maybe it was all the discussion about corn and miles. I'm not sure. You kinda had to be there. I heard a big bang and turned around to see Vince lying on the ground under his bike. He was lying there with his head back (helmet on) and his arms splayed out and my first reaction was, "OH SHIT - HE DIED!". Fortunately he just lost his footing on the gravel and was lying there just feeling sheepish. We got his machine righted and verified no damage or injury and got under way.

Doug hamming it up at a nice pace (he is f'ing FAST, in any weather!)

Erik hot on his heels

Getting back on the road after the photo stop

I asked the guys to let me buzz on a head and find a place to take some action shots.

Doug...

Erik...

Mike...

Vince...

Then I had to take a picture of my own bike, of course...

We stopped in Lexington, VA for lunch at the Subway, then headed over the Goshen Pass. Very nice road, a nice mix of scenic surroundings and mild twisties. We stopped at the overlook to take a breather and take some more photos, including some clowning around.

"I see you seeing me seeing you..." (or something like that)

Say what you will about Harleys... they sure are photogenic.

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I think Mike was trying to hypnotize Doug into giving him his bike, old Vampire-style.

The crew...

More action shots...

We returned to Marlinton by about 5:30pm and sat at the coffee shop in town enjoying some warm drinks and discussion about a little bit of everything... including the fact that we missed out on the Road Kill Cookoff. The town was packing up as we rolled in. Bummer. :( But hey... we had a kickass day of riding. So it's all good.

Again... photogenic. I think I'm going to do something a bit stylistic with this picture. Maybe water-color it, or or blur the background a bit or something.

Oh, hey... more Harleys joined the group. Oh, never mind... they're not ST.Ners. They're travelers who just happened to show up.

Dead Men Walking! (to dinner)

We went and had dinner, enjoyed the buffet and talked a bit more. We definitely had the rowdiest table and the most fun. Really...

Yes, Sara... that's chicken. Honest. The Roadkill Cookoff was down the street.

Wait... are you sure???

Doug... let's talk about corn.

The group as a whole was milling, drinking, laughing and talking 'til after midnight and everyone seemed to have a great time. I know I did - great turn out, great riding, great comradery... camaraderie... Why the hell are there so many spellings of this word??? Anyway, it was great meeting folks again, and others for the first time. It was great putting faces and real-life personalities to names (and online personalities). An awesome time!

Sunday, Mike and I got on the road fairly early with the intention of taking an easy, slow ride home. The weather mostly cooperated and we only hit a few small, quickly-passed storms all the way home. We took 39 -> 42 all the way to I-81 (in Harrisonburg) and wow... what a wonderful, pretty ride. Absolutely beautiful, and we were able to wick it up a little and enjoy some nice sweepers thru' the valley thanks to the rather shy appearance of the sun and some drying roads.

I stopped at Mike's place to unwind and BS for a bit, before heading home, and pulled in to my driveway around dinner time with 968 miles on the clock, one desperately shot front tire (YIKES!), and being all the right kind of tired and sore. Great times, indeed.

Just some of the very, very many memorable quotes from Saturday...

"And then she said, 'here, hold my nutsack'!" -- Mike (MK96xj)

"Oh, I am completely shitfaced!" -- Sara (HappyRiding)

"pffffft. Pirates!" -- Sara (HappyRiding)

"Now you can strap the parts back on your Harley when they fall off!" -- Stefanie (stefrrr)

"I'd eat the corn..." Ya know what... I can't even finish that quote and I won't tell you who said it, even tho' he was quoting someone else.

Wrap Up - Everything else

2008-06-14T09:25:00.002-04:00

Wow, so where to start on this? I guess most of my write-up here will be comparing this trip to what I imagined doing this trip solo would have been. That's something I've been wanting to do forever, and have been planning in the back of my mind for the last decade at least. I do frequent solo trips locally, weekend, etc., and my solo traveling is quite different from this group dynamic of traveling.

Wayne kind of chastised me a bit during my write-ups because, in his words, they were great "this is what I did last summer" kind of posts without any really deep look at any behind the scenes shenanigans. I figured most of the people reading this would be more interested in the riding, the scenery and the bikes. Maybe yeah, maybe not. Normally I'm happy to peel the curtain back a bit and give everyone a look at the inner workings of... well, whatever. The sterility of some of the posts in the blog surprises even me, in hindsight. That's not usually like me.

Why is that?

I guess because, first and foremost, I was only one of six people in this and I was one of the invited members. Even though I'd been planning on doing a trip like this for the last decade or so, this wasn't my trip, so I guess I thought it would be best to do everything I could to help out, and to not rock any boats. I like to think I did my share of helping, planning and what-not during the year and a half leading up to this trip in which I was involved.

I took point on getting the bike-shipping stuff squared away, and even though Keith became the contact and payment coordinator, that part of the project was mine, or became mine, or I took it over... not sure and don't care. I was happy to do it. I contacted near on to two dozen shipping companies, freight forwarders, vehicle-specialists, large and small. Estimates, dates, details, etc., were all digested, collated, sorted and filtered, and eventually I narrowed it down to a few choices and presented them to the group, with my suggestions on which one to use. Surprisingly, most in the group were happy to go along with whatever decision was made, provided the costs could be contained. Turns out with HOG, AMA or AAA discounts, we got each bike shipped for around $570 per, a good solid hundred bucks or more less than I was expecting.

Keith definitely did the lion's share of the planning with regards to dates, logistics, route ideas, stopping points, people to meet along the way, daily mileage suggestions, keeping us all sane and focused, etc. He's a project manager at his day job, and keeping us all so organized was something he made look easy. Herding cats truly would have been easier, but he did a great job of making it look easy. Go, you, Keith! He also fronted a lot of the costs and, friends or not, that's always a risky chance to take. We all owe Keith more thanks than is easy to express. Maybe as a 'thank you' gift, we'll all stop talking about how hot his sister is.

Maybe.

Thank you, Keith. From all of us.

(and some day the whole "Keith's sister is really hot" story will be told - it's kind of funny)

Wayne, Adrian and Keith were the three guys originally who decided this trip would happen. They were all sitting in a bar one evening after taking the Lee Parks' Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic (a class that all of us on the trip has taken). I think it was Wayne who first voiced the idea and the three of them began the earliest planning.

I was invited by Keith and got to know the rest of the guys better over the next few months during rides, weekends, evenings out, etc. Turns out I gel pretty well with most of them. That really helped ease me in to being a more active participant in the planning and, most importantly, voicing my opinions on things that probably weren't great ideas or might be beyond the scope of the trip.

My original intent was to do a trip very much like this but doing it solo. I had always figured that, given the way I ride, the things I choose to stop and see and the fact that I get into "machine mode" and just ride, ride, ride when there's a destination and fleeting hours, I could do a trip like this in two work weeks, plus the three weekends around them. My plan was to beeline to Seattle - a 2-1/2 to 3-day ride - then head south along the coast to San Fran, then across the dessert, and into Utah, down in to Texas then across the South and back up through the Eastern mountains. At the time I knew people in Seattle, San Fran and Texas and they seemed like good places to put in for a day off of riding.

Had I done my original plan, I would have ridden, I guess, the 1, 101 and PCH mostly, and would have missed out on some of the in-country mountain-riding goodness that I experienced on this trip. The mix we did was better by far than what I was planning. But hey... there's something to be said for riding 4 or 5 days down the Pacific Coast. I envy those who live there and can ride that area when they please.

I also would have ended up being more within budget had I done this trip solo. I can definitely appreciate the nicer motels and hotels for their accommodations, but frankly, for dropping luggage in a room for 7-9 hours, grabbing a shower and getting back on the road, I'd have been perfectly happy with lower-end motels most of the time. Yes, I would have sprung for nicer places some times, especially on the days-off. I had even planned on camping some times; I bought a small simple 0ne-man tent (the family tent that sleeps 10 probably won't work well on a bike, ya think?) and would have been perfectly happy making room on the bike for that stuff. Turns out, everyone on the trip agreed that two-plus weeks on the road, everyone deserves a real bed and things like heat and air conditioning. Still... the challenge of "roughing it" a bit would have added to the character of the trip, I think.

Which brings to question the next thing.... what *was* the character of this trip? If you had asked me any time prior to the trip, what the plans were, my answer would have been something like, "Ride some great roads, see America, enjoy some Americana." I have since learned that riding across the country for two weeks with six very different people, you have three choices.

You can go places (which icnludes visiting people or being a tourist).
You can see things (which includes some of that 'Americana' I mentioned).
You can ride great roads.

The very best you can do, with six different people on the road for two weeks across this great and large country of ours, on any given day, is pick two of those.

Six people make everything... every meal stop, every fuel stop, every motel selection, every photo-op stop, every rest stop... you get the picture... longer, more complicated and more of a group-choice vote. Most of the time I was happy to roll with what the group decided, but there were a few times when I wanted to stop more and lots of times I wanted to stop less or for shorter periods of time. I would have been very happy to stop more frequently for pictures and meeting people, and very happy to make the fuel and food stops more in-n-out in nature. When I travel solo, my fuel stops are typically long enough to fuel up, walk a lap around the parking lot, make a quick pee stop and re-stock my water or Gatorade, maybe eat a banana. 10 minutes is a long fuel stop for me. 30 minutes was the average on the trip. Granted, some of the guys needed more of a break. I was definitely on one of the more comfortable bikes on the trip... on the planet... and I would have never rushed anyone along during those stops.

Oddly enough, early in the trip, I was one of the last to get ready to roll at most of the stops. Once I figured out the pacing of the stops, then I was able to get into the flow. But early on, I would fuel up, do whatever I needed, then be ready to roll. When I saw that everyone was taking a break, I'd peel off the gear, go and sit, make a phone call, get to talking, whatever, and would take my time getting geared back up to leave.

One day during the trip was pretty interesting. We stopped in Moab, Utah to Wayne and Adrian could get new tires on their bikes. Sport bike tires are softer for better grip, and some times that end up meaning less overall mileage per tire. It's the trade off we all live with. Everything I'd heard about riding in Utah, riding to the canyons, seeing the landscapes... and we were just passing through. Well, screw that. I peeled off from the group for the day to do my own thing, with the intent of meeting up in Durango, Colorado at the end of the day.

Adrian and Wayne both figured I was done with the group, and in the back of my mind, I probably did, too. But... everyone agreed to stick (mostly) together and everyone also agreed that people are going to want to do their own thing from time to time. This was a chance to put that to the test, for myself and for the group. I simply did NOT want to miss the opportunity to ride the Moab area. You know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare...? I'm a fast turtle when I ride alone. I plod along, doing my own thing, seeing and experiencing those things I choose to. I peeled off from the group at maybe 9am and went to ride CanyonLands National Park and The Arches National Park. I was back in Moab central in time for a quick lunch at the McDonalds's and a quick fuel stop, then on my way to Durango by way of Mesa Verde National Park.

The guys had all taken a wildly different route and had ridden some interesting roads elsewhere, but I was able to spend nearly three hours in Mesa Verde and enjoy everything the park offered (minus the walking tours of the ruins - By this point I was aware of how close to the edge my budget was), including walking with a coyote and sitting with the wild horses for about a half-hour. As I was leaving the park, the guys came rolling in. We talked for a few minutes and I agreed to meet then at the Best Western they had picked out in Durango. This was maybe 6pm or so and they did a cursory tour of the park for maybe an hour. I rolled on into Durango, found the motel they chose, and Wayne, Adrian and I eventually hooked up for pizza and beer at the Pizza Hut. I know they rode some intense roads that day, but me... I'm sticking by my story that I actually had the more enjoyable day. My second-favorite single day of the whole trip.

Later that evening, some of the guys were planning ahead on how to get home quickly. This is where I start to get a little irked and my general apathy for all things sets in. For most of us, this trip is something that may never happen again. For all of us, we had the support of our families, we had squirreled money away, we had planned, we had fine-tooth-combed over so much of what we could and would do... the idea of blasting home from Colorado just to get home fundamentally sickened and disappointed me. It was the evening in Durango when the switch in my head flipped and I officially quit caring about anyone else's wants or needs on this trip. I had grudgingly agreed to skip Tombstone. Likewise Roswell. I didn't do San Fran, including the Wharf and Alcatraz. I chose to stay with the group and I agreed to skip things.

Not any more. As Wayne told me several times, "This is your trip too, man." This was my trip, too.

Brian and Bob were the most vocal about wanting to bee-line home and they're big boys. I was happy to wish them good luck and send them along, but I was most definitely not interested in letting their home-sickness interrupt my trip. I would have been happy to split from the group on my own, rather than be the cranky voice of the group had everyone agreed to cut short and buzz home. Failing emergencies at home or completely running out of money or the bike dying, I was firm in my choice to see this out to the end. I thought everyone along on the trip had a pretty clear understanding of just how far away we were, how long we were taking and just how FAR we'd already come. Apparently not. I'm sorry some of the guys didn't enjoy this trip as much as I did, or specifically, didn't enjoy the time spent, the time it was taking and how far we'd come, but that to me seemed more of a choice than anything. Of course I missed home. Of course I wanted to be back in my own bed, saying goodnight to my kids and knowing my life was safe and simple at home. But seriously... fuck that, at least for a little while.

I was riding MY motorcycle across this BIG country and I was bound and determined to make the very best of every moment I could. That includes riding 100 miles of dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. That includes some of the most desolate, out of the way places I've ever seen. That includes riding through the snow to see THE Grand Canyon. That includes stretching my fuel reserves farther than I thought possible finding the third closed-down town in Oklahoma and trying again another 20 miles up the road. That includes meeting people at diners and restaurants who were interested in our trip. That includes standing on the side of road with my broken-down bike wondering what to do next. That includes laughing a little at the guys getting all worked up over the time it was taking to get home. That includes the looks on the faces of people trying to figure out what Yuengling is. That includes riding in 110-degree heat and 30-degree cold. It includes photographing wildlife and the wild antics of my traveling buddies.

And that includes reaching that state where I just couldn't spend one more bit of energy caring about others' ability to have a good time. This was my trip, too. From then on, I was riding a solo trip, and if it happened to be with 1, 2, 3 or 5 other guys... so be it. But from then on, I was "riding my own ride" and taking whatever came my way and handling it my own way. Once I got myself into that mindset, I let everyone know that if anyone wanted to go on ahead, have fun, I'm riding from here to there, no route, no plan and I'll see you at the end. I begged off all Interstates from that point on and even though Northern Oklahoma was the most boring and desolate place I'd been, I was enjoying the experience for what it was, not as just another way to get to Point B.

On this trip, I spent 16 days just living in the moment. More so in the last 5 or 6 days than before, mostly because I'd just given up on worrying so much about my place in the group and others' enjoyment of the experiences. I stopped to take the pictures I wanted, I didn't stop or didn't take pictures when I didn't want to. And I had a great time for it.

So... I've been asked a lot, what would I change, or what will I do different next time? This group I went with, we're all friends and have all taken numerous day-trips and weekend trips to and fro', ranging from two people to these six and more. Knowing now what I know, and having experienced what I have, I would be far, far more vocal - perhaps to the point of being annoyingly insistent - that we all understand, when someone feels like peeling off for the day, or the rest of the trip - we're all big boys and can take care of ourselves. No guilt, no worries. In addition, I would have stuck by my guns about going to see the things *I* wanted to see and the places *I* wanted to go. Others come along, great. But don't bitch to me if you don't have a good time. Others don't want to come, great... see ya'll at the next meet point in a day, two, or more.

The ideal trip would be solo. The logistics and risk-management of a solo trip of this size and magnitude are pretty intimidating. Wayne had a nice idea suggesting three people could be nearly optimal for a trip like this. Two would be good, but in the case of there being real trouble, a third could run on ahead and get help. That makes a lot of sense. If the guys all planned this trip for next year, I would agree to go with all my points being made very vocally and very clearly, or I would join in to get the group rate on shipping, then meet them all at some central point every few days and go solo. Or I would suggest that the various sub-groups consider doing things that they like in common. Or... Or... Or...

I had a great time on this trip, I could have had a better time. But I have no *real* regrets. Just typical "hindsight is 20/20" stuff. And yes... I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Wrap up - Gear and clothing

2008-06-10T10:52:00.002-04:00

Turns out, gee, I over packed. Go figure.

The clothing

For regular clothes, I took several t-shirts of the normal cotton variety, two pairs of jeans, several pairs of regular sweat socks for use under my boots, a couple of polo shirts (for those rare occasions when I might have wanted to dress a little nicer), sneakers, one sweat shirt and a ball cap.

Turns out, what I actually needed from all of that was one pair of jeans, maybe half the t-shirts and one polo shirt. That's all I really used and even the t-shirts would have been optional. I used the same polo shirt for a couple of evenings out to dinner and that was it. Wearing it for an hour at a time, not like it needed frequent laundering. The sweat socks were tossed after each wearing - I took old ones on purpose - and when they were gone, my wash-n-wear Tilley travel socks were perfect!

The clothing that really impressed me was the dry-tech quick-dry, moisture wicking stuff that I wore under the riding gear, and often the non-riding times too. It was just so comfortable. Read all you want, understand it all you want, until you've worn it, you may not really don't get it. The brand name most people would be familiar with is Under Armor. I, being the frugal sort on occasion, selected house brand stuff and bought the non-compression style of long-sleeve shirts, a couple of pairs of underwear and gym or running shorts. I also took two pairs of running pants of the same material. I was surprised at how comfortable it was even just during non-riding, sitting around.

I was always cool and comfortable - as much as you can be in 110-degree heat - and the fact that I could wash stuff in the sink and it would be dry and wearable in a few hours - a few minutes in some cases - was a huge bonus. I never had to do an official load of laundry, tho' I did add my jeans and polo shirt to one guy's laundry in Vegas. Just 'cause I could. I only wore the jeans under the riding pants on the very cold days - once up to the Grand Canyon and the day we went to Crater Lake.

The dry-tech stuff rolled up and packed tight, and since it was used under my riding gear, or during riding days, wrinkling just wasn't something I cared about at all. However... it didn't really wrinkle anyway, so, no worries. I had two pairs of socks, 4 or 5 shorts, 2 running shorts, 2 running pants and that was perfect. Wash one, wear one, in most cases. All of my clothing fit in one saddle bag, and now that I understand how much and where I over-packed, even that could have been reduced to 2/3 - maybe even 1/2 of the saddle bag.

Dry-tech clothing ROCKS. 'nuff said.

The riding gear

The actual daily-use riding gear consisted of:

Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket and pants, sans rain liners. Mostly without the outer panels on.
Sidi On-Road boots.
Several do-rags for under the helmet.
Shoeii Multitec helmet.
Various gloves, including mesh, full leather. I used mesh most days.

Optional/part-time gear included:

Gerbing heated vest
Gerbing heated gloves
Dry-tech sweat shirt (best $6 I've ever spent!!!)
Tourmaster over-gear rain suit.

The gear all did its job, as expected. No surprises, no problems, no "wardrobe failures" causing me to expose my nipples on national TV. When it was hot out, I didn't even bother with the rain gear on the few times it rained - with the lack of humidity in most places, I was dry within moments of the rain ending. I did use the rain gear when it was cold & wet, and when we were further East. But then it was so hot and humid, I should have just gone without. Not like I was riding to work or some social event.

Bottom line is this, if it's hot and raining, you have your choice. You can be wet from rain, you can be wet from sweat. I've found little evidence to suggest any other options. A fully naked bike might present other options, but it's been my experience that hot + rain = yucky. Accept it and move on.

I thought I'd miss having my one-piece suit along - and for quick in-n-out, yeah. But the gear selected for the trip held up fine, never left me too cold or too hot and just plain worked. I admire the guys who wore their Aerostich Roadcrafter suits in some of that heat. Knowing myself, I'd have wrapped it up on the rear seat with a bungee-net and gone without gear on those crazy-hot days.

I don't do heat well.

So yeah... no surprises. I think I've got my gear selections pretty well dialed in at this point. We'll see how my Fieldsheer Highland one-piece suit does in the cooler weather this Winter. But for general use, the Alter Ego stuff is definitely holding up.

The wrap up - The Bike

2008-06-09T14:17:00.003-04:00

I'll break this wrap-up down into several posts, eaching being topical. Let's get the simple stuff out of the way on this first one: the bike.

Note: Any posts I make are solely and wholly from my perspective, based on my experiences and should not be considered the opinions of the group as a whole. I'm still hoping the other guys post up soon.

The bike I took on this trip was my 2008 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide. I've already explained ad-nauseum why I bought the bike in the first place, so honestly... I'm getting sick and tired of hearing "you sold your FJR for a Harley? Are you nuts?" Piss right off, ok? Thanks.

The FLHX is a variant of the touring-frame Electraglide model. It's got less chrome and fewer appointments than the full on touring models and doesn't come with a tour-trunk stock. It's meant to be the more stripped-down, "hot rod" version of the Electraglide. From the factory it's really meant to be a 1-up "sporty" touring bike (but Harley's idea of 'sporty' doesn't exactly match a lot of peoples' idea of sporty). While it's got floorboards up front, the FLHX has pretty chrome pegs for the passengers rather than floorboards, and the passenger seat is less than optimal for anyone who will ride more than 1/2 hour at a pop.

The Street Glide is powered by the same air-cooled, 96" 'Big Twin' engine as is in the other Harleys and remains to this day, completely stock in that regard. I'm not one for loud pipes, performance engine mods and trying to eke out another 4 horse power for THOUSANDS of dollars on a touring bike. That's just plain stupid. There are way faster bikes that do things way better if that's your thing. Often for far less money, too. Ya know... like an FJR for instance.

The features I added or changed on the bike include are completely for comfort and features, including:

Full 2-up touring seat
Passenger floorboards
Full tour-pack (vs. the "chopped" tour pack which looks nicer but holds less)
GPS & Autocom communications system
Better fork internals
Better-than-stock tires

My goal was to make the bike a full-on 1-up or 2-up distance tourer with all the available storage space, while improving the ride and handling. The bike had close to 5,000 miles on it before the trip (all my miles), and now sits just shy of 11,000 miles total. The trip was just under 6,000 miles from Portland to my driveway via the routes we chose.

Ride Quality & performance

I did not weigh everything I had strapped on the bike, but I'll run through a list of what I was carrying, more or less, in the Wrap Up - The Gear post. If I had to guess, I'm going to guess I was carrying just over 100 lbs of tools, luggage, provisions, spare riding gear, optional riding gear, etc.

Both saddle bags were full, one with a carry-out bag containing my clothes and daily-use items, the other containing rain gear, heated gear, extra gloves, first-aid kit, tire kit, spare batteries (Autocom & SPOT). The tour-pack held the stuff I used every day, or mostly every day, including bottles of water, my jacket shell (Joe Rocket Alter Ego), crash-bar lowers, sweat shirt, camera bag, sneakers, GMRS radio & charger, Autocom, clear/spare visor, misc. paper work, etc.

A back seat bag held the main tool kit, my Camelbak and a spare set of rain gear in case anyone needed it (these belonged to Keith).

From a power-delivery perspective, the bike had no idea that extra weight was back there. But without air in the rear shocks, the front end was wallowy and wandered quite a bit. Once I arrived in Portland, the first order of (bike) business was to find a gas station and top off the shocks with 35 PSI of air. Once that was done, the bike leveled out and handled and rode fine. It tracked true and felt confident in the turns. I really couldn't feel the weight in turns and such, but the bike felt pretty harsh on severe road bumps.

The bike made for some rough going on the dirt, wash-rutted roads on the Day-4 Off Road Excursion. I bottomed out both ends of the bike several times and once or twice I thought I might have actually compressed the tire and banged the rim. But, I saw nothing on the rims, so perhaps not.

But on the road, "it's all good". The bias-ply tires seemed a bit more sensitive to road conditions with the extra weight, but nothing bad. Just a bit more feedback and hunting in the grooves.

Comfort - heat, cold, buffeting & body position

The seating position on this bike is ridiculously neutral and inert. If it wasn't getting a little sore from sitting stationary for so long - which would happen on any bike, chair, car or plane seat - I have NO issues with the seating on the 'Glide. Super comfy for chewing up the miles. I did find it helpful to put my feet up on the passenger boards, or up on the crash bars, when we were going across the large, open, flat, boring states, to help stretch my legs a little.

We rode in temperatures ranging from the low 30s in the high mountains, to roughly 110 in the plains - in Oregon, of all places! On the very few occasions I actually felt cold, most of that was taken care of by putting on a sweat shirt under my gear and putting on non-mesh gloves. I only had to use my heated gear on two occasions, one of which was the snow-storm up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

As far as the heat goes, riding this bike in severe heat is absolute torture if you're below, say, 25 MPH or worse (worst?), sitting in traffic. The 07s and up run VERY hot due to having to be leaned out so much for the newer CARB emissions standards. And wow, will it cook you. The secret is to keep moving, or pull over and dismount until traffic is flowing again. Idling the bike in traffic above 90-degrees... you deserve everything you get.

HOT.

Many people find that adding a Power Commander, TFI or SERT module to richen the mixture, then changing the pipes for better air flow, work to help cool the bike down. Considerably, apparently. I might spring for a module, but I am *not* doing pipes. Nope. Not an option.

Buffeting - my favorite subject. I seem to be in that segment of people that falls just outside the bell-curve for body-size normalcy. I'm a little short and I guess I'm short in the torso. Most bikes have me either hiding behind the windshield, or sitting right in the buffeting zone just below the flow of clean air over the helmet. This bike is no exception, but this time, it's not the fault of the windshield. I don't have this problem on sport bikes - they're made for smaller-framed people. Of course, they're also made for people that are about 2/3 my weight, and in much better shape in general. That lean-over seating just kills me these days.

Airflow on the 'Glide is very interesting. Air enters the front of the bike around and between the forks, and flows over the front engine cylinder. From here you might think it would continue back, over the rear cylinder, then down and out the bike to the lower rear area. Ah, wouldn't that be nice? Instead, the air washes around the rear cylinder and the now super-heated air flows up around the sides of the tank and almost straight up. When that air meets what's going up over the fairing and windshield, the buffeting zone is exactly where my helmet sits. I have tried several windshields, including a spare I took on this trip, all to no avail. Unless I put on a 17-inch SAIL on the front of the bike, I seem to only be able to move the buffeting zone about 2 inches on a vertical plane. I always have buffeting. If I were 2-3 inches taller in the torso, or had a longer neck, I'd probably be fine. But, alas... my gargoyle-like proportions fail me again.

If I had to do over again, I'd simply buy the Road King (non-faired version of the same bike) and ditch the windshield altogether. Live and learn. It's a common problem with me. I hate buffeting!

Anyway, I had opportunity to really explore the aerodynamics of this bike, and I think I can make a little farkle to put under the tank to help mitigate, if not elminate, the buffeting. I think some air deflectors and an air channel to force the air to continue past the rear cylinder, rather than flaring out around the tank and upward, will do wonders for me. We'll see.

In conclusion

I dare say I was among the most comfortable on this trip and certainly among the least-fatigued at the end of each day of riding. While you can ride this bike pretty fast and pretty hard, it's a good deal of work to do so and that extra work might have balanced out the fatigue the others were feeling to a degree. Most nights I was dead tired, but on those nights I got a good night's sleep, I was able to get right back in the saddle again and do it all over again the next day, with no lasting affects. It wasn't until day 14 or so that my back started giving me some grief, but it was minor and it did not last. Another week on the trip might have brought more, but as it was, this was a fine-duration trip with the right amount of riding and non-bike time.

I was able to carry everything I needed - and then some - right on the bike and didn't need to rely on anyone else for extra storage space. In fact, a few times I ferried some things for other people because I had a little extra room. I was able to always have extra water, Gatorade, juice, etc., with me for myself or others if they needed it. Awesome!

I was able to stow enough gear for all the weather we were expecting (and hit!) and never worried over stuff I couldn't bring. It all worked out well.

This bike might just be the perfect legal-speed distance tourer. No, it's not a sport-tourer and no, it's not going to win any races, but getting there (where ever "there" is) feeling fit, refreshed and ready to go... this bike EXCELS where others may simply do "well enough". And yeah... you can rock the occasional twisty if you're a good rider and keep your head on straight.

There were times when I'd wished I was on something more sporty, but at the end of the trip, I really have no regrets on my choice to bring the Street Glide. It did its job well.

Day 16 - Home

2008-06-02T08:45:00.000-04:00

I'm on my way
Well, i'm on my way
Home sweet home
Tonight tonight
I'm on my way
I'm on my way
Home sweet home
-- Motley Crue

I woke up and packed up the bike, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake Doug and Sheri up. They insisted I make myself at home, but I didn't want that to include waking them up from all my clomping around. I snuck out to the garage and got the bike all loaded up, but Sheri was awake feeding the dogs when I came back in. I truly hope I didn't wake them.

Doug decided he was going to take his Super Duke out to scrub in the new tires in preparation for his trip next week to the ST.N national, and to escort me on my way. Very cool. Oh, and don't let Doug's nice-guy exterior fool you. When he gets that Duke on a twisty road, he's GONE. Again, I was riding pretty conservatively on the rain-covered morning roads, but Doug... GONE. ZOOM!

Hooligan!

We split off at the Maryland border and I continued on my way, heading East towards home. I decided that once I got into Northern MD and into PA, I would bag any further highways and stick to the country roads I know in the area. Turned out to be a great day of riding, one thunderstorm not withstanding. Around Hanover, PA, the skies dumped on me for a few minutes. It was a small but very intense storm. I blasted the rest of the way home trying to beat the storm. I pulled into my driveway at about 2:20pm, and the storm hit here at about 3pm. Just made it ahead of the storm the whole way. Awesome!

Tons of bikes were on the road, and I was following a woman riding a Ninja 650R for a while on MD-77. There were also about a dozen women all riding Harleys coming the other way in the same general area, then another woman got behind me on some kind of smaller Japanese cruiser. I'd like to see more women riding. It's cool.

So, I'm home. At last. But I still feel like that part's kind of a dream. Part of me is still back on some of those roads. I've seen some intense sights. I've done some cool stuff. I've ridden MY motorcycle 5900 miles across this great country, met some interesting people and heard and told some amazing stories. I've climbed mountains on my bike and I've ridden through landscapes that will take your breath away. I've had my perspectives and perceptions turned completely upside-down. I have felt true fear, true loneliness and near-absolute desperation. I have screamed "waaaahooooo" in my helmet while pushing myself and my bike to limits I never dreamed I would, I have ridden roads only imagined and I have felt true serenity while viewing mountains and gorges and animals.

Part of me wants to remove the pictures from online and even to completely trash them, knowing that they can never truly do justice to the memories and experiences I will savor for the rest of my life. Part of me wants to tell everyone that I can't show them the pictures because they just have no context unless you've been there and done that. Until you've ridden down these roads, seen the colors and contrasts, felt the temperatures, experienced the vastness of it all, smelled the scents, heard the sounds... none of it really comes across on the screen or even in the printed pictures like you would hope.

If you can ever do a trip like this... on a bike, in a car, whatever... get out on the road and see the world. I've only barely scratched the surface; there are countless more roads, people, experiences and sights out there. But then, how much is enough...? I don't ever want to be jaded and not savor things like this. But there is just so much more out there. People who fly to a destination and spend their entire time locked away in a resort or theme park are missing some great times.

Well, that's it for now. Look for a post-trip follow up in a few days. I'll talk about the bike, the gear, the problems, everything that doesn't fit into the "here's what we did today" kind of stuff. Thanks for taking the time to read it all and look for posts from the other guys on the trip, too. I'm anxious to read others' perspectives on things I saw.

In a word... AWESOME!

Day 15 - Sleepless in... where the hell am I, again?

2008-06-02T08:11:00.001-04:00

So the day before we pressed on through Missouri and made it into Kentuky. We agreed to push as close to Bowling Green as possible. Turns out we made it the whole way. It was a long day and everyone was pretty bushed when we packed in for the night. But it was a good - even fun - day of riding.

Day 15 would prove to be largely the same. We were on more of these non-stop twistie-turny roads that... Did you see the Terminator movie? "It can't be reasoned with, or bargained with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely, positively, will not stop." Yeah, Days 14 and 15 were like that. As relentlessly boring as Oklahoma was, Missouri and Kentucky were as relentlessly active. Again, we're not talking 200 miles of Tail of the Dragon, but the turns never stopped. Ever. By the end of day 15 we were all dragging ass and tired and worn out. It was the good kind of worn out, though.

At one point, Adrian pulled over on the side of the road, rested his helmet on his tank bag and said into the radio... "stick a fork in me. I'm done!" I was following him at this point and his turn entries were getting sloppy. I happily concurred. I was flat-out exhausted. We rode up to Rts. 80 & 23, then into Prestonsburg and grabbed some rooms at the Super-8 motel.

We all wound down for a little bit, then walked over to the restaurant next door to have dinner. Reno's I believe was the name. By this point Bob and Brian were well into their high-mile Interstate run home. We opted up to this point to avoid as many Interstates as possible, but over dinner, most everyone agreed to hop on the big roads and blast home in time for a Saturday evening arrival. For myself, I was a little bummed. I still had a few more days of vacation and as I'm sure you're sick of my saying... this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. I didn't want it to end yet, even though I was only a day-ride from home.

We talked more over dinner and the decision was made... everyone would get up in the morning and depart. Saturday was supposed to be nice in the entire region and Sunday would bring crappy weather everywhere. I chimed in saying that if I wasn't up that early, go on ahead. I wanted... NEEDED... to sleep in. By this point my back was starting to bother me and I'd been having only sporadic good nights of sleep up to this point.

The guys were all cool with everyone leaving at their own times and we said our g'byes and crashed.

And crash I did. I don't think I woke up until well after 8am and I didn't roll out of the parking lot until almost 10am.

But there was a snag... I checked the weather and looked out the window. Some nasty storms were rolling through and the day was promising to bring a blitz of storms all day. Crap! I'm sure you're equally sick of hearing me say that since crashing the Harley in January, I'm a big sissy when riding in the rain. The bike just doesn't feel planted to me when the roads are wet. So I ride slow and very conservatively when it's wet out.

I shot a quick message off to my friend Doug (RDoug from Sport-touring.net) and told him I was planning on heading North from here and was wondering if he'd like to grab a meal later. He's in Morgantown, WV and taking a circuitous route, I could be in town by dinner time. Well, the skies opened up on me as soon as I left and even with all the water, wind and lightning, I still made an attempt to take the back roads.

For about a mile.

Maybe two.

The roads I was on were slick and messy with dust or mud and weren't fun at all. I got back out onto the Interstate and made a casual ride up the highways to Morgantown. Doug called my cell and said that he'd meet up, and we'd talk when I got into town. I had rain gear on so wasn't rain-soaked, but it was HOT and humid and raining and trucks and traffic and wind and... yeah, I rolled in to Morgantown feeling absolutely beat up.

Doug met me at the Sheetz station and escorted me back to his house where I was introduced to his lovely wife Sheri and his three dogs. Doug insisted I bag the motels and stay there at the house with them. I agreed, but only under the conditions that he let me buy dinner. They took me out to Archie's, a local on-water pub and I had the biggest burger ever (well, Denny's Pub in Clearfield makes them slightly bigger, but it was still a pretty good sized sandwich).

Back to the house for some banter, some TV and some discussions of a route home the next day, then off to bed.

I have to say, Doug and Sheri - THANK YOU. Opening your home to me like that was very generous and I'm honored that the offer was even made. It's great to know that there are still people out there who are so caring and generous.

Day 14 - Hidden gems in Misery

2008-06-02T07:17:00.000-04:00

Again, miles and miles to cover...

People who ride motorcycles jokingly(?) call Missouri "Misery". I'm guessing that's because the more Northerly part of the state is more like the Kansas East Annex. Have you ever looked at Kansas on a map? Take Manhanttan and stretch it WAY out. It's a big grid with 90-degree turns every 50 miles or something. Looks silly. There may be some good smaller roads that don't show up at the resolution we were viewing, but... it's Kansas. So, whatever. (no offense)

Missouri, however, has some nice stuff in the Southern end of it. Hills and turns and twisties and everything! Two hidden gems in this case are Routes 14 and 160. We exited Joplin and rode enough highway to get us away from the city and out into the more spread-out stuff and found Rt. 14, which piggy-backs a few other roads in stretches, then connect up with 160 further East.

Let's put it all in perspective... after riding California and Oregon roads, I've not been on anything since that really compare - nothing excessively beautiful, twisty or technical in nature. Call me jaded. But these two Missouri roads provide more than enough entertainment to let you blast across the state at a good clip, and still have fun and keep from getting bored. Both roads have a few technical sections and pack up pretty tight, but for the most part they are the higher-speed twistie roads; think Cherohala (for you Easties) or... well, I can't really name a single road in California that is just that type of stuff.

Point being, you don't have to ride straight lines and 90-degree city-like grid roads if you know where to look. (I won't make such assertions about Kansas )

The only pictures I have from the day are when we discovered that Wayne couldn't wait for the guy in the men's room and decided to use the ladies' room. I caught him as he was coming out (hehehe, I said 'coming out'). I wonder what he'll pay me to keep these off the Interne... oh, wait.

Day 13 - Billions and Billions of Miles! (in your best Carl Sagan voice)

2008-05-29T01:16:00.001-04:00

Sorry to report, another non-picture day today. Today was about covering miles again. We broke into two groups, Brian, Keith and Bob doing mostly Interstates to get to Joplin, Missouri, the rest of us taking secondary highways and such to hopefully meet at the same destination. Turns out that if we didn't hit a few hiccups along the way, we would have likely arrived with in minutes of each other. Oklahoma Rt. 64 did some crazy 50-mile southerly job and put us almost an hour off course, then OK Rt. 20 was closed in sections with no apparent signage for detours. We probably wasted close on to two and a half hours with those two bits of silliness.

Beaver, Oklahoma is now my favorite town. No... that's not why. We were 50 miles into reserve, thru' two towns and several gas stations that no longer sell gas when we found Beaver. They had a gas station and that means I didn't have to walk 30 or more miles, or be eaten by some of Wayne's mutant killer cows like in some bad ripoff of a Steven King novel. My Harley has a 6-gallon tank. No exaggeration - I pumped in 5.97 gallons of fuel. Wayne's 5.5 gallon tank took 5.45 gallons.

Oklahoma is freaking big and there is NOTHING in the pan handle. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing.

Oh, for Christmas the family bought me cruise control for the Harley. I know, it seems silly, and I'll admit to having doubts as to whether it would really be all that helpful a feature to have. But as it turns out, I've discovered - thanks to the ridiculously EMPTY vastness of outer space (read as: Northern Texas and Oklahoma), I have many things to do with my hands since they're no longer needed to maintain throttle control for three-hour stretches (no, not that!).

You can...

* learn to mimic the secret hoof language of the deadly killer cows
* air-drum every Def Leppard song in your music library
* figure out all the intricacies of the aerodynamics of the Harley fairing, and the crappy aerodynamics from up under the gas tank, causing my buffeting. I have a fix designed in my head and just need to build a prototype. WOOT!
* become ridiculously proficient at programming your GPS to play Mary Had a Killer Cow in three different keys
* decide if/where to move or adjust your handle bars when you return from the trip
* find 37 different ways to use your camelbak hydration system while it's bungee-netted to the back seat
* practice your Miss America beauty pageant wave
* give your riding buddies the finger over and over again, smiling with satisfaction that your bike will hold a steady speed while they try to lock their silly little throttle locks to give you the finger right back
* wave to farmers
* wave to cowboys
* wave to road-construction workers
* wave to the old guy cutting the three blades of grass he calls a front lawn
* rinse, repeat

Oh. My. God. I've never ridden more boring roads in my life.

But hey... we rode a 600+ mile day and found a motel for $54/night. SCORE!!! Tomorrow we head East, Keith, Adrian, Wayne and I. Bob and Brian are splitting off to bee-line home. Good luck guys, be safe.

And that, as they say, is that for today. It's late. I'm tired. Morning comes early. 'night night.

Day 12 - Miles, money and mistakes

2008-05-27T22:41:00.000-04:00

Today was just about covering miles. No pictures from me on this one. We left Durango and headed out 160 to 64 to 87 and on to Clayton, NM. Parts of 64 completely rocked. We went thru' some mountains and had a grand old time running some fast twisties through the Carson forest. Awesome!

We got in to Clayton and I started making plans for some riding in Texas, catch up with some people... I've been promised *real* Texas BBQ! Then I checked my bank account. Yikes! I thought I was keeping better track of things. I might have to dig in to household money to get home and that's worrisome to me. Gas has been consistently more expensive then I'd planned, as has food. I splurged and got my own room a few more nights than I should have, and some of the places we've stayed have been a bit more expensive than planned.

Crap!

I really wanted to get down in to Texas. I gotta log on to the bank and credit card sites again and see if I can do this.

Day 11 - Surprise, Solitude and Silliness

2008-05-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

This morning we all had a bit of surprise planned for Brian. At one of the planning meetings for the trip, Brian was concerned about the apparent lack of Eastward progress by the time we were into the second week. The plan was to be in Durango, Colorado on the 11th day. He kept pointing at the tv screen (the PC was hooked up to it) and saying, "So you're saying that on day-11 we're only going to be HERE?!?!" and such. It became something of a joke, and we decided to get t-shirts that said "It's day 11" on the front and "where the hell are we?" with a map of the US on the back.

I did up the graphics and put them together on CafePress.com and ordered them up for everyone. Today, day 11, was the time to spring them on him.

Adrian holding back a grin on t-shirt day

After breakfast we crashed Brian's room to present the shirt to him, then we all stepped outside to take pictures in the morning sunlight.

Everyone had a good laugh over it and Brian took it all in stride.

Oh, remember yesterday I said the Green River Best Western might be the nicest motel I've ever stayed at? Well, they lost a point. I found what's wrong with the place.

Can you believe they had the nerve to leave ONE paving stone broken like this? FOR SHAME!!

We headed in to Moab so Wayne could get a new tire at Arrow Head Motorsports. He was down to the cords. Adrian decided not to take any chances and got a new rear tire, too. The guy had a 180 tire in stock, which Wayne grabbed, and Adrian got the 170 tire. Quicker turn-in. *snap* You GO, girl.

While we waited for their tires to be changed, I was mulling options. We were in Moab, for goodness sakes. To hear it told, the canyon riding around the area is phenomenal. I gave some thought to peeling off of the group today and finishing the trip solo. There are some things along the way, some places I want to go that just aren't on the group list. And I really enjoy my alone-time when riding. It's therapeutic for me. I grew up in a small household but I have LOTS of brothers and sisters. Even when it was only just a few of us at home, the house was always busy and there were always people coming and going. Now I have several kids of my own and really the only alone-time I get is when I'm riding to and from work and the occasional solo Sunday morning ride. I have to admit, the idea of a whole week alone on the road is really intriguing to me. Nothing negative against the group or any of the guys - this is just me.

Instead, I just chose to go do my own thing today and agreed to meet the guys in Durango, Colorado at the end of the day. Again... Nothing bad about the other guys, but I had an awesome day on my own today! I did a tour of three parks - Canyon Lands National Park, The Arches National Park and Mesa Verde National Park. Then I rode to Durango and got a room at the same motel as the other guys. Wayne, Adrian and I just killed 2 pizzas at the Pizza Hut up the street.

Canyon Lands was pretty cool. As the name indicates, it's about canyons. Like everything else in the West, the scenery is just breath-taking and everything is so big and open and spacious. But that's not all. So far we've ridden a third of the way across the country and have been seeing these "Free Range Cows" and "Open Range" signs all over the place. But we haven't seen a single free-ranging cow at all. Can't say that any more.

I came around a right-hander uphill turn and WHAM! There's a gaggle of cows in the road. Awesome! What a shame Wayne wasn't with me.

He's looking right at me. HELP!

Then it was on to looking at the canyons. I didn't go down into the canyons to ride, nor did I find more after exiting the park.

The wide-open spaces just never stop, do they?

On the way back out of the park, I saw cowboys wrangling up the cows I saw earlier. Awesome... I have now seen real cowboys!

I was riding down the road and saw a hole in the rock. Nah, seriously.

More space! MORE SPACE!

And I don't think I ever DIDN'T see snow-capped peaks somewhere in my sights.

And some interesting rock formations...

This one looks like a turtle to me.

More views of the snow peaks...

And finally in to Colorado.

This plane was parked in someone's side yard.

Go ahead and pronounce it.

Little bit of excitement on the road... this truck lost the left-rear tire right in front of me. That was cool watching the wheel accelerate past the truck and bounce across all lanes of traffic - both directions - then about a mile off into a field.

Then it was on to Mesa Verde National Park. The road in and out was awesome.

Lots of motorcycles were in the park, including this great looking Duc.

The cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde were very cool. I didn't take the walk-down tour, and was content to snap pics from the lookout.

Then, riding out I stopped in the road to play with a coyote. It was pretty friendly. It wouldn't let me too close, and I didn't want to crowd it and make it nervous, but it was just SO COOL to be walking along with a coyote. Truly awesome.

As I understand it, Colorado is the only place left with wild horses. I saw some today. Now... stay with me here. I'm born in Delaware, grew up in Delaware County. Coyotes? Cool. Wild horses? Holy crap!

The guys came in to Mesa Verde just as I was leaving. We met back at the motel and had dinner at Pizza Hut with a beer or two.

I had an AWESOME day, today.

The route...

Day 10 - going the distance

2008-05-26T00:29:00.001-04:00

Today was spent covering ground, more than seeking technical riding and fun roads. We left St. George, Utah at about 8:30am and made our way to, and through, Zion National Park, then on to the Best Western in Green River, Utah. This Best Western might just be the nicest motel I've ever stayed at, and will compete with a lot of nicer hotels. IN terms of cleanliness and overall condition, I give it 5 stars. The rooms are perfect, the grounds are perfect and the lobbies are well appointed and comfortable. The restaurant right next door served a good meal at a good price, and both the motel and the restaurant sit overlooking the river.

There's really nothing much to say about the riding, but I did take lots of pictures from the saddle and some at scenic points along the way.

Enjoy some pictures...

Is it just me, or does that look like a monster in the rock?

The Checkerboard mesa

Road to the rock!

And today's route...

Day 09 - Chasing the sun

2008-05-25T01:52:00.001-04:00

Today we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to be tourists. We left Vegas early and got on the road after gassing up. Of course it was raining. Any of you who live in Vegas - Why the HELL are all the roads greasy and slick as oiled glass? What do they use on them to make it so slippery? I couldn't wait to get out of Vegas (from a motorcyclist's point of view). Strippers and gambling aren't my thing, and we weren't going to be in town long enough for me to try to get tickets to some of the shows I would enjoy. Robin Williams, Kathy Griffin and David Spade are all doing shows in town. Ah well.

We hit the road and plowed thru' a few rain storms and finally got away from the worst of the weather... just in time for it to turn cold. All the way up to the North Rim, it was getting colder and colder and eventually started hailing and snowing. Nothing too serious but it added to the feeling that I'd been cheated on this trip.

I wanted to use the word "jipped", which I assume is actually spelled "gypped" or "gyped", which I further assume is a dig on Gypsies, but I won't use that word because I don't wish to insult hundreds of years of Bulgarian and Romanian history and culture. That's just not cool.

Cheated, yes. Death Valley was down right chilly, Oregon was ridiculously hot, San Francisco was definitely NOT the beautiful weather I remember from my previous visit, and the Grand Canyon was covered in clouds, rain and snow. Dang it all... this East Coast boy's perceptions have been completely turned upside down.

Clouds were comping up the canyon while we were sitting there

The camera doesn't do justice to the canyon's many colors and textures and contrasts

The camera doesn't do justice to the canyon's many colors and textures and contrasts

Keith brought up a good point... do each of these plateaus, mesas, whatever... have their own isolated eco system? Other than the birds, it appears not a whole lot can easily get in and out.

These two pictures really show the frustration of the day... the sun was always just out of reach, all day long. We could see it. We could see where it was and where it had been when the roads were dry, but we could never really find ourselves IN it. Grrrrrrrrr.

This chipmunk was pretty social. Came right up to us.

And this crazy looking blue bird was pretty sure we had dinner for him.

It's really impossible to properly capture the scale of this big hole. It's just... huge! And when you think about the fact that's just a river that cut into the ground over millions of years... it's pretty awe-inspiring.

I could have sat here for days. If the Lodge had any vacancies, I would have stayed a day or two and just sipped drinks by the canyon. I'm just not even kidding a little bit. It was so peaceful and made me start thinking deep and introspective thoughts.

Have any idea what kind of spider this is?

A hawk was flying around us. I think he was hoping to snag the chipmunk that was visiting us earlier.

We were suiting up to leave and I decided to snap a picture of my bike in a slight out-of-focus foreground setting. I then did the same for Brian's bike, showing him to do this.

A beautiful red Triumph Sprint ST hitting the road.

We were about 8800 feet up at the park. WOW! This is as we were heading back down.

This picture shows snow on the ground from a morning snow fall. It doesn't show well in the picture, but there was light snow falling then, too.

The car in front of me was kicking up a snow-wake.

YAY! More clouds! More rain! YAAAAY!

And today's route...

Day 08 - Dirt, Dam and looking back

2008-05-24T00:56:00.001-04:00

I haven't washed the bike on this trip, and I only gave it a cursory cleaning before putting it on the truck. It brought some East coast bug guts with it, and it had gathered several states' worth of bugs along the way. Well, it was beyond even my "I couldn't care less" threshold of dirty. So, this morning, since it was a down-day, I decided to give the bike a bath. Wayne wanted to do his, too, so he and I headed out a little before lunch time to wash the rides. I stopped at an Auto Zone on the way and bought a bottle of Simple Green automotive cleaner and a few bundles of towels.

We found a self-serve car wash and I sprayed down the entire bike with the Simple Green, taking extra care to really soak the especially dirty areas from our off-roading adventure the other day. I then soaped it up and rinsed it, getting all the nooks and crannies.

Before the great washing...

And after the great washing...

Then it was back to the motel to meet up with Adrian, Brian and Keith, and off to Hoover Dam. We took the $15 tour and walked around for a while. Lunch at the cafe. We made typical jackasses of ourselves and had a lot of fun.

Traffic on to the bridge was absolutely horrible. It took is better than a half hour to go 2 miles.

They're building a new roadway to limit traffic on the actual dam itself. I believe I remember hearing that there will eventually be NO traffic allowed on the dam and all tours will start with a shuttle ride from up at the main parking lot. I don't know for sure.

The new roadway is as yet incomplete, but is quite visible and in the works. Wow, it's WAY up there, too.

Adrian is obviously a dog lover.

Then it was deep into the bowels of Hoover Dam to learn everything about it.

These large pipes carry something like 38000 gallons of water per second to the turbines.

500 feet below ground we walk around. Just thing... if a cow popped out of a side tunnel in front of Wayne...

A total of 17 turbine generators supply electricity to millions of homes around the area and in to California.

How the heck to they get a truck INSIDE the deep innards of the dam?

Hey, look... giant versions of the Givi sides cases on my Sportster!

Well, we've solved the question asked by AC/DC. Hoover's got the biggest balls of them all!

These metal-heads were singing along with classic 80s metal and having a ball!

After the Dam Tour (that's what they call it), we rode back into town. I stopped and shot a couple of pictures of a rain storm in the valley. Pretty intense!

So, here we are, 8 days into the trip. I show just about 2260 miles done so far.

We've got a little over a week before we expect to arrive home. We're heading to Utah to ride in the canyons, into Colorado to ride more mountains, then buzzing across Kansas and Missouri. From there, if there's time, we'll consider heading down to Barber Motor Sports race track for a visit. Or maybe not. we're not planning that far ahead just yet.

We've had a few stupid arguments, ridden some exceptional roads, ridden in some horrendous wind, ridden every road surface you can imagine, met up with friends and acquaintances along the way, and taken some down-time.

I'm loving it. I still think I would have really enjoyed this trip solo like I'd been planning on doing for several years now, but this is a great group of guys I'm with, and riding with friends eases minds and keeps everyone at home a little less stressed. We've all learned quite a bit about each other, and made some great long-term memories.

Oh, and yeah... you can rock some twisties on a Harley.

Stay tuned... we hit the road again tomorrow so there's more to follow.

Day 07 - Ghost towns & Vegas, baby!

2008-05-23T11:07:00.001-04:00

Last night before leaving Panamint Springs, we all agreed to meet in Vegas. Adrian and I were splitting off to go visit the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. Keith, Brian, Wayne and Bob would all be in Vegas before us, so they would snag us a room. Turns out, he and I got voted off the island so to speak. We both snore, so we're bunking together now. Good, maybe the others will get some rest. That Keith guy... You know how he is... he's just miserable when he's tired. (if any of you know Keith, you'll know how funny that is - he's pretty much the easiest guy in the world to get along with)

Nothing exciting to write about the riding today. Today was 100% about covering distance after visiting the ghost town. And after riding in 40mph cross winds for about two hours yesterday across the plains on the way to Death Valley, I could do without hustling that 800lb monster through any more technical twisties today. Most of the pictures are of the ghost town. I don't really have much to say about day 7. Adrian led the whole way, we made a few stops for fuel breaks, drink breaks and arrived in Vegas in time to do some laundry, settle in, then go meet my neice, Sabrina, for lunch at Sammy's Wood Fired Pizza.

Sabrina is the only daughter of my brother Don and his wife Patty. After spending 5 years as a nuclear electrical technician in the Navy, she decided to go to cooking school and become a chef. She's finishing up school and working in the field now, hoping to build a nice career for herself. She's a smart girl and will go far, I think. And hey... it's always nice to have something to fall back on. I imagine that in the extremely unlikely event the chef thing doesn't work out, she'll be fine with her technical background. I'm happy she's doing something she loves. Not to get too philosophical, but more people should seek out that type of happiness. The world would be a better place.

Ok, then... the town of Rhyolite, NV has its own Wikipedia Entry. Is there ANYTHING you can't find in the Wikipedia? So I don't need to bore you with its history... which I know next to nothing of anyway, so that's fine. The town was officially abandoned in 1909. There's a plaque in the cemetery dated 1957, and some graves as recent as the 80s and 90s. Obviously old family members who wanted to go back to their roots. There are still some private residences in the hills behind the old town - mostly mobile homes.

The rest, I'll leave you with pictures that, hopefully, will speak for themselves. Enjoy. We're going to take a day off in Vegas and spend another night. Let everyone rewind and recharge. Anyone in the Vegas area wanting to meet up should give a holler.

I wonder what the story with this building is. Of course, I also wish I had my 300mm zoom lens with me.

The train station

A caboose from a long-retired train

I snapped this photo of a rare, free-ranging Adrian. I hear they attack slow, too.

Oh yeah... snake holes EVERYWHERE! Didn't get to see one live, though.

Vegas from the hotel room window.

And the route...

Day 6 - Sojourn to Death Valley

2008-05-23T02:22:00.001-04:00

This day was by far the longest in-saddle day, and by far the most tiring and most frustrating. It also including some DAMNED fun riding in parts. But for the most part, we were blasting down the highway interested only in making time to get to Panamint Springs, CA in time for an evening check-in and dinner at the Panamint Springs Resort.

On Rt. 190 we had just come through a mildly-twisty section and the group pulled over for a break. I had just gotten into a rhythm and decided to push on, agreeing to meet further up the road at the Ponderosa General Store and diner.

A couple of miles up the road, after passing all the other cars and trucks along the way, I came upon a (apparently) local guy in a large pickup who seemed to really know the road. He was driving at about the same pace I was riding, so I stuck right with him all the way to the top. No one believes how well a Harley *can* handle when ridden well, so I won't bother. I had fun, and I also got over a bit more of my fear of tight right-hand turns. Absolutely awesome.

Absolutely. Awesome.

I pulled into the general store, fueled up, made a restroom break, ordered lunch and the rest of the group arrived just as I was starting in to my burger. They made excellent time coming up the mountain as I'm guessing their break at the bottom was a good 20-30 minutes.

The store has a small gas pump with an above-ground tank. Cool, quaint setup.

I bet there's serious money to be made on this old beauty

The Ponderosa postal office. No, I'm not kidding.

After lunch and a reasonable break, we all got back on the road. We still had lots of ground to cover and time was fleeting. About an hour later we stopped to drink some water and snap a few pictures.

Wayne's looking awfully comfortable on my bike.

Get the hell off my bike!

Victory! Maybe next time, pal!

Back on the road

After a bit we came to more twisties overlooking some incredible views. I took a few "from the saddle" action shots, and later hopped off the bike when I got out in front to take pictures of the others.

This picture is, in my opinion, iconic of the type of riding we've experienced on this trip thus far.

Some action shots.

First up, Adrian:

Next up, Brian:

Then Keith:

And Wayne

Unfortunately, Bob came thru' before I was set up for shooting. Shame, that. He was railing that turn!

My bike sits lonely and sullen while I shoot pictures of the others.

The scenery was, of course, incredible.

I was able to snap a few action scenes later, too.

One of the few action shots I have of Bob. He's a good and fast rider and is usually well up front.

This is one I took while heeled over in the turn.

Oh, look... we're in the desert.

Look out, Wayne. Slow attack cows!!!

I wonder what the story here is.

An omen? I hope not.

The amount of open space out here is absolutely incredible. Anyone who's never been off the East coast really just have no idea. I remain in awe. It's really hard to feel the scale in these pictures. It's just so... big!

Keith and I stopped to take pictures at the entrance sign for Death Valley National Park.

Ooh! Squiggly! Rockin'

Some more shots from the saddle.

I'll be around that turn in just a sec. First I have to get thru' this hairpi... WOW, that came up quick!

A nice mid-turn shot of a trailer off in the field right before I got to the Panamint Resort.

1900 miles into the trip thus far. Day 6. Awesome!

In for the evening after a very long day.

The resort pops up right there on the side of the road on Rt. 190 as you come around a long sweeping right hand turn. BOOM. There it is. The place is pretty nice, including a restaurant and bar, several rooms and a sitting area. The gas station and general store is affiliated. Also, the family who owns the resort also has exclusive water rights to the area. Ain't that something?

I might be in the minority on this, but I found the place to be "so-so", at best. The problem is, it's freaking expensive. $15 for a burger??? A dollar per gallon over everywhere else for gas. $3 for a bottle of water. And $139 for a very average room with very sub-standard electrical and plumbing. All because they can. Location, location, location. It's right before you enter the actual valley, so they can get more or less whatever they want for things. It's a shame. Had the rooms been 30% less and the food a good solid 50% less, I'd have been praising it to everyone. As it is... if you can skip it without hurting your schedule or budget, do so. It's a LOT of money to stay there. Sadly. It's just not a good value.

And the route...

Day 5 - Attitudes, roads and visits.

2008-05-23T01:01:00.001-04:00

First, let me just say this... I'm in freakin' California on my motorcycle! I'm an Eastie... how cool is that?

Interesting day. Wayne's friend Roger met us at our motel and escorted us to Alice's Restaurant, up a road that had more hairpins than Grandmama's blue hair bun with her best Sunday fittin'. The road would have been completely and utterly awesome if the paving didn't suck. I had an OK ride up there, but kinda blew two super-tight, slow-speed right handers. I was just afraid to lean that pig over any more. The chicken strips on my tires are crazy thin compared to what you would expect on a bike like that.

Roger is clearly a talented rider; definitely a fast and competent rider. He's also a very conscientious ride leader. He takes breaks to tell people about the roads we'll experience, etc. But... Roger is also either insane or crazy - not sure which. Wow, can that guy ride. Absolutely fearless and handles his bike well. Goes like the dickens. Blazing! Rock on, Roger. Absolutely intense. I'm a sissy in comparison.

This is, of course, Alice's Restaurant. If you look closely at the picture, the sign might give it away.

Sporting lineup

Roger's talking about the area while Wayne and Adrian listen in

We sat a bit and had a normal breakfast while talking. Roger talked a bit about the roads and destinations, weather, time it would take, etc. He had quite a tour lined up and really knows a lot about the areas we were going on the trip. His tour seemed promising... A nice mix of roads, including some highway to get us to places, some technical stuff and some scenic sweepers.

Even Gumby (dambit) is getting in on the action

We finished up breakfast and our waitress agreed to join the group picture. She's moving East to Virginia for school, so she was happy to see some friendly East Coast faces.

Brian was MIA while shopping for souvenirs and Bob decided to take the day off and play tourist in San Fran

Next was a ride along the coast for a little ways. Some fun roads getting to the coast. At a ride-break, Keith called Dale Walker (Holeshot Performance) and arranged for a visit. Dale makes the Holeshot mufflers for bikes, as well as other dress-up and performance parts for Japanese motorcycles.

It's the Pacific Coast - OF COURSE I'm going to take pictures

I have seriously got to wash this bike soon. Yuck! This exceeds even my lack of standards!

Roger took us up to the Redwoods at the national park. We took some pictures while people took a breather from the ride up. Roger led us a spirited pace up a road that just kept getting twistier and twistier. He then gave a quick ad-hoc lecture on the redwoods and sequoias. Great stuff!

Roger playing tour guide and park ranger explaining about the redwood trees

That is one seriously little man. No wait... I meant that is one seriously big tree. The size of those trees is amazing. And they just keep going up and up and up and...

History is cool. It's rather humbling to see that there are things alive on this planet that have witnessed some of History's most amazing moments across a millenia

That is really, really high

Really

Eventually we left the redwood park and made our way to Dale Walker's shop. He's got a fantastic piece of property nestled in behind a strawberry field farm. He has some of the manufacturing equipment and all the assembly work is done on premises. While we were there, Dale gave us the whole tour, including early information on some new pieces he's releasing.

Dale is explaining the assembly process of the mufflers

Dale then took us inside to show us various products in their life cycle. Raw stock, polishing, cutting, etc.

It's round. And silver.

This one is really expensive. Don't drop it. Really.

Dale actually treated us to something of an exclusive. These are the first photos released for public viewing of the new header he's making for the Gen-2 FZ1. Dale gave me permission to take the shots and post them on the forums. Let all your Gen-2 owning friends that a new header is going to be released soon that will, along with tuning, help get the Gen-2 FZ1 to about 135 horses at the whee.

Dale showing off the new header for the Gen-2 FZ1

Dale showing off the new header for the Gen-2 FZ1

4 into 2 into 1

No internal welds means a cleaner flow of air

Another of the products Dale is releasing is a restrictor/baffle assembly that goes into the rear spout of his pipes. While it may rob a couple of ponies from the top end of the power band, it significantly reduces noise levels.

This new restrictor/baffle will be available for the old-style and the new-style Holeshot mufflers

Adrian stuck around at Dale's shop and purchased new Holeshots for his FJR, and Dale installed them for him. The rest of us stuck out to head back to the motel and get cleaned up for a dinner meeting. Roger took us on a route that included Old Santa Cruz Highway. Wow! What a road. I know I've said that every day on this trip, but man... the number of great roads is just mind blowing. Old Santa Cruz Highway is just a non-stop assault of 90-degree turns, left and right that allows for clean lines, a good pace and OODLES of grins in the helmet. What a fun road.

We then met Eric (Desmo from the FZ1 forum) and Roger (QuietRider, also from the FZ1 forum) and Keith's cousin for dinner at a local Palo Alto Mexican restaurant. Wayne joined us after dinner for socializing and drinks, and he and Brian mixed it up a little regarding the route. Later, Wayne and Adrian mixed it up a little. Bob and I had a few words to each other on day-1. I'd love to say that it was all just because we were tired and hot and just getting on each others' nerves. And I'm sure that was part of it... But honestly, I think it's just that each of us is looking for a little something on this trip that others may not be. And that's ok. The trick is, like all things in life, reasonable compromise. We're all still friends, and things were smoothed over quickly enough. But there for a bit, it was looking like the group was going to break up into smaller groups and head off to do different things. It's good that didn't happen. The more personalities there are in the kitchen, the less cooking gets done.

All in all it was a pretty good day. There was some great riding and a few minutes here and there of personality clashing. Life goes on and everything's fine again.

And, as always, the route...

Day 4 - Oh, where art thou, end of the world...?

2008-05-20T10:52:00.003-04:00

The titles for this post could be many. "How to ride off road with a Harley and a Sport Bike" or "Is that road really closed? I mean, really?" or "We don't need no steenkin pavement" or ... well, I think you see where I'm going with this.

Wayne decided he wanted to get a really early start yesterday and since I'm an early riser, I nodded in for heading out early. Turns out we were the only two. The rest of the guys wanted to sleep in a bit then get breakfast. That's cool. Wayne and I got on the road at about 6:30, stands up and rolling. We decided to bag I-5 and find "the back way out of town". Please don't ask me road names. Red-something road eventually led us to a road that looked promising, if not ideal.

We decided to stick with the road as it was heading in our basic direction. We wanted to get to somewhere South and West of Red Bluff, but try to avoid I-5 if possible. Once on the road, we decided the best bet might be to head to Covelo to pick up Rt. 162. Yeah, that was a good plan. On paper. By OUR reckoning (and hey, this is our adventure, so that's what matters most) Colvelo is actually an ancient Chinese-Mexican word for "Nowhere".

The road to Covelo (nowhere?)

"... gravel to the left of me, gravel to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle..."

We spent maybe 1/2 hour on the road and decided to stop to talk it over. We were both all for heading on, but neither of us wanted to be to blame if we got horribly lost or stuck on a dirt road in the sequel to The Hills Have Eyes.

"We sticking with this road?" "I guess. You want to?" "I guess, how about you?" "I guess." -- We're nothing if not decisive!

On the upside, if we were going to be taken hostage and eaten for dinner by crazy mutant zombies in the middle of nowhere, at least we had some excellent scenery.

I'm really sorry I don't have pictures for this part. I still haven't bought a new battery for the camera yet. Slacker! It was around this time that Wayne confessed to me that he has this certain... irrational?... fear of cows. He made a perfectly logical argument about growing up on Long Island and to him, wild life was the occasional squirrel, and dogs were about as big an animal as he was willing to put up with. Ok, I hear the words, Wayne. I truly do. That's all I'll admit to. So we get back on the road, this loose, dusty, sloppy dirt road where traction was at a bare minimum and we're riding along like first-timers. I hang back a bit to keep out of the dust cloud and Wayne disappears around a bend and behind a hill. I'm maybe 30 seconds behind him. A few seconds later, I hear this strained voice over the radio... "chris.... CHRIS!!! Where are you, man? I need some help here." Great... mutant zombies. Or he dropped his bike in this sloppy road.

Trust me, either of those would have been preferable to what I witnessed when I came around the bend.

There's Wayne, frozen in the middle of this road. Shaking. Two full grown, fierce-looking, killer attack cows are staring him down, trying to decide just how to kill him. Or eat him. In which order. Or they were just too dumb to get out of the way of his bike. I won't pass judgment. I honestly and truly hope Wayne posts up about this before the shock wears off. His descriptions of his fear and reaction are nothing I can duplicate. Simply awesome.

I try to prod him to just roll up and blow his horn, and I can see he's having none of it. These cows have to move, or he's going to kick over my bike so they'll eat me while he gets away. I took the only action I knew would get us out of this dangerous, life-threatening situation. I rode up to the cows and revved up my Harley's throaty V-Twin engine. The pipes on my Harley are the original pipes and even with that, they're a little too loud for my liking. But thank goodness I had this cow-taming machine with me today. The cows heard the engine and wandered off the road enough to let Wayne and me pass. They knew they'd been beaten. This time. Chalk one up to Mr. Darwin and the opposable thumb!!!

We rode on and about a 1/2 mile later, two other cows were on the side of the road staring us down. These were behind a wire fence but Wayne was convinced the fence wouldn't hold and they would stampede out to get us. He led a spirited run out of the area after that. We escaped with our lives and learned that Loud Pipes do, in fact, save lives. Honest and for true. Wayne lived today because I have a Harley.

We finally found a little bit of pavement thru' this small town and pushed on. Hey, that was a nice mile or two. We found a road that looked like it headed over to where we wanted to be and took it. It started out as tight packed gravel or chip seal that didn't seal. Wayne was leading and pea-sized gravel was kicking out of his tire, even though traction was good enough to ride at a normal road pace. I wouldn't want to try to ride 'fast' on this road, but it was certainly good for regular road speeds. For a few miles. Then it turned to loose gravel. Then to dirt. When we passed some ranches, we noticed that the owners must pay for their own chip-seal to be brought in. Each ranch had a nice section of road for about a 1/2 mile in each direction.

We turned off this road on to "M-4", a road that heads directly to Covelo through the mountains. Excellent. We'd been riding dirt for quite a while by this point, so another dirt road up over the mountain couldn't be a big deal, right? We were an hour or so in to a 67? mile ride to Covelo. On dirt. We're doing fine. We wound up the mountains and found a small, simple, easy-to-miss sign that said the road to Covelo was closed. Nah... it's probably fine. We pushed on. We passed a section of the road that had construction cones up and saw that a full half of the road had simply disappeared. Either washed out or fell victim to rock slide, but there it was, a whole-lane notch taken right out of the road. We figured this is why the road was closed. A car going by would be a tight fit, but we were on bikes and had more than enough room. Push on, we shall!

A few miles later we were back on chip-seal road and stopped for a break. Water, rest, pictures. We looked down on a beautiful bowl-shaped valley. You could feel the heat coming up from the valley, but it was still comfortable where we were.

We got to talking and Wayne tried to explain the whole fear-of-cows thing further. "You don't understand these creatures man. They have teeth that can crush rocks. And they attack slow." Ok, that last part about attacking slow. I completely lost it. I was half-way thru' my magnum can of Arizona Iced Tea and in mid-mouthful he pulls out that crazy sentence. I'm here to tell you - exploding Iced Tea thru' your nose in a fit of laughter... not good. I don't know if it was the ginseng or the honey, but wow... that just hurt. I couldn't stop laughing. "They attack slow, man! You don't even know!" Priceless! I laughed for the next hour about that one.

Me and my iced tea - pre-nose spouting.

We mounted up and continued up the road. The road was starting to get a whole lot rougher. Old pavement, ruts in the dirt, wash holes the size of VWs, the whole mess. Oh, and rocks... lots of big, scary rocks, trees blocking half or all of the road... all the stuff we adventure-riders love when taking our machines off roading.

"C'mon... we can make it!"

Another 10 miles or so at our break-neck pace of 10, maybe 20 miles per hour, we stopped for another rest at this local mecca. Two dirt roads intersect here, one goes off to parts unknown, the other continues on towards our destination.

M-9, another top-notch road like M-4. We'll stick with what we know, thanks!

Wayne in his best cow-hunting attire. All pictures from this day are from Wayne's camera.

I'm pretty sure that having my Harley this dirty will get me kicked out of the Harley club!

Another 5-10 miles up the road we come to a situation. We round a bend and there's a car in the road. Sort of. Actually, it was hanging off the mountain, barely on the road. Looks like it got stuck in now and the people had to walk out. Things were melting ok, but clearly it was impassable. For mortals. But we're ARCPosse. We HAD to do what we came to do, right?

The road is totally impassable for street bikes. Right?

The car was barely hanging on, the left-rear wheel clear of the road, the right-front wheel in the air. The car was sitting balanced on two tires. Wayne experimentally lifted the corner and he could have rolled the car right off the mountain if he wanted to. Yikes!

The snow mound there is about a foot to a food-and-a-half deep. More than we could ride through. But right by the car it was only a few inches. We huffed, we pushed, we held the bikes up from falling, and eventually got them both through, leaving mere millimeters between the bikes and the car. SUCCESS.

We rode on.

For about an 1/8th mile.

To an 8-foot wall of snow. Ok, THAT we're not trudging through. No way. Turn around and go past the car again, which was still a lot of work, mind you.

Well, there's another road (name/number unknown) that splits from M4 and heads towards the same direction as Covelo. Let's try that. We ride back about 3 miles and take the turn. Maybe a mile up the road, which was the worst of the rutted and pitted roads yet, we came upon another block that we couldn't get past. No snow this time at least.

Ok, Ok... we get it. Road Closed. Ok. Fine.

Yeah, we're not getting over that one.

We turned around and eventually came down off the mountain. At about 12:00, high noon, we're riding down this dirt road on the way to Orlanda for lunch when we simply HAD to stop and take a picture of this.

Wayne giving the ARCPosse symbol of protection so the mutant zombies or witches or whatever did this won't eat us.

A fox or coyote in the center, dressed up for partying and his two rabbit henchmen, all neatly tied up on the fence.

I don't know who's back and I don't know what they want. But I want to leave now, mommy!

After lunch we rode down I-5 to Rt. 20 (NICE road!), then down 101 into San Fran, then down to Palo Alto to bed in at the Travelodge. We went out to a local brew pub and met up with Roger (QuietRider) and Eric (Desmo) and had a great dinner, then back to the motel to crash.

A long, long, long day. Horrible roads, hot, dusty, even frustrating at times. And I wouldn't have traded it for anything. THIS is exactly what I wanted from this trip. Just a little out-of-the-ordinary stuff. What a fantastic day!

Day 3 - Wow, what a road!

2008-05-20T09:11:00.002-04:00

(Brian's post before this encompasses two days. This post will compliment the first part of his describing Rt. 36 and how we got there. Good write up, Brian.)

Day 3 doesn't have much of a write up. Not because it wasn't an enjoyable day of riding - it ABSOLUTELY was. After the break-down on day 2, we finished riding Rt. 199 into Crescent City, CA. Rt. 199 between the Collier Tunnel (where I broke down) and Crescent City is just... WOW. My kind of riding. Twisty, but not crazy-insane technical. Higher speed without being a race track on the street. Light traffic. Wonderful scenery. I feel like, even on the Harley, I did some of my best riding in that stretch of road. It was maybe 35 miles or so and just spectacular.

Google Maps' view of that section of Rt. 199

We spent the night at the Bay View Inn in Crescent City and had dinner at the diner next door. Nice enough. We were supposed to ride down to Fortuna and stay the night, then meet up with Wayne's friend Roger the next day for some local day riding with Roger leading the way. All the time wasted with getting the Harley running again shot that idea. It was just late enough when we reached Crescent City, and everyone was just hot and tired enough, no one wanted to ride that last stretch.

We got up and got on the road nice and early in the morning, and rode down Rt. 101 to pick up Rt. 36 at Fortuna. Wayne called Roger, but we missed them (Roger had some friends with him) by about an hour. So, we rode Rt. 36 East in to Red Bluff.

Route 36 is an amazing chameleon of a road.

Parts of it are technical and will give *anything* found in and around the area of the Tail of the Dragon a run for it's money, but I also found it to be FAR more enjoyable (and safer) than the Dragon due to the limited traffic, definite lack of Rossi-wannabes and when there was traffic (all three or four cars we saw), they moved over or waved us by or kept a decent pace. California kicks the ass of the East Coast when it comes to being motorcycle-aware and motorcycle-friendly.

Other parts of Rt. 36 were wide open sweeping turns through small mountains and farm land that provided some fantastic scenery and eye candy. Again the scale and grandeur is more than this humble East Coast boy is used to. The colors and contrasts are right out of a movie scene.

Unfortunately, I have to rely on someone else to post up and give their write up of some pictures because... Dunce that I am... I left the battery and charger for my battery at the Bay View Inn in Crescent City. We called and they're shipping it home to me, but I still have to buy a new battery on the road. Adrian has a similar camera and has offered to let me use his charger.

No touristy stuff, just fantastic riding. The heat had us all feeling punky by the end of 36 at Red Bluff and we packed in for the night there. What an intense day of riding. But wait... tomorrow brings more

The route ridden for day-3

The Long Way to San Fran

2008-05-20T02:30:00.007-04:00

What started out as another blistering day in the northern Sacramento Valley ended in a chilly, fog strouded entrance in to San Francisco via the Golden Gate bridge. Too foggy for any good pictures to be taken, especially from the Marin headlands. In between was 416 miles of some of the best riding I've ever experienced.

On Sunday we road Rt 36 from Fortuna, CA on the coast to Red Bluff at the very northern end of the Sacramento valley. It is 140+ miles of motorcycle nirvana. For those who ride, and have ridden in the smokies of NC and Tennessee, it is Deal's Gap and the Cherohala (?) Skyway all wrapped in to one. Sections are vast sweepers taken at speed and others are tight, technical mountain switchbacks. I not yet know of anything on the east coast like it. And the scenery is magnificent and so very different from the coast to the valley. On the western end by the coast it like a very twisty country road, at its end is vast grassland dotted by small scrub and trees of a variety I don't know.

Today's (Monday's ride) again encompassed a wide variety of roads and scenery, from the rollings grasslands and what I think were olive groves outside of Corning, CA to the mountain passes down in to the Napa and Sonoma wine country, back out to the coast, passing among the red woods. There is just too much to list here... and so many pictures. I really wish I had video to share of the roads we had the most fun on. Here is but a small sample, including some of my co-riders who are enjoying themselves a great deal:
Flat Stanley hanging out at Crater Lake National Park. It has to be seen to appreciate the mirror like effect of the water. Wow. The road up to the lake was also a blast. If I remember corretly, elevation was about 7000+ feet. We were there on Saturday

Early on Monday we headed in a general SW direction to head for the coast without riding back over 36 to cross the mountains. This was along a very rough paved/gravel road that lead back in canyons. Based on the cattle and horses among the pastures I'd say this was ranching country. Not long after this picture was taken we road up and over the canyon to the valley to west. There was no good place to stop and take a picture...I can't begin to explain what it was like, but when I say canyon, I mean it. The road was more gravel/dirt than paved and only a car width wide. We averaged about 20-25mpg. Not exactly what expected but wouldn't pass up the experience. Certainly improved my riding ability on "less than ideal road conditions"

Gumby is all smiles after the blast over Stewarts Valley Rd. Another uninterrupted road of squiggles that leads from the southern end of Lake Sonoma to Rt 1 on the coast. Why are there no pictures of the actual road? Because I didn't want to break the zone I was in riding this. It's some of the best riding I've ever done.

Flat Stanley sees the California coast line. This is along the PCH south of Stewarts Point. Adrian is giving Stanley a helping hand.

Tackling the PCH. We're headed off to Palo Alto to bed down for the night. It's already well in to the afternoon and there is still well over a 100 miles to cover. It's foggy along the coast and the temps are considerably lower than inland. A welcome break. This is Adrian, Bob, and Keith threading their way southward.

I failed to mention at the beginning of the post that Chris and Wayne had their own adventures for the day as they looked for other ways to cross the mountains. From what I heard over dinner the post will be very much worth reading! Glad to say they made it to Palo Alto not long after we did, a bit dusty and rather worn out but all smiles. I didn't know you could do adventure-touring with a Harley Street Glide (Chris' bike); learn something new every day!

Day 2 - Fortuna or Bust. We busted.

2008-05-19T00:10:00.003-04:00

The Gilchrist Inn - a hidden gem in Oregon!

Day two started out wonderfully, after a great night of meal, drink, banter and fun at the pub near the Gilchrist Inn. We again went back to the pub/diner and had a fantastic breakfast at the buffet. Actually very good food! Everything from fresh cooked meats & eggs to a very fresh, very nice fruit bar. $7.95, all you can eat, served up by our waitress, cook and chief bottle washer.

Goddess of the Breakfast Buffet

We've met some seriously friendly folks on this trip so far. The woman who owns the Inn, her boyfriend and another couple they know chatted us up for a good hour before we got on the road in the morning. Everyone's been great.

The owner of the Gilchrist Inn, Marlena talking with Wayne as he loads up his bike

We got under way and killed almost a whole tank of gas before the first rest stop. A brief roadside rest while we got some water in us and took some pictures.

This snow-baned brook ran along the road. Great little place to take a rest and recharge for a few minutes. The air was warm, but the snow showed no signs of hurrying up to melt.

Keith waving to the camera while checking cell phone

The sandy cliff was literally eroding away while we sat there. There was a constant sound of sand falling and little wisps of dust all over the cliff.

Beautiful as it was, we didn't stay long. The 50-foot-tall trees 50 feet up on the cliff were rather imposing. Erosion + big trees... do the math. If a tree falls in the forest and kills six motorcyclists, will anyone who hears it care at all? I don't wanna be there to find out. Back on the road!

We eventually made our way to Crater Lake to look around, have some lunch, take some pictures and just unwind a little. We spent about an hour and a half just relaxing, talking, being tourists.

These "Harley Guys" thought that we were the tough ones - riding all the way from Delaware and all. We let them think that for a while until they asked how far we'd ridden in the last couple of days. Then we 'fessed up that we'd only ridden from Portland but in two weeks we WOULD be as tough as they thought we were. Everyone had a good laugh. Nice guys!

The park ranger in training was happy to take our pictures and chat about the lake, all the while happily joining in on some of the fun, ragging on each other.

The lake itself is just amazing.

The snow still had a lot of the grounds at the tourist center closed down and made actually getting inside the center quite a chore too.

Keith posing to show how tall the snow was - and this was after months of packing down and recently melting some.

Wayne decided to pelt everyone with snow balls. Who has snowball fights in 75-degree weather???

Adrian attempts to climb and surprise the elusive, rare Danger sign before it flies off.

"Wait... it's just a stupid sign. Never mind."

"Hold on... what's this cover on here do?"

California, here I come.

YAY! We made it! "Goin' back to Kali..."

ARCPosse...

... in da hiz-houze!

Neener, neener, neener... we're roasting in 100-degree temps and you're not. naa naa naa naaaaaaa!

And then... catastrophe strikes. We're riding up the road and I just enter the Collier Tunnel when my bike dies. Just ups and dies. After fiddling with it a few minutes, Keith and Adrian and Brian help me push it a few hundred yards - UPHILL - out of the tunnel. Hey! I used-to-was a mechanic. I can at least find out WHAT died even if I can't fix it on the side of the road, right?

I run thru' a basic set of diagnostics.

Battery good? Check.
Fuel level good? Check.
Kill switch not bumped? Check.
Spark? Check.
Fuel? The pump runs. Check.
Cranks? Check.
Starts? FAIL!

Finally after futzing with it for a good 1/2 hour, I decide to try out my nifty keen AMA towing package. Waaaah, waahh! No cell service. I fire up the non-emergency HELP on SPOT, then hand my cell phone, AMA card to Brian and ask him to ride ahead to where he's got cell service and call it in for me, while I put the bike back together and wait for a tow.

On a Saturday evening.

And it's 100 degrees.

Yeah, this sucks.

Brian comes back and lets me know he made the call, called my home to let everyone know things are OK (SPOT service sends a "we need help" message via SMS & EMail). He also says that he called Wayne and Bob, who had ridden ahead earlier, and they were coming back.

In the mean time, Curious George, being the curious little bloke he is, tried starting the bike and checking out the engine. Finally he gave up too.

"c'mon... let's fire this bitch up and get on the road!"

"No, I don't know what's wrong and I don't wanna talk about it!"

"Well, here's your problem right here... the engine isn't running!"

Wayne and Bob arrive to help stare at the bike, point and laugh.

Wayne ended up having some good ideas. Fresh perspective is always good. I was happy to do the basics, then call for help. Again, the bike is relatively new and under warranty. Our putzing around might break something, or leave something in a state where warranty would be questioned. But Wayne convinced me to check a few more things and look deeper. So, we tried bleeding some fuel out of the tank to put directly into the cylinders to make sure the engine would at least fire up. I don't mind admitting we'd been running it kind of hard and it's not crazy to think we over-heated something or something along those lines. But alas... we got no fuel bled out of the line. But.. but... but..... we heard the pump run and we heard the fluid sounds.

We conferred and I agreed to pull the tank so we could unscrew the output fitting and see what's up. Well, whattya know... the host came right out of the tank and wasn't connected to the pump. Let's go over the design here... the tank is a big empty shell and it holds gas. The fuel pump - necessary on a fuel-injected system - resides IN the tank because pumps just work better when they're pushing liquid rather than pulling it. Putting it closest to the source - inside the tank in this case - makes the most sense. The float, pump and output line all come together in this massively over-complicated plenum connection thing inside the tank and sure enough... the clip that holds the output hose is there, not broken, it just came un-done.

We take a moment to make sure everything is present, then we put it all back together again, ensuring the clips are firmly seated in place, and put the tank back on.

SUCCESS! It lives!

I ask Brian to again call the AMA towing guys and cancel the call, then call the house to say A-OK so no one worries.

Here's the thing... this isn't even a Harley problem. When I crashed the bike back in January, one of the pieces replaced was the tank. The tank comes from Harley parts as just the shell. You put the pump and float assembly in the new tank after removing it from the old tank. The freaking mechanic at the dealer just rushed the job! This makes FOUR things I've had to fix after they put the bike back together.

A strongly-worded letter and a promise of NO MORE MONEY FROM ME is definitely in their future. Ridiculous.

But... at the end of the day, it's back together, we're back on the road and everyone is safe and happy.

Much thanks to the guys for sticking it out with me and helping to resolve this problem that should never have been. Thanks guys!

We pulled in to Crescent City later than planned. In fact, we had planned to ride all the way to Fortuna, CA, but it just didn't work out that way. Thank you Mr. Harley Dealer Mechanic.

Putz.

Route for day 2

(day one post updated)

2008-05-18T20:12:00.001-04:00

Nothing new yet, but the day one post is updated.

Day 1 - Mount Hood (updated)

2008-05-17T11:31:00.002-04:00

Day 1 - Mount Hood (updated)

Day one started out a little late... Jet lag and time zones and all that. We all slept in a bit.

We got on the road after 9am and the temperature was climbing rapidly. We crossed into Washington and followed the Hood River for a ways, pacing a train that was kicking ass through the twists, tunnels and hills. A lot of fun. It was a fun road with lots of higher-speed twists, some elevation changes, some small tunnels, etc. A little traffic, but nothing to worry over.

After the first gas stop of the day, we took a route out to the Mount Hood area and had the mountain in view most of the day. Temperatures were ranging from 40s in the hills to mid 90s in some of the flats and valleys. We did hit some traffic in Bend and Wayne's bike started puking a little anti-freeze, but was fine once we got out of the traffic.

chornbe's Street Glide

Keith's FJR1300

Brian's VFR

Adrian's FJR1300

And a solo of the star of the show...

Most of the roads were some nice higher-speed sweepers with the occasional tighter, twistier section. Nothing that I would call "technical"

Lots of nice scenery along the way, like this river that ran along the road

I need to work on my shooting from the saddle technique. It's bad enough that I had to use the throttle hand for the pictures, but doing it at highway speeds, with gloves on... eh, leaves a bit to be desired.

[I can ham it up though!]

Snow was in abundance everywhere near the mountain, yet the air temperature was easily into the 70s. Crazy!

[Lots of great descriptions come to mind. I'll switch to 'majestic' because 'awesome' is getting a little old]

I don't know what I thought I expected of Oregon, but riding through the country side I found myself being surprised. I guess I expected wall to wall forest, lots of lumber business and lots of logging roads, but not much more and certainly not to the scale I saw. I'm definitely getting an education and filling in some serious gaps in my limited knowledge of the PNW. There are places in Oregon that would give Kansas a run for its money when it comes to flat lands and straight roads. I honestly had no idea. The biggest thing I think I'm learning from being off the East Coast is a new understanding of space. Pennsylvania has some forested lands. The Carolinas have some forested land. What I rode through in Oregon puts to shame all I've seen thus far... density, scale, sprawl and height. But the wide-open spaces are just as breath taking in their scale, too. As I said, I didn't expect this.

A quick shot from the cockpit back through the mirror shows Brian and Keith making use of the ample space on the road

ARCPosse hamming it up for the lens

Say what you will about Harleys, they sure are photogenic on the open road!

And (most of) the route today... The blue line was our original planned route. The black is what we actually rode. As you see, we're constantly updating the route.

We spent the night in Gilchrist, OR. A local recommended the Gilchrist Inn to us as a good place to stay. Adrian called and reserved 'enough for six people', then we headed over. It turned out to be far more than expected. The Gilchrist Inn is AWESOME! For $80/night you get, basically, a two bedroom condo. Full kitchen, living room, dining room, patio, garage, etc. Talk about a hidden gem!

Day 0.9 - Arrived and repacking

2008-05-16T02:41:00.002-04:00

We arrived safely!!! We flew out of Philly more or less on time (for Philly!) and arrived in Portland a little bit before 9pm local time.

Well, this definitely isn't a twisty road, but we're making great time

Hey, what are those things? They're like... BIG!

Ah, how comforting. Friendly, familiar faces

Adrian and Bob had already brought the bikes to the hotel and filled them up with fuel. Awesome! We all have some shuffling around of luggage and such on the bikes. Some tonight, some tomorrow.

Tomorrow we're going to meet up around 9am, return the rental car and get under way. The time zone change and a late dinner kinda kicked the crap out of all of us. Not much news. Start looking for the Day-1 (and later) posts to be updated.

Here we go, folks. Oh, and Yes, Wayne... "we're there now".

A week of "firsts"

2008-05-12T19:16:00.002-04:00

Where to start? Well this is my "first" blog post, ever. Sure I've posted to forums before, but somehow a blog seems different. More "personal", "the" thing to do as an online presence. It's not a week where I'm taking my first multi-day motorcycle trip, but it is the first multi-week trip and certainly the largest trip I've done yet. I think just about everyone on this trip has considerable more riding time and experience than I do and I certainly am grateful for being invited along.

Wow, just 3 days away. And like Chris' post, the packing is not done even though I thought I was a leg up on it. I still think getting the bike packed and to Keith's for loading was the biggest chore, but there are still clothes to stuff in to a duffel and decisions as to what I'm taking on the plane. And it is adding up.

I'm not a big reader, but I did buy a book for this trip and introducing myself to the "graphic novel" genre by reading Alan Moore's "Watchmen". I've been told by several sources it is a benchmark of the genre and a great place to start.

I also considered downloading some movies from iTunes and taking the iPod along. But then I considered that I'll have earplugs in much of the day, radio and GPS chatter, XM Radio and MP3 tunes (both via GPS) throughout the day so my ears would most likely appreciate a break at the end of the day. I'm not sure how long it will take to read the Watchmen so I may need something else to take. Yet something else to pack.

In addition to the five other riders, I'll have two "co-riders" with me. My traveling companions will be Flat Stanley and Gumby. I'm new to the Flat Stanley Project (another first I suppose) but it sounds like so much fun! The daughter of a co-worker has a Flat Stanley and I've agreed to take him along. Watch for pictures of Stanley, you never know where he'll pop up!

Gumby, well who doesn't know Gumby? This Gumby belongs to my step-mom Meg and has been with her since I met her, residing just east of Harrisburg PA. I've been told he's well traveled and I'm going to make sure he gets a few more miles under his belt. No doubt you'll see him hamming it up with Stanley somewhere along the way.

Seems best to wrap up this, my first, blog and get busy packing that bag and perhaps filling up another SD card with tunes for the Garmin.

Last of the last minute stuff

2008-05-11T20:15:00.005-04:00

I can't speak for the rest of the guys, but for myself, I've still got a few things to pack. For instance, I forgot to pack my motorcycle riding boots on the bike when it was shipped out. So I'll have to take them. I've been trying to decide if I should pack them, or just wear them on the plane and buy some sneakers once we get to Portland. That would seriously reduce the carry-on bag's weight and size.

Another thing is my gear. The gear I intended to wear is on the bike. This includes several pairs of gloves, ranging from mesh free-flowing gloves to full on insulated, heated cold-weather gloves. It also includes my heated vest, my Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket and riding pants, and some rain over-gear (rather than the Alter Ego's rain liners). Just makes more sense to have over-gear rain gear than to have to stop and zip-in a water layer.

However, I just go hold of a Fieldsheer Highlander one-piece riding suit that could, conceivably, take the place of the Alter Ego stuff *and* the rain gear. I got it on closeout for less than half the regular retail price. Do I take that and ship the other stuff home upon arrival? Again, it would lighten and simplify the on-the-road packing considerably. So that would have to be rolled up and added to the carry-on. I don't know.

Then, of course, there are my personal electronics... my MacBook, my GPS (the mount and all that is already on the bike, along with the Autocomm system), my GMRS two-way radios for bike-to-bike comms, my iPod and, of course, my cell phone. The iPod and cell phone will also have to have their chargers, too. They're all small, but add up in a single carry-on bag.

I'll need a book for the plane. My friend Jason Clark has graciously agreed to let me borrow his copy of Small Favor (the most recent Harry Dresden novel from Jim Butcher) for use on the plane and during down time when I might want to read. I'm also bringing my copy of Infected by Scott Sigler for him to sign if we can make a connection in San Fran. Again, alone, each is fine, but when packing into a carry on, it all adds up.

Cash, credit cars, ID, itinerary, spare keys, tooth brush, etc., etc., and etc. Sheesh, I thought I had this all thought out. I had originally intended to walk off the plane with the barest of packings, ready to literally hop on the bike and go. But now... sheesh.

How did I forget and mis-manage so much while packing up? I'm chalking it up to excitement. Yeah... yeah, that's it. Excitement. Age and having a mind like a steel sieve have nothing at all to do with it.

I do know one thing, though... 4 days from now I'll be half way across the continent and on my way. This trip has been a long time coming.

Too much time on my hands, its ticking away at my sanity
Ive got too much time on my hands, its hard to believe such a calamity
Ive got too much time on my hands and its ticking away from me
Too much time on my hands, too much time on my hands
Too much time on my hands
-- Tommy Shaw, STYX

In transit, and time ticking down

2008-05-06T20:38:00.006-04:00

Well, here we are. 9 days from departure. The bikes continue their trek across the country, currently existing in the Chicago area. The other guys and I, we're all kinda wound up, waiting for the time to tick down.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
-- Pink Floyd

Day 0.5 - loading up, rolling out

2008-04-30T22:40:00.002-04:00

2008 - April 30, circa 7:30pm

The Federal (Allied Van Lines affiliate) driver called to say he would be at Keith's to pick up the bikes "about dinner time". He showed up by about 6pm, loaded up and rolling out by about 7:30pm. Each bike had to undergo a brief inspection for existing damage and to run through a check list of items for ship-prep. It all went smoothly and we photographed anything pointed out on the various bikes so there can be no issues later.

Here they all are, ready, willing, able...

First, Adrian's bike is inspected, signed off and staged for loading

Next up is Brian's bike

First two are staged and ready to be loaded

Adrian's bike goes in first

The drivers were happy to have our help loading up

Keith is assisting with Brian's bike...

... while enjoying a Chocolate Eclair ice cream bar from the ice cream truck. A little early in the season, but what the hell.

The Harley had already been inspected and staged by the truck, then it was on to inspecting Keith's bike.

Bike is clean, nothing to of note to write down.

Adrian arrives to help us see the babies off.

The bikes are strapped down to palettes and at Keith's urging, the drivers adjusted the straps for minimal suspension compression. The trailer is a smooth-riding "air ride" trailer and, according to the driver, won't have any problems at all.

On the left you have sleek and sexy, on the right you have boxy and solid - the Volvo of motorcycles

Next up is the inspection of Bob's FJR and Wayne's FZ-1

"No, no... that'll buff right out. We'll never have to tell him. Honest!"

Just kidding, looks fine. Let's finish this up!

oooh, artsy!

Chornbe holds up Wayne's FZ1 while the driver straps it in. How'd the shortest guy end up holding up the tallest bike?

"Uhm... guys... I'm stuck in here and I get kinda car sick on long drives. Help a brutha out?"

"FREEDOM!" (I'm not painting my face blue to yell that, either!)

From the side....

Adrian hamming it up and asking, "How come MINE'S not in this shot???"

And there they go. We all joined in a chorus of "Take good care of my baby". It was a pretty sappy moment. Adrian cried and have to leave before anyone took any more pictures of him. Sissy!

So... the bikes are officially on the way. W00T!

Day 0 - prepped and ready to roll

2008-04-29T06:24:00.001-04:00

Day 0 - prepped and ready to roll:

The participants in this little sojourn include Chips (Keith), ZmZmOn2 (Brian), FZMax (Wayne), Adrian (Adrian) and Bob. We all prepped our bikes for the trip at our homes, then delivered them to Keith's garage where they will wait for the truck from Federal (motorcycle shipping division of Allied Van Lines) to pick them up and send them on their way to the left coast.

From left to right, my Street Glide, Brian's VFR, Adrian's 2006 FJR

And more... Bob's 2005 FJR, Wayne's FZ-1

And last but certainly not least, Keith's 2007 FJR, aka "Bear Killer"

It's not going on this trip, but the tail section you see in the left-most part of the picture of Keith's Black Cherry FJR is this little beauty, the 2005 CBR600/RR. Keith can some how manage to bang out back to back 500 mile days on this thing and most owners of RR bikes would cringe and cry to mommy with the mileage he's racked up on it. And he keeps it absolutely pristine, too. Way to go, man!

This trip simply can NOT start soon enough!

What the hell is an ARCPosse, anyway?

2008-04-28T11:16:00.000-04:00

Seems like a dumb name, huh? Well, it kinda is. It's the best thing a bunch of old guys could come up with just to have a name to attach to this rag-tag group of nut jobs riding across the US.

You see, we all took the "Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic" or "ARC" class. It's a class designed to teach more advanced and sport-riding techniques to ultimately enable a rider to handle his bike better. (details at http://www.leeparksdesign.com/miscpage_002.asp )

Posse is just because...

This isn't an official name for some silly bar hopping club or anything - we just needed a name for the website. We don't have patches or jackets or anything. Not even a logo. Just a stupid name. That's all. Besides... "Wild Hogs" was taken.

It's real...

2008-04-28T11:12:00.000-04:00

18 Days and counting...

The bikes are all at Keith's house awaiting the truck to pick them up. This is the last big thing... getting the bikes loaded up. Once that's done and they're on their way, it's just a complete waiting game. I can't change my mind about which bike to take and just have to wait out the next 2 1/2 weeks without going completely insane. There's a challenge.

The final roll call of bikes is:
My Street Glide
Keith's FJR1300 (gen-2)
Adrian's FJR1300 (gen-2)
Wayne's FZ-1 (gen-1)
Brian's VFR
Bob's FJR1300 (gen-1)

On the upside, I'm definitely not the only one who had a hard time packing up. Not only did everyone have to contend with weight and space issues, but no one wanted to carry their helmet and riding gear on the plane. So we each had to dedicated at least one full storage box to the daily-use gear. That's kind of a pain, but on the upside, when we're on the road, we're each guaranteed to have a little open space for daily-use items (snack bars, bottled water, bought t-shirts, etc.).

So... it's real. It's on. It's happening. Wow.

28 Days Later

2008-04-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

No. I don't mean the 28 Days Later monster/zombie movie. No rage virus. No flesh eating zombie-like monsters. No desolate waste lands in the middle of the city. No... 28 Days Later from today we leave.

Longest.
Four.
Weeks.
Ever.

Mark my words.

It's still too early to pack, isn't it?

The route - more or less.

2008-04-07T09:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, we have a basic route planned out. With the understanding that each of will have differing points of interest along the way, and that there's absolutely way we can fully plan the route out ahead of time, we decided on basic points along the way and will plan on doing a budgeted 300 miles per day. This will allow us to hit twisties, see sights, perhaps visit with people along the way and, of course, leave ample time for meal breaks and opportunities to arrange a day or two of lodging along the way for the next stops.

The bikes arrive in Portland on the 12th-14th, being trucked in by Federal.

The first couple of days on the road have us riding thru' some mountain areas in Oregon, eventually winding our way to Crescent City, CA. The midway point in that is Eugene, OR in which we'll likely overnight. That really comes down to the quality of the roads and the weather. We're planning on 300 miles of twisties being a full riding day, off the road and settled in by dinner time. We all agree that running from early morning to late afternoon, off the road before sunset is the best and safest option all around.

Days 3 and 4 take us down the coastal highway and back up into the hills, then back towards the coast, tentatively arriving in San Francisco at the end of day 4. Again, weather depending, this may turn in to day 5. It is in San Francisco that I intend to take a day off, regardless of the rest of the group's plans. There are mixed feelings about taking a day off this (apparently) early in the trip, but I want to remain fresh and comfortable through as much of the trip as possible, and that means ample time off bike and with my head clear of constant riding. While in San Francisco, I'm still set to meet up with author Scott Sigler, swap stories, visit a bit and get to know the man behind the words a little. I continue to consider that a highlight of the trip. And hey... micro-brews and jazz clubs, here I come! San Francisco is a beautiful city, and I've been looking forward to getting back there.

After some amount of down time in and around San Fran, it's stands up and wheels rolling on to the next port of call. This will have us traveling from San Francisco to Las Vegas. This part of the route will likely be some of the more interesting, great mountain roads aside. On this leg of the trip, we're riding through Yosemite National Park and through Death Valley National Park. We're also planning on some down time in Vegas because - well, it's Vegas. A day at the most, with the most likely option being hanging a little later on the night of the arrival, then hanging out a bit longer than normal in the morning to sleep in, grab some Vegas breakfast, etc. It's Vegas, baby!

Now from Vegas, we have several options, and this may be the most stressful part of the trip: (insert DUM DUM DUM music here) Major Decision Time. You see, from here we can head North and enjoy some desert riding in Nevada then head East and go up to Moab, Utah which, by all accounts, is motorcycle riding Nirvana come to Earth. Or, we can head South and East, through the desert, down towards Tuscon, and seeing Tombstone before heading East to Roswell. Me? I'm personally looking forward to heading South and East. Seriously, how often can you say you saw San Fran, Vegas, Tombstone and Roswell in the same trip? If I were the sole guy making the decision, this is where I'd go. We'll either vote on it, or break into two groups, one going to each of those destinations. I know at least one of the other guys is interested in the Southeast run.

After the Major Decision Time (I'm not spelling out the music again) part of the trip, then we head to Durango, Colorado. Again, we're looking forward to some great mountain riding in Colorado, and beginning our trek East towards home. From Durango, the original plan included Birmingham, Alabama to spend a day at the Barber Motorsports Park and Museum. Race cars, bikes and cool stuff, and a day off.

Once we're in the East, we figure we're a long day-ride to home from most of the reasonable destinations, so we'll buzz across the farm states and if time allows, spend some time riding the Eastern mountains for a day or so before finishing up at home.

This is the plan, more or less. 2 1/2 weeks of riding, sight seeing and camaraderie. Once in a lifetime. Here we go... 39 days and counting.

One worry down, eight million to go

2008-03-06T06:57:00.001-05:00

Well, the riding group met last weekend and we all agreed that Adrian would be nuts to want to drive a 24 or 26 foot rental truck across the country in three days. He would probably be beat up and not at all rested and would want to take a day or two off before hitting the road. He agreed that he would change his plans and fly out, and we will ship the bikes out.

We just had to decide if we would use a bike-only shipper, freight forwarder, etc. We did some calling and got lots of quotes, compared values and options, then decided on a company who only ships vehicles. We got a firm price quote and gave them a tentative "go ahead". We're booking it officially this week. The bikes will remain at their depot until we arrive - unless one of the guys in the group can come thru' with having his friend contact a dealership in the Portland metro area. Either way, we're covered for a destination and storage place until we arrive.

We're only a few days over 2 months from departure date.

Again, I ask... is it too early to pack?

May 15 - departure date

2008-02-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

In the words of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers...

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

I think we honestly have all the hard stuff taken care of. We just need to finalize the truck or bike shipping and that first night's hotel reservation in Portland and we're ready to leave.

Is it too soon to pack?

Shipping the bikes

2008-02-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

I may have found a break in getting the bikes out to Portland. My Harley dealer has dozens of skids out behind their building that they send back to Harley periodically. These are metal versions of what you typically find in the bottom of a motorcycle shipping crate. I was having a discussion with one of the guys and he indicated I may be able to borrow, buy or have some of the skids. In fact, I may simply be able to turn them in at a Harley dealer in the Portland area so that Harley still has them in the long run.

I have to firm up these plans, but this will definitely be a big worry taken care of. I didn't want to have to hand-build shipping palettes and I didn't want to take the chance of having the bike get damaged in transit. Thanks, but no thanks.

I'll let ya'll know how this works out. I'm pretty excited about it.

The inital post

2008-01-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

Well, this is what I've decided to do... create a new and separate blog for the '08 Road Trip and the things that pertain to - and lead up to - that trip.

I'll get the other guys to sign up and become 'blog authors, too. Then we can all chip in on the whole thing.

Yay, us!