2011 Ride Plans

So, this is another year that my schedule will not allow me to ride to Alaska. I have been a bit 'under the weather' and finally figured out that it is an abscessed tooth that has been draining my energy. So, on Monday, I have a root canal scheduled to be followed by a crown on the tooth. So, maybe I will feel better.

In any case, we are still deciding on our trip this year. My wife wants to head south, to the beach this summer. I am not too keen on that on the bike, but since we went west last summer, we'll probably head south. Just where else we will go is unknown. We may either head to Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma OR east into Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. Decisions, decisions.

I plan to have a KLR 650 by next summer. I also plan to take and pass my comps for my PhD next summer. If I do, I may take off for an Adventure ride solo next summer following the comps, just to clear my head. We'll see what happens between now and then.

In any case....here's what we are looking forward to this summer:

Back in the Swing of Things

I think the title says it all. I am back at it full-time. I am working a lot. I am in a new agency as well as teaching some. Plus other stuff. So, all of those fun things combined with my own school work is keeping me busy. Some days it feels overwhelming. I feel like I want to run away and join the circus.

But, then I get a second wind, and go for another day. Of course, my circus looks more like this:

Ah, yes, the joys of the open road. I spent a few years on the road and enjoyed almost every moment of it. Then, I had to get de-toxed from the road. Being 'out there' is almost like a drug. I felt free and like I was living 'outside of life.' That was nice. Now, though, I feel everything pressing in on me from all directions and just want to take a break for a while. I might. We'll see.

But, for now, all keeps moving along. Nothing extremely exciting and nothing noteworthy to mention. Just more work and little pay and lots of stress. I guess on the good side we are getting "new" bathrooms in the house. I guess that is good....although the ones in the house were working, just one faucet was dripping, so they decided to fix it....and a new toilet, new floor, etc..

Til later,

Wyoming Trip, Part IV

This was our last day on the road, but we didn't know it when we left Dodge City. We slept late and went by Front Street in Dodge. I bought a t-shirt and some gifts for the teens at church. They should worry!!

Then, we were off across Kansas. All I've got to say is that it is better than Nebraska. That is, until we got to Wichita. We were detoured off the highway by several of Kansas' finest. Then, we had to work our way through the city to get back on the 4 lane. This was not fun. Finally, back on the interstate and oops....off on a toll road. Now, this is fun on a bike. So, we stopped at an Oasis where we gassed up and got money out for the toll. When we exited, I made a wrong turn and and to flip back around. More good times.

Then, off across the state...were we passed through Greensburg, home of the World's Largest Hand Dug Well...or what's left of it after the tornado...

We stopped in Springfield, MO for a nice Japanese dinner and then it was off for St. Louis. We arrive home around 11:30....after 14.5 hours on the road. Exhausted, smelly, and ready for a soft bed.

Total miles for today: 639.6

Total miles for trip: 1994.8

Wyoming Trip, Part III

Day 3
Today we woke up extra early...I wanted to get the bike loaded and get outta there while it was cool and damp. My hopes were that the bike would run better in those conditions. So, at 5:45 we pulled out of Cheyenne. The bike was still running slow and rich, but we made it out of town. We had to stop 2 times in Cheyenne to re-bungie the bags.

About 14 miles out of town, we had lost enough elevation that the bike was beginning to purr like a kitten. We rode 104 miles before stopping for fuel in Sidney, NE. We were able to get 87 octane there, so we knew that we were out of the higher elevations.

We rode on to North Platte, NE where we enjoyed a nice Taco John's lunch. We gassed up again and this time put 2 gallons in our portable tank, just in case. Now, it was off across the rugged plains of Nebraska. Oh what joy. Road construction everywhere.

We found a Casey's General Store where we gassed again. Then, the GPS went off kilter. We came upon an intersection and I was not sure which way to go, as the roads were not on the GPS. So, I made a guess...and was right. However, I didn't know how far we had to go to find more gas. I knew that when we came to I70 we would find gas. So....we came upon a sign that said "Cold Beer, Food, Gas" and so we stopped. For at least 2 of the 3. After a brief respit, (and an adventure of buying gas from a co-op) we were off again. In 25 miles, we were on I70 and at a real gas station.

We headed south to Garden City and then to Dodge City. We found that there are many bumps on the KS roads (but also a lot of construction!!). We pulled into the Super 8; showered, and walked to the DQ for dinner. Nice long, safe day.

Total miles today: 445.5

Wyoming Trip, Part II

On Tuesday, we woke up early and packed the bike. I thought that if we got up early, the air would be a bit more damp and cool. This being the case, I hoped that the bike would run better (remembering such things from my flying days!). So, at 5:45 AM, we were bungied up and on the road. Not a half-mile down the road, the bag on the back of the bike came loose. So, we pulled over and re-bungied it. Off we went again. No sooner had I turned onto a viaduct than the bag came loose again. Wilma held on to it while attempting to stay on the bike for about a mile. We found a gas station and pulled in to gas up and re-bungie.

Soon, we were out of Cheyenne for good. About 14 miles down the road, the bike began to run much smoother. Hmmm....probably less than 500ft elevation made a huge difference.

We kept going to around North Platte, NE. We pulled into a Taco John's for lunch and gassed up at a Shell station. It was at this time, since we were beginning to go cross-country that we filled our portable gas can with about 2 gallons of extra gas. And we were off across Nebraska.

Wyoming Trip

Well, our Wyoming trip was interesting to say the least. We did not make it to Yellowstone or even the Grand Tetons. The reason was the elevation. Our bike has a carburetor instead of being electronic fuel injected (EFI) and as such, needs to be re-jetted for higher elevations. So, we rolled into Cheyenne and the bike was getting too much fuel and not enough air. Here is a day by day play...

Day 1 (Sunday) 
We left St. Louis around noon, (after church). We geared up with CE armored pants and leather jackets. We had full-face helmet and leather gloves and boots. We rode out I70 to Kansas City and encountered the ever-present traffic problems. (I hate KC!!!). We then turned north through St. Joseph and into Iowa and Nebraska. We finally stopped for the night in York, NE. We met some fellow-travelers at Super 8 who gave us a coupon for a $50 room. Asked if we were headed to Sturgis. We said that we were headed for Yellowstone. All in all, a good day. Rode 494.6 miles today. Dinner was McDonalds.

Day 2 (Monday)
We rode across the Great Plains today. How do I know this? By the signs that I saw that told me so. Saw the
Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. Would have liked to stop...but we had a destination. We battled fierce cross-wind all day. I thought I was going to wear the left side of my tires out leaning into the wind all day. We rode about 10-11 hours. All in the wind. All westward. Finally, we crossed into Wyoming. We filled with gas and rode on to Cheyenne. There, once again was a Super 8 night. We paid $139 plus tax for that room. It was time of the great Frontier Days in Cheyenne, so they were taking the tourists for all they could. Talk about highway robbery. Oh well, I guess it is capitalism at its best (or worst). We un-bungied all of our stuff and checked into the room.

Somewhere in Nebraska

Same Place

Same Place

The bike was not running too good. So, after Wilma ordered pizza and we stuffed ourselves, I went to the lobby to check our elevation. Cheyenne is at 6067 feet. WOW!  Our bike did not like that. It belched black smoke, ran slow, and smelled like gas. Hmmm....it was flooding. So, too much gas and not enough air. What do to? Yellowstone is higher. So, it was time to rethink our plan. Definitely could not go any higher. Rats!!! No national parks. But we kept hearing about bear attacks, so maybe this was not so bad. Today was a short day mileage wise: only 415.10 miles. We stopped for fuel 5 times. Mostly for our bottoms to rest. However, we noticed after we gained some elevation that the mileage on the bike dropped from around 38mpg to around 30-31mpg. Not good. Luckily, we had an anti-gremlin device given to us by our buddy Rick Statler.

Even caught a gremlin!!

All is Ready

I think that we have finally bought everything that we are going to for our vacation this year. And here I thought it was going to be a cheap vacation!

Here is a list of what we are taking (photo to follow later):
1-Motorcycle cover
1-Package cigarette lighters
1-Slime tire tackle repair kit
1-Rubber cement
1-Slime "Tire Top Off" inflater
1-Box "AA" batteries
2-Camp towels
1-Repel (40% Deet) 8.125oz
1-Repel (100% Deet) 1oz
2-Emergency blankets
1-Pack "Wet Ones"
2-Small toothpaste
4-Disposable razors
1-Pack Campers Toilet Paper
1-"Turtle" pocket tool
7-Glo light stycks
1-First Aid Kit
1-Pepto Bismol tablets (30 ct) ....ya nefer know!! :)
1-Old Spice Body Wash
1-Rinse Free shampoo (8oz)
1-Camp soap (4 oz)
2-No rinse shampoo (2 oz each)
2-No rinse body ways (2oz each)
2-Hand Sanitizer
1-Shampoo
1-Lotion
2-Shampoo (hotel size)
1-Mini Mag Light
1-Coleman LED lantern
1-3 person tent
2-sleeping bags
1-2 gallon gas can
--Assorted tools
1-Duck tape (always!!...Learned from my Aunt Wanda!!)
2-Boxes Granola bars
30-Zippered plastic bags (gallon size)
2-Passports
2-Rainsuits

We are packing everything either in the saddlebags, trunk, or one of three rain-proof bags from Bass Pro. We found the boat bags to be the best deal...waterproof and reasonable in price. We first went to Dick's Sporting Goods to find them, but they did not have any. One older worker there suggested to my wife that she go to Bass Pro. It is good to know that there are still good people out there who place doing the right thing above making a buck.

Tomorrow, the plan is to pack what we can (sleeping bags, saddle bags, etc...). This is a picture of the stuff that we are taking....minus clothes, personal items, and sleeping bags.

This is gonna be fun.....heck, it already is fun!!!