Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bring the Family


Intro:  This one was from 7/21.  I still have a ton of blog content from the end of the summer.  I’m going to start updating the blog every other day.  It’s the only way I’m going to catch up on the content.
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Quick review:  The Long Way Round was a TV show back in the early 2000s where Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman rode motorcycles east across Europe, up through Russia and from Alaska to New York.  There was also a book version.  The book version should be standard reading for anyone planning a big trip.




I’m struck by how sick the poor bastards were prior to leaving.  They were so upset about leaving their families that they didn’t sleep for the 4 nights before the trip.  Charlie (a very accomplished rider) dropped his bike twice on departure day.

When I first started planning this, I thought, “well shit, I can be gone a couple of weeks”.  Then I talked to my wife.  As usual she was more realistic and brought me back down from the dangers of assumption.  To quote Samuel L Jackson (which one can never do enough of): 

“When you make an assumption, you make an ass out of u and mption

I live and breathe my family.  Not a day goes by that I don’t look at my wife and realize how wonderful she is and how lucky I am.

Take the feelings I have for my wife and multiply them tenfold for my kids.  I could probably write it out but I would need more time to create the symbols and syntax.  I’ll get to it in a later entry, for now, my kids are my reason for everything.  That’s it.

There is no fucking way that I could voluntarily leave my family for two weeks.  As usual, my wife had the solution:

“We would need to ride with you somehow.  I can’t stand the thought of you being away from us that long”.

And just like that the possible solution to several problems started to work themselves out in my head.  She and the kids will meet up with me several times on the trip and then at the end in Key West.  I’ll trailer the bike in Miami and we’ll all drive home together.  This way it’s an adventure for everyone and it gives us all a reason to get excited about the planning.

Just today my son asked what kind of bike he would be riding on the trip.  I had to tell him that I would do the riding and that he would have to ride with me.  His response?

“Cool.”

I hadn’t even thought about doing it that way until today.  All of these things that seem like they are problems, seem to turn into opportunities to make the trip better and more meaningful.  I’m so glad everyone will be involved.  Makes the whole thing matter.

There are still some big problems with all of this.  Money is one.  I intentionally haven’t sat down to crunch the numbers on all of this.  It will be a family vacation so I don’t mind spending some saved cash.  The problem is that I am also planning on buying another bike with that money (among many responsible things) and I don’t really want to skimp on the rig.  Given the cost, I may have to skip the adventure bike and ride my VTX.  I’m okay if it comes to that but it’s not my first choice.    Ah fuck it.  I’m not worrying about this right now.  Nothing to be done.

Main focus for the next few weeks:

  • Lay out the days.  Schedule the rough route for each day and the logistical notes that will let Jules and kids travel at least some of the way with me.  Start locking this framework down so we can get excited as the months melt away.
  • Work on the gear list. 
  • Start acquiring the gear.
  • Practice packing

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bad Calls With Good Results

From 7/21:

Saturday night.  Kids are in bed.  Laundry is done.  Kitchen is clean and I’m rewatching Long Way Round.   I read something in the book version: “If you are planning a transcontinental trip, allow at least 1 year to plan.”  One year left, check.  I am going stop writing right now and pick a date for leaving…stand by…  Monday, September 16, 2013.  Holy shit.  I just picked the day that I will be leaving on this trip.




Do you know what the best part about this trip is?  The passion I feel around doing it all.  Let me explain.  Over the last few years, I’ve been losing the will to do dumb shit.  Meaning that the words ‘fuck it that’s too much trouble’ or ‘fuck it that’s too dangerous’ have been way too easy to say. 

When I was 28, I bought a pop-up camper that was 300 dollars, ‘needs work’.  My buddy Jeff and I rebuilt that son of a bitch from scratch.  It took us 5 months of evenings and weekends. 

It looks innocent but it drinks blood.  Credit goes to Jeff for the picture.
We stripped it down to the frame and rebuilt every piece based on the original design.  I spent the next 5 years tweaking and adding to it.  My only regret during the first few months is that I paid more attention to the camper than I did to my wife.  I could have handled that part much better.  I’m taking great care to make sure that doesn't happen again with this trip…but I digress.

My family spent at least 15 weekends a year in that dangerous piece of garage art. 

It survived losing a wheel at 70MPH, being stolen (and recovered- hats off to the FiveO on that one) and my repeated attempts to burn it down with bad wiring, worse campfire etiquette and general bullshit that probably belonged on the Jack Ass show.  My point to this rant is that the decision to buy that piece of shit was probably the dumbest one I’ve ever made.    

It remains one of the best things I’ve ever done and one of my best friends is still using the bloodthirsty bastard.  The 'now' me would have said, No that’s too much work.  The 'then' me didn’t give a shit. 

Remember the scene from Gattaca where Ethan Hawke’s character finally beats his brother in a swim race across the bay?  He says “That’s the difference between you and me Vincent.  I never saved anything for the swim back”.

Only does 'one-way' swims
I’m not saying that this is a good full-time philosophy but being able to go balls-to-the-wall, damn the consequences, every once in awhile….is mighty.

I feel mighty again.  This trip is a wet dream.  It’s expensive, ill-advised and wonderful.  To hell with the obstacles, fears and demons.  They all ride bitch seat on this one.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Me:”Hey bike, I got you some cool stuff.” Bike: “Go Screw Yourself”



I wrote this one on 7/17 and 7/18.  Sorry for negative tone at the start of this post.  I was struggling with bike gear.  Needed to vent…Lots of profanity in this one…again, sorry about that.
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My current bike, the VTX is being a pain in the ass this week.  The saddlebags I bought don’t fit (of course). 

You can buy saddlebags specifically for the VTX but as soon as you start putting different components like sissy bars and bags together, stock solutions go out the window and you’re suddenly fabricating your own shit.  Such is the case with these damnable bags. 

I swear to the god of motorcycle crap that saddlebags are the worst project that an individual can undertake.  Every bloody time I have ever tried to apply a luggage solution to a bike, it has been twice as expensive and harder than the time before.  The latest round of fuckery will end up taking me about two weeks to complete.  Plus I had to cut the saddlebags around my shocks and it looks, quite honestly, like dogshit. 

The only consolation is that these bags are really big.  Like, trip big.  Meaning that I could stuff them full of clothes, food and camping equipment and then tie a tent and sleeping roll to the saddlebags.  It’s enough space for me to do some training rides this year.  That of course, is only if I can get them to stick to the damn bike!

And then, if all that weren’t fun enough, my horn takes a shit, preventing me from getting the bike inspected.  It’s a wiring thing too.  I may have to trace the sorry bitch all the way back to the fuse box (thus forcing me to remove the tank) Grrrrrr.

On a less stressful note, much of my effort lately involves researching and (slowly) acquiring gear.

The latest big item I’m working on is a tent.  I did some research on backpack style tents.  Found a couple of good ones in the 130 buck range.  Pretty much ruled out the idea of a cot though.  Too big and bulky.

Good motorcycle tent



I also had another revelation.  My current helmet is 10 years old.  10.  Upon further reflection, I have had two minor accidents with it.  I spent a hundred bucks on it.  Pretty good service.  HJC, for a low cost helmet, there is no substitute.


Notice the snowflake looking sticker on the lower left side.  My son gave me that when he was five and told me to put it on my helmet.  It has stayed there.  You don’t ignore magic gifts from your kids ;-)

At some point soon it will be time for a badass helmet.  I’m thinking Shoei or Arai.  Something in the 700 dollar range.  Supreme protection and wind noise cancellation.  Superior fit as well.  If you are going to ride for 8+ hours a day, you need to be comfortable in your brain bucket.


[Update: One day later]
So I got the horn to work and one Saddlebag permanently mounted on the VTX.  I must admit, the finished project looks amazing.  I used trash bag plastic and black gorilla tape (yes, you read that correctly) to weather proof the shock cutouts.  I think I could actually get enough shit in these to go camping.  If I also install a luggage rack on the back for my sissybar bag, I could easily take everything necessary for an overnight trip.

I might do a Thursday night camping trip towards the end of the summer to test all of this.






Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Gulf Coast is Family


I am struck by the concept that much of the scenery that we will find on this trip may not be not be awe inspiring.  I’m not sure what I want.  On the one hand, post card type vistas are great for vacation rides.  On the other, I don’t give a shit.  I want to get to know this coast.  I’ve only seen few dozen miles of the damn thing and I’ve lived here all my life. 

I want to understand the soul of this stretch of land that covers the gulf. This has always been and will always be my ocean.  If the scenery aint Highway One, well fuck it.  I’ve driven that stretch plenty and it was never mine.  I go on this trip as if I were going to meet long lost family.  It may not be particularly pretty or dignified, but it’s worth getting to know all the same. 

Leading up to the trip, I need to read some motorcycle travel books.  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a good one (though somewhat painful).  I’ll reread parts of this one for sure. 


  
Everyone should read this book.  It’s amazing to me how parts of it ended up in my permanent philosophy.  It’s where I got the phrase “Would you kindly just shut the fuck up and dig it?” 

It also has some seriously good advice on parenting.  I read it before I had kids and I’ve constantly replayed some of scenes in my head for reference. 

My favorite part is the old German myth where a Father and his son are riding along a beach.  The boy keeps telling the father that he sees the Goblin king in the woods along their path.  The King ignores him even as the boy screams that the Goblins are getting closer.  On the man rides until the morning. When he stops for breakfast he finds that his son has died in the saddle.  Moral of the story: Listen to your kids and don’t dismiss their fears as make-believe or trivial.  Adults may know more, but kids see more.

He's a scary sumbitch


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Bikes, Bears, Birthdays and Smartasses


This post was originally written on 7-3-2012.  I'm still getting through old posts:

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Today is the big 40.  This is the card my daughter gave me.  Apparently (Obviously?), she picked it out herself.





In my wife’s defense, she didn’t see the inside until they got it home. I like it when the universe lines up the right way and appropriate things like this happen against all odds :-)

Regarding the bike trip:

Read an excellent blog entry on bike camping:


I need to add the following items to the equipment list.

  • Camp stove.
  • Propane can or unleaded gas.  This could also act as desperate last bit of fuel.
  • Small two person dome tent.  The lighter the better.
  • Good nylon sleeping bag.
  • Instant coffee
  • Non dairy creamer
  • Splenda
  • Siphen pump


This is the part that I like. Creating equipment lists and planning.

I think that as I get some of this stuff together, I’m going to try a solo bike camping trip up to a campground that I have never been to before.  I can leave from work on Friday and get home on Saturday late morning.  This would be good practice for the following:

  • Packing the bike
  • Testing equipment
  • Rough bike camping in an unknown place
  • Getting through a night of sleep.


One of the ideas that I keep coming back to:  Should I carry a pistol with me for protection?  I can legally have the gun on my bike and in my tent (extension of the home).    I need to think more about this because guns complicate things.  Usually I just have mace and/or stun gun in the vehicle. It may be better to just rely on these legal, non-lethal means of protection.  Guns are messy, loud and very final.  Still there is nothing you can carry on your body that provides the kind of ultimate protection that 16 9mm rounds can provide…and I would be afraid to Taze a bear (even though the video of such would probably be very entertaining in a Faces of Death kind of way). 

UPDATE: Read a great story about a hunting expedition:

Group sitting around the fire.  Hunter takes out his .357 and starts cleaning it.
-Guide:  Why’d you bring a handgun?
-Hunter:  In case we run into a grizzly.
-Guide:  Be sure to file down the front site.
-Hunter:  Why?  So I can pull it quicker?
-Guide:  No, It’ll hurt less when the bear shoves it up your ass.

Doesn’t recognize your right to ‘Bear’ arms.






Apparently it’s much better to use a can of Bear pepper spray/mace.  I stand corrected, humbled and definitely unarmed.  The gun stays at home.  (I’m not really afraid of bears and the gun is just too damn much responsibility)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

86 the Freighter


I wrote this back on 7-2-2012.  I'm still getting through the original posts.  Having too much content is a nice problem to have :-)

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It’s amazing how these ideas evolve so quickly.  I’m already second guessing my route.  Here is why.  The path I want to take from Corpus to Key West is about 1800 miles.  This is great.  About 300 miles per day for 6 days.  This will give us time to look at stuff along the way.  This is less about the ride and more about discovering the gulf coast.  I’ve seen so little of my home coast.  By the end of this trip I want to more fully understand the personality of this place that I love so much.

All well and good.  How in the tap-dancing fuck do we get back?  A freighter seems like it will take a few days to get us back.  Even if it’s only 5 days, that’s the better part of two weeks away from home.  I just don’t think I can do it.  That’s if we can book a freighter and if it can take bikes.  So far, the most useful info I can find on freighter travel is that Art Garfunkel did it once between solo albums.

Digs Freighters
The other stuff says things like “Plan to travel at a moment’s notice” or “This is good if you don’t mind being away for several months” or “a good travel option if your final destination is Vietnam”.  Not looking like a good option.


Dammit!  This is the way I wanted to do it.  Over the Gulf and then through it.  May have to find some other magic for the way back…

Possibly something like this:  On the weekend before the ride, drive to Miami with a trailer, fly back to Houston, leave the truck and trailer behind.  Flights from Miami to Houston are only a couple of hundred bucks one-way.  Not too bad, might work.

NOT as sexy as a freighter 


I could knock out this drive in a couple of days easy with time to stop and look around.  We could even park the truck and use the bikes to get us some of the way back.  Like maybe a detour up to Atlanta to see a friend and her daughter (who I haven’t met yet).

I don’t have a trailer though.  Add that to the list of things to get.  Speaking of that list. I started one just now.  My favorite item on the list so far is “Adventure Bike”.  You know, ‘cause it might be a good idea to take a motorcycle with me.

On the list of things to get

This is definitely at least one year out.

Let me say, Freighter fantasy aside, that I am totally digging the way this planning is going.  It’s so organic.  I’m just writing things down and letting my mind wander.  The impediments don’t mean anything to me right now.  No stress.  Hell, its almost like the planning itself is a bunch of “mini-vacations” for the brain.  Definitely feels right.


Things I’ve done since last post:

  • Revised route and created saved map on Google.
  • Researched helmet to helmet communication systems. Decided on Scala q2 pro.  Asked for it for my b-day.
  • Played with Google voice on my galaxy to see how well it might work with the cell feature on the Q2.  Looks pretty cool but not fully functional yet.  Still, I may be able to figure out a way to at least to do voice activated calling
  • Thought of adding a soft cell phone case to my handle bars so I can just use my cell as entertainment on the bike.
  • Got stuck in a rather nasty storm on the way home.  Good prep for riding in the rain.  My VTX is not the most slender of ladies (750 lbs dry) but she’s incredibly well-balanced and stable.
  • Changed a flat tire on my truck at the kids’ school the other day.  Good training for the unexpected.  I did a nice job with it.

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I'll be posting more frequently in hopes of catching up to now.