"What made you even think to do this?"

Okay, just to review I’m planning on riding my motorcycle from South Padre to Key West in 2013. 

I was struck by the idea back in June and I’ve been working on it ever since.   So much so that I have amassed 30 pages of journal entries on planning and ride prep.  Not all of these will/should make it on to the blog, but most will. 

So, here is what I was thinking when the idea first struck….

6-27-2012

I’m thinking about doing a motorcycle trip from the southern tip of Texas to the southern tip of Florida using only coastal roads.  Essentially, I would be circumnavigating the northern half of the Gulf of Mexico. 

After Key West, we (assuming I can find someone to ride with) would try to take a freighter ship from Miami back to Houston with the bikes and all our gear.

"Take us home Bro?"

I’ve been mulling over this for the last week or so.  About a week ago I started watching the Long Way Round and the Long Way Down series.  In the Long Way Round, actors Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman ride BMW dualsports from London to New York via eastern Europe and northern Asia.  They filmed and documented the entire trip.  It was literally the trip of a lifetime and I was insanely jealous. 

Actors Ewan McGreggor and Charlie Boorman
from the Long Way Round http://longwayround.com/

An idea began to form at that point.  Would it be possible to do the same kind of thing on shorter timescales with no support team and a budget of only a few thousand dollars?  I believe that it is possible.

While the ride will be the most important aspect of the trip, documentation will be a close second.  I will want to blog everyday and keep an interactive log of where we are. 

I will use a [link]GoPro camera mounted to my helmet and the bike to get Point of View (POV) video.  We can use the same cameras to do video diaries. 

http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero2-motorsports-edition/

I’ll carry a laptop to do video editing and production.  Essentially, I don’t think that the end product will be all that exciting but it might be a nice record for friends and family.

Steps taken so far:

·         Research bikes:  I’m leaning toward the BMW F650GS.  Its quick, reliable and versatile as hell.  I do however, love my 700+ pound vtx1300 and I may just decide to use it on the trip

·         Start mapping a trip.  I am currently using Google maps to lay out a route but I may switch to Google Earth or something better.

Questions at this point:

·         Will we be able to book passage back on a freighter?  How the hell does that even work? 

·         If not how will we get back?  Will it have to be round trip?  I don’t think I’m up for that.

·         What will the final video product look like?  Feature length amateur movie?  Short features that I throw up on the blog after the trip? 

Wow.  It’s fun to go back and look at what I was thinking at the beginning.  So much has already changed.  I have about 20 of these entries to get through so I’ll be posting a couple a week until I’m caught up.