My Bike:
Heard a weird noise a dozen times or so on the way home from my class last night. Sounds like if you ran over a piece of sheet metal or something 'slapping' the bike. ..... after having both the wheels off, lowering the front forks, and adding engine guards... who knows. Maybe it really was rocks. Best solution so far is to remember to put my ear plugs in. My bike is ready.
Larry's Bike:
After strong-arming, using a hammer, and kicking it ... the front sprocket is changed. Only items left to check off on Larry's bike are oil change and adding headlight protector.
Packing:
Really only toiletries and whatever paper (maps/book) I'll take.
(...after picking up my empty coffee cup twice I've now refilled it and am ready to complete the blog.)
I think the tools Larry is taking are a little trickier to pack - those and the spare tubes etc... take up a fair amount of space.
Today:
I got new and improved cell phones - despite the fact that we use probably 60 minutes between the three of us each month - but they should have better reception (.... she says knowing full well there isn't any reception to be had for a good portion of the ride!). Today I'm taking care of transferring address book stuff over to the new phones.
Second to the last day. :-)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday - Countdown to lift off
Less than 5 days - - I can't say 'four days' because I really need to count the presumed events and tasks that will be accomplished today. Larry and I are both busy making lists to check twice - and looking for all the lists we've made in the last few weeks.
In "Wild Hogs" (and if you haven't seen it or didn't think it was funny you should probably stop reading this blog - we're old - heh, typo'd and wrote odd... that too I suppose) ..um.. right... "Wild Hogs"... these bad a$$ guys on their cruisers and every time they stop to eat they're looking for bran muffins. I'm in charge of packing snacks since we'll be in remote places a fair bit. Thinking of dried fruit, nuts, and Centrum Silver.
"The Road" is a funny place - If purgatory is one step up from hell, kind of a holding tank to purge a soul of venial sins - yeah, I had to look it up when I googled purgatory- it is forgivable sins --- then "The Road" is one step down from Heaven. On "The Road" it is completely acceptable to have Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts for breakfast washed down with a Double Shot. ... and a Hostess Lemon Pie (whose sell by date is older than your bike) for lunch.
Pics from the tire party.
There was something about watching Colin lube the tires that made us chuckle... Maybe you had to be there.
My KLR - a.k.a. Brad (in honor of the instructor of my one lesson flying a helicopter) - minus rear wheel. After much consideration I decided to add lowering links and a new side stand. I couldn't actually touch the ground with both feet at the same time. No problem riding - but stopping on uneven surfaces took more concentration than I wanted to give it. Not sure what I'll do about the side stand though - - The new one has a precision point, perfect for puncturing warm pavement or finding gaps in loose gravel.
Mark and I managed to change this tire/tube and only pinch it twice - just because he is so gallant we decided to claim one each. It was a little disheartening to go through the whole process and then hear the gentle hiss of air escaping. We may have said a bad word.
Under the 'CHECK' column
phones for international roaming
insurance for CA
tools
bank stuff
lodging Fairbanks / Wiseman
gear & luggage (except I still need to figure out the best way to attach my tank panniers)
extra tubes/levers/cables/fuses
Hmm... this brings me to the things yet to be completed. Time to cross check soft and hard copies of lists.
That is us today......
In "Wild Hogs" (and if you haven't seen it or didn't think it was funny you should probably stop reading this blog - we're old - heh, typo'd and wrote odd... that too I suppose) ..um.. right... "Wild Hogs"... these bad a$$ guys on their cruisers and every time they stop to eat they're looking for bran muffins. I'm in charge of packing snacks since we'll be in remote places a fair bit. Thinking of dried fruit, nuts, and Centrum Silver.
"The Road" is a funny place - If purgatory is one step up from hell, kind of a holding tank to purge a soul of venial sins - yeah, I had to look it up when I googled purgatory- it is forgivable sins --- then "The Road" is one step down from Heaven. On "The Road" it is completely acceptable to have Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts for breakfast washed down with a Double Shot. ... and a Hostess Lemon Pie (whose sell by date is older than your bike) for lunch.
Pics from the tire party.
There was something about watching Colin lube the tires that made us chuckle... Maybe you had to be there.
My KLR - a.k.a. Brad (in honor of the instructor of my one lesson flying a helicopter) - minus rear wheel. After much consideration I decided to add lowering links and a new side stand. I couldn't actually touch the ground with both feet at the same time. No problem riding - but stopping on uneven surfaces took more concentration than I wanted to give it. Not sure what I'll do about the side stand though - - The new one has a precision point, perfect for puncturing warm pavement or finding gaps in loose gravel.
Mark and I managed to change this tire/tube and only pinch it twice - just because he is so gallant we decided to claim one each. It was a little disheartening to go through the whole process and then hear the gentle hiss of air escaping. We may have said a bad word.
Under the 'CHECK' column
phones for international roaming
insurance for CA
tools
bank stuff
lodging Fairbanks / Wiseman
gear & luggage (except I still need to figure out the best way to attach my tank panniers)
extra tubes/levers/cables/fuses
Hmm... this brings me to the things yet to be completed. Time to cross check soft and hard copies of lists.
That is us today......
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
16 Days....
Mark, Lolo, & Gramps may be counting the days.......
I suspect the only people reading this blog will be those that already know the characters, but for those that are interested I'll explain. We are three friends, bound by a desire for adventure, a passion for motorcycling, and occasional urges to just disappear down a winding road for a day, or a month or a year. Oh, and Lolo and Gramps got engaged 30 yrs. ago today.... so they've been down a road or two together. The three of us have traveled around the country for a month a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Therefore we're upping the ante a bit and heading through gold rush territory, on past to oil country, and then the Arctic Ocean. We are delighted to be joined in Fairbanks, AK by dear riding buddy, Colin. You'll meet him a little later.
The bags are not packed, but there are new tires on all three KLRs since Sunday when we had our "Tire Party" - a good time had by all. You wouldn't think changing 6 tires and adding engine guards to a bike would be so funny - but we laughed a good deal.
We are getting there..... 2 more days at work. A week visit from people we adore from far away.... A four day class for work and THEN we are so out of here! :-) You are welcome to come along if it suits your fancy, time, or interest to do so.
I don't tend to do anything in a straight line - except freehand, I'm actually pretty good at drawing a straight line, but I mean in the bigger philosophical sense... I move in a cyclical way through life. It isn't very efficient, but I see a lot and it gets me where I'm going. In this instance I'm going to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.... the furthest point north in the United States, at the end of the 'Haul Road' aka Dalton Highway.
....and we're starting that adventure in 16 days!
I suspect the only people reading this blog will be those that already know the characters, but for those that are interested I'll explain. We are three friends, bound by a desire for adventure, a passion for motorcycling, and occasional urges to just disappear down a winding road for a day, or a month or a year. Oh, and Lolo and Gramps got engaged 30 yrs. ago today.... so they've been down a road or two together. The three of us have traveled around the country for a month a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Therefore we're upping the ante a bit and heading through gold rush territory, on past to oil country, and then the Arctic Ocean. We are delighted to be joined in Fairbanks, AK by dear riding buddy, Colin. You'll meet him a little later.
The bags are not packed, but there are new tires on all three KLRs since Sunday when we had our "Tire Party" - a good time had by all. You wouldn't think changing 6 tires and adding engine guards to a bike would be so funny - but we laughed a good deal.
We are getting there..... 2 more days at work. A week visit from people we adore from far away.... A four day class for work and THEN we are so out of here! :-) You are welcome to come along if it suits your fancy, time, or interest to do so.
I don't tend to do anything in a straight line - except freehand, I'm actually pretty good at drawing a straight line, but I mean in the bigger philosophical sense... I move in a cyclical way through life. It isn't very efficient, but I see a lot and it gets me where I'm going. In this instance I'm going to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.... the furthest point north in the United States, at the end of the 'Haul Road' aka Dalton Highway.
....and we're starting that adventure in 16 days!
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