Wet Weather

Another dark and wet weekend. I don't always mind riding in the rain, but come on! How about one sunny day on Labor Day weekend?

So, given the forecast is for 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain today, I'll be turning my attention to the opening weekend of PAC-10 Football. Specifically Oregon State vs. TCU in their home state of Texas. Remember last year, TCU went undefeated in their regular season games, and are currently ranked 6th in the nation.
The Beav's are on the cusp of the top 25 and a win today should vault them inside the top 20.
Today is also the first time the Rogers brothers get a chance to play collegately in their home state. They both had fantastic high school careers there, but were not heavily recruited do to their size. The Beavs were then able to steal a couple of blue chips away from the likes of TCU, UT, and UO.
So, later today I'll be having an adult beverage and watching my beloved Beavers kick some Horned Frog butts! Go Beavs!

Lesson Learned

Wednesday was a gorgeous day, sunny, warm, not even any wind. After setting the state record for the most consecutive days of measurable rainfall, I was itching to ride. So, about 3pm I was gonna bust out of the office and hit the highway. I was thinking that a nice ride to Palmer and back on the old highway was in order.
But before I was ready to go I got another phone call. Someone answering my ad on Craigslist for the V-Star. He asked questions and sounded pretty interested. He said he'd call for directions at 5 when he was off work. So there I was on the fence. Do I blow him off and go for the ride? I really would like to sell the bike, and thus far have only had 3 people interested enough to come look. Or, do I stay and wait for the call, and perhaps do a little cleaning on the bike in the meanwhile?
I did neither. I ended up leaving about 4pm on the Harley and rode south towards Girdwood. It may have been the nicest day of the year in Anchorage, and traffic was fairly light. I rode nonstop to the Girdwood turn off and then turned around at the Fish and Game office and headed home. It was a great ride along the inlet, ipod blasting, cruise control on, catching an occasional glimpse of surfacing beluga whales. The ride was only 60 miles and I wanted to go longer, but I want to sell that bike, so I got home a few minutes past 5.
I checked the phone and confirmed that no one had called. OK dude, I'm home, come take a look.
By 7pm it was quite clear he was not coming, and thus the lesson! When a day like that comes along you sometimes just have to say "eff it, I'm going riding".
Today it's back to rain outside, and I'm kicking myself for not running all the way to Seward or Soldotna and really getting a good ride in that day. Even an Oldbull can still learn a lesson.

Don't forget to vote today Alaska!

Seward Ride

I took a nice ride to Seward yesterday. It was sunny the whole way, although a bit cool. Traffic on the way there was very light and I was able to cruise about 70 mph almost the entire way. Coming home was a different story (as I  expected) and it was bumper to bumper form Girdwood to Anchorage.
I tried to look up a friend who lives in Seward but could not locate the address he had emailed me.
Seward was hopping, there was some event that drew at least a thousand people to the fire station, plus the salmon derby was still in play. Add those to the usual traffic it draws for simply being a sunny day, and you have a very busy little town.
Finally back home, a good friend of mine arrived from working all summer at the Red Dog mine near Kotzebue, and naturally we had to wash off some of that mine dust with a few coldies.
I pretty much screwed off all day, so today I better get some chores done.
Later

Bringing It On Home

Day 19 turned out to be the last day of my trip. We camped about 15 miles outside of Whitehorse and took advantage of the public shower room. We weren't in a big hurry to mount up, 'cause my partner in crime wanted to stop at the Harley shop again. We knew they don't open until 9AM, so we timed our departure accordingly.
We arrived in Whitehorse about a quarter of nine and stopped for gas. Then we proceeded to the Harley shop only to find them closed. It was Monday morning and the sign said closed Sundays and Mondays.
Oh well, we stopped at the Walmart and got some water and energy drinks, and even some snack bars, then we hit the road about 9:30 am.
I decided early on that I was joining the 700 mile club that day. From Whitehorse to Glennallen, Alaska (where my riding partner lives) is about 500 miles, a long day by most standards, however, I was determined to continue on to my home in Anchorage. That meant a full 720 mile day on the ole' hog.
We stopped to eat a couple times, plus the usual gas stops, but eventually I pulled up to my garage at ten minutes after midnight. Fourteen + hours, and 720 miles from when we started that morning. Yes, I am in the 700 mile club, and I do believe I can do the Iron Butt distance of 1000 miles in 24 hours. That attempt will have to wait until next summer. I'll round up a couple other buddies and attempt it in June when the daylight is long. Maybe for my birthday or something.
Well, that was my trip. There were a lot of smaller stories throughout the trip that I could (should) have written, but I'll come back to some of those later. Like when I suffer writer's block. Hahaha, Later.

On day 16 we made it to Grande Prairie where we visited the local Harley shop. While there we both had our oil changed, then continued on our way.
We put some pretty good miles on that day and camped by some lake who's name I do not recall. Sucks to get old don't it! Haha.
Day 17 we got an early start and were trying to make Dawson Creek, which we did and grabbed a cheap hotel room. This is the start of the Alaska Highway and gave me that familiar taste of home. It was a fantastic trip, but the thought of sleeping in my own bed was really getting me motivated to ride hard.
From Dawson Creek we rode all the way to Whitehorse, something like 470 miles. It was also the day we passed the buffalo herd, and I almost hit a caribou (though I don't have a pic of it).
Did I say Whitehorse? Actually, we stopped about 15 miles short of it and camped at a RV campground.

Back North

We had ridden through some pretty strong winds and apparently something blew into my eye. To compound the problem, I must have been rubbing my eye. At any rate, I woke up on Day 14 with my left eye extremely irritated and tearing. It was like a faucet and would not stop. Plus, my vision was blurred. I tried to ride, but after 15 miles I pulled over and told my buddy I could not continue like that.
We backtracked the fifteen miles to a Walmart on the main drag. They got me right in and examined the eye. The Doc said the debris was gone, but it looked like someone sand papered my cornea. He prescribed some eye drops which I picked up at their pharmacy.
The point is, we stayed another night in Kalispel. The next morning I was much improved and we headed for the border.
We made are way up through Bamph and Jasper and camped not too far from the famous Lake Louise.

We entered the park from the southern entrance on day eleven. We spent the night at a campground. It rained that night and we all got wet. It was one of only two days of rain we experienced. We built a fire and stood around it in the rain for awhile, but finally went to bed. Our tents kept us dry and the next morning it was clear again.
Day 12 we road over the summit and exited the park at the east entrance. Then we rode around the lower end of the park and back to Kalispel. Although the rain was done the wind was not. That whole afternoon we road through winds I estimated to be about 35 to 40 mph, with even higher gusts.
We got a hotel in Kalispel and went to a laundromat.

Heat

The next couple of days we spent traveling through 100 degree heat. Crossing Idaho and part of Montana on our way to Glacier National Park, we got a full dose of hot weather.
We camped at roadside spots that were not state or federal campgrounds, but merely spots where someone had camped before us. We would stop at rest areas and soak our t-shirts in a faucet or sprinkler and put it on dripping wet, but within 15 to 20 minutes of riding would be dry again.
My bike burned about a half qt of oil during this three day period, but not a drop the rest of my trip. Weird. I guess it was the heat.
Finally, we reached Glacier Nat. Park on day 10. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. Even though there were a lot of tourists, the park is beautiful and worth the trip from Alaska.

Gorge

Day five we got to the Seattle area around 4pm. Not the best time to try and navigate through Seattle on I-5. The freeway was packed in all lanes and traffic was at a walking speed. Through some of it we were able to use the commuter lane, and that really helped. It still took more than an hour to get passed downtown Seattle and through that rush hour traffic. We grabbed a hotel about 30 miles south of Seattle.
Day 6 we rode down to Camas, Wa. and met up with our other to buddies for the remainder of the ride. We all then rode down the Wa. side of the Columbia River and ended up at Hermiston, Or. for the night. Weather was getting rather hot. Luckily, I had purchased a half helmet in Prince George and wore it instead of my full face helmet.
Later

More Pics from BC

Prince George and Further

Day four we rode to Prince George, where we stayed at a local rv campground. There is a Harley dealer there and my buddy's cruise control switch was acting up. So we spent about half a day in the shop visiting with two very lovely ladies, while they worked on his bike. I also chatted with a couple from Los Angeles who were riding to Alaska.
We finally hit the road and went as far as Hells Gate. We found a nice campground and set up camp. We were serenaded by a train about every half hour all night. Hahaha
Day five we crossed the border and rode to Seattle. Traffic there is a freakin' mess.
Later

Day three, we started with a homestyle breakfast at Sally's, located at the corner where #37 connects with the Alcan. Great food and atmosphere.
We traveled down the Cassiar where the first 30-40 miles are rough and bumpy. Some places worse than others, but overall the worst road of the trip. Add to that the fact that the rain started around noon and never real let up the rest of the day.
We gassed at Dease Lake where I proceeded to drop my bike on it's side. I was simply turning around on some gravel and my boot slid right out from under me, and I couldn't stop it from going down. My buddy jumped off his bike and helped me lift it up.
We finally arrived at Bell South, wet, hungry, and tired.
We decided to hotel it and dry our gear out. Plus a nice meal at the restaraunt.
Day four we loaded up and headed for Kitwanga, Smithers, and finally Prince George.
Later

Last Room at Watson Lake

We checked into a hotel in Watson Lake at around 8:30 at night (the last room they had). We asked the clerk what time the restaurant next door closed? He said at 9pm, so rather than going straight to our room, we hustled next door to get a meal. After finishing our meal, we returned to the hotel and found that someone else was already staying in our room. A woman who said they must have double booked the room and it happened all the time.
I finally found the clerk who was surprised anyone was in the room. Further investigation found that she was a shareholder of the local native corp who actually owned the hotel. He said shareholders have first right to any rooms and there was nothing he could do.
A maintenance man for the hotel suggested we could stay in one of the rooms he was renovating. It was suggested that they could refund half my money and we could roll out our sleeping bags on the mattresses. I accepted the space (as it was now about 10:30 pm) but insisted on a full refund. They finally agreed to a full refund and we hauled our camping gear into the torn up room. The next morning we were able to shower in another room two doors down, then packed up and headed down the Cassiar highway.
Later

Day 1 was July 1st

Day 1, we left Glennallen about 9:30 am and stopped in Tok for lunch. There was construction near the Canadian border and we didn't ride very hard. We camped out the first night near Destruction Bay. Day 2 we rode to Whitehorse and visited the local Harley shop. Later we rode on to Watson Lake, where we stayed at a hotel. Later

Back Home

The closer I got, the more I wanted to sleep in my bed rather than a sleeping bag. I rode from Whitehorse, YT to Anchorage and got in a little after midnight this morning. It was a great road trip, and all I can say is I'm ready to go again! I finished with over 6300 miles for the trip (over 700 yesterday) and my bike is over due for a 10,000 miles service. Once I load my pics and get stuff organized (do laundry), I'll start recapping the whole trip. Later

Ak Highway

After getting our bikes serviced in Grand Prairie, Alberta we rode on
to Dawson Creek. Got my pic taken at mile 1 of the Alaska Highway,
which I'll post later. Should be home in a few days.

Sent from my iPod

Fwd: Glacier National Ride

Sent from my iPod

Yesterday we rode into the park from the south end and camped in the rain. This morning the rain was gone and we rode to the summit and out the other side.
There were tons of people there, but we still had fun.
Now we are in Kalspel, Montana, but in the morning we ride north back into Canada. More later.
See ya

Sent from my iPod

Getting Warm

day 7, Today is supposed to hit 90 degrees in western Washington. I bought a half helmet at Prince George and have already burnt my face.
Yesterday we came through Seattle near rush hour and realized why we live in Alaska. I swear if you commute through that nightmare on two wheels everyday, you are a statistic waiting to happen. Later.

tacoma

we camped out near Hell's Gate in BC last nite. Tonight in Tacoma, Wa., at a hotel. We need a shower and meet up with two other riders tomorrow. From there, we still don't know where we are heading. It's a total last minute detail. Later.

July 4. We were rain soaked all day yesterday, so we didn't make alot of miles. Made up for it a little today logging about 450 miles. Currently camped at a campground near Prince George, BC. Tomorrow, we head south down 97, after checking out the local Harley shop when they open. Later.

Stopped in Tok for lunch. Only 90 miles from Canada where I lose cell coverage. Later

On The Road

I'm taking off today for three weeks of touring. I'll try to post an occasional update, but I'll have plenty of pics when I get back. So wish me no breakdowns or wrecks, and see you later!

Trial Camp Out

We camped close to home at the Kings Mt campground last weekend to test out our motorcycle camping gear. It worked out well, and we beat the rain home. I had a happy Father's Day!

Long ride

I took the HD on my longest ride so far this year. I rode to Glennallen and back, about 370 miles, and yes, my ass is feeling it. My back, however, feels fine, and the cruise control is great.