You Meet The Nicest People On A…
Many years ago (1962 actually), Honda introduced the concept of riding motorcycles to “everyday” people with an ad campaign that featured the slogan, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” While that might be true of Honda motorcycles, Kim and I have found that Honda’s ad campaign slogan really is an anthem for all of motorcycling; and are we ever glad it’s the case.
Through our journeys and we dare say a few adventures, we have met the most amazing people and made most endearing and lasting friends. Other friends have come and gone, but there is something special about those friends who we have made having ridden with them or having met as a result of a ride to somewhere.
Take for example our trip to Labrador. While we were visiting the very small town of Port Hope Simpson which had only gravel roads and one means of lodging, the phone rang. Kim and I looked at each other bewildered. “Who could be calling us in the middle of Labrador?” I gingerly picked up the phone and a happy voice on the other end said, Hi Mike, this is Dave Noel. You and I have been corresponding on the Ride the Rock website, I came by to say hi. Dave had just ridden 25 miles of gravel to say hello to strangers he had been having email conversations with. After a nice visit at the lodge, Dave rode home and the following day we visited him at his house and met his family. We’re still friends to this day and we still correspond.
Or how about the time we were on a ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia? I was posting about our trip to Newfoundland when I received an email from a stranger who invited us to ride with him if we were willing. In return, he’d show us some of his favorite back roads. Who were we to refuse? We met Joe Treen at a local restaurant and we were off for an excellent day of riding. Since then, we’ve gotten together to ride a number of times and Joe has come to visit and stay at our home in NH.
Perhaps we should tell you about our chance meeting with a couple at a restaurant in Alaska who told us they had a friend who rode motorcycles and that they’d like to give him our email address. Of course we said yes and ultimately we met Tracy and his wife MaryLee. Since 2008 we’ve been friends and we were even lucky enough to get time off together last year to ride a good portion of the Trans America Trail together.
Maybe we should tell you about our trip from Pucon, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina. On that trip we travelled with Tavo, Leo, Andrew, Bjorn, Paul, Matt and Louise. We’ve only lost touch with two of them. We correspond with them fairly often. But why don’t you meet up with them more? Well, there’s a bit of a geography problem now. You see, Tavo is from Columbia, Leo is from Germany, Andrew is from England, Bjorn is from Norway, Paul is from Australia and Matt and Louise are from…… Cleveland.
As to the non-riding people we have met, we can’t tell you how they have effected us and us hopefully them. Almost everywhere we stop, the bikes are a conversation item. Where are we from, where are we going? What’s it like to ride off road? What’s it like for Kim to ride the terrain she rides? Isn’t it hard to do? We always tell them that it is a very fulfilling thing and one of the best parts is meeting people like them. They usually glow with comments like that and in turn they share themselves with us. It’s wonderful.
One story stands out in my mind. It was on our Labrador trip. It was fairly early in the morning and I was packing the bikes in the rain preparing to board the ferry to Newfoundland. It was dank and dreary and the grey ocean was topped with whitecaps. Nearby a tour bus idled waiting for its passengers to board.
As I was finishing packing an older gentleman approached and quietly watched for a while. He was wearing a clear raincoat and a yellow Gloucester fisherman’s hat. I noticed he was wearing a Cessna belt buckle and I could tell that this man had had some adventures of his own. After a while, he walked a bit closer and asked where we were headed and where we had come from. I told him that we had ridden from our house in New Hampshire and we were headed to Newfoundland. We chatted a bit about the trip so far and what the Trans Labrador Highway had been like. While we stood there in the rain, he looked me in the eye and looked over to the bus he would later board and he said, “I wish I was traveling with you.”
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 3)
We left the Tangle River Inn and made our way easterly towards Tok. We were in and out of rain showers and frankly our arrival was a bit anti-climatic. Tok is a decent sized town, but is not all that distinctive. Perhaps what made Tok distinctive was the Westmark hotel which contained a slew of busses carrying cruise ship passengers headed for another point of embarkation. All those people jammed together and they really weren’t seeing the real Alaska and its people. What a shame.
We stayed only overnight and headed out first thing in the morning north-easterly towards Eagle, year round population 180. We knew that the trip to Eagle was a dead end cut off by the Yukon river, and that we would have to re-trace our tracks, but we thought that the surrounding roads and terrain looked pretty interesting so the trip was worthwhile. There were mountains and gravel roads to ride and 180 people to me so that seemed like fun!
Shortly after hitting the road the rain began. Nothing ridiculous, but on and off showers as we made our way along the paved portion of our day’s trip. Sooner than we knew it, we were on the gravel and making good time. And then the skies opened up. It was as if one of Alaska’s glaciers had burst and let loose the millions of gallons of ice melt water that had been contained for years. Visibility dropped to near zero and the temperature dropped as quickly as the falling rain. There was little else to do but stop and put on rain gear. While we unpacked our gear from our bikes, a ten wheeled dump truck traveling in the opposite direction stopped and the driver rolled down the window.
He had news. Just ahead, he said, they were repairing the road and laying gravel down. Big gravel, in 1 and 2 inch chunks, about 2 inches deep. Not to worry though, the gravel was only about a 3 mile stretch. “Marvelous, just marvelous”, I thought. Then he said that the gravel wasn’t the real issue. They were laying the gravel because the road had turned to mud and they were dumping the gravel on top to make the road surface hard enough for travel. “Wonderful, just wonderful”, I thought. Not to worry though, the mud was only a mile long though. “Crap”, I thought.
Oh well, we came for some adventure and adventure we were going to get. So on we went, slowly making our way through the pouring rain on asteroid size chunks of gravel and sloppy mud. But when all was said and done, we made it through with flying colors with Kim riding the gauntlet like a knight who’d won many a match with nary a slip. She did indeed pull off a spectacular ride.
For all this testing, we were greeted by the über small town of Chicken (its real name is Chicken Creek). It is said that it Chicken was so named because the settlers found that the surrounding countryside was full of Ptarmigan. However, no-one could spell Ptarmigan, so they decided to name it Chicken.
While passing through Chicken, we stopped at its epicenter, the Chicken Creek Cafe and the Chicken Creek Saloon. In a strip of attached wooden buildings, they served home cooked food and bottled liquor. The food was excellent especially considering there is no running water at all. They hand pump all their water for cooking and cleaning and there are no flush rest rooms. If you need to use the facilities the outhouse is out the front door to your right.
But by the time we finished our meals, we were well rested and the rain has stopped to a drizzle. Ahh… It was time to make our way to Eagle and get a good night’s sleep. When we arrived at Eagle it was getting late and we checked in and headed to the only restaurant in town which was right on the Yukon river. It was a good meal and only made us more sleepy.
The following morning we had some time to meet our innkeeper and talk about life in Eagle and what ever else she could think of. It turns out that she was not a native of Eagle but had been a school teacher in Wisconsin. She had developed a pen pal relationship with a man who told her he lived in a small town in Alaska called Eagle. After about a year, he invited her to come out and visit him, she did and found that his home had no running water and no central heat. But she fell in love with Alaska and ultimately the man and never returned to Wisconsin.
We stayed only one day in Eagle and in the late morning headed towards Canada and the Yukon Territory town of Dawson City. We had an appointment to attend ADV’s Dust to Dawson event. ADVers from all over the world would be in attendance and we were looking forward to meeting other adventure riders from various corners of the planet.
Back we rode over the same gravel road from whence we had come and just before getting to Chicken, we made the turn to make our way to the Canadian border and ultimately onto the Top Of The World Highway. Approaching and crossing the border was pretty anti-climatic. The Canadian border is in the town of Little Gold Creek. Its residents? The border guards that live at the house at the border crossing and no-one else. While there, they asked appropriate questions and sent us on our way.
Then we were off and traveling the Top Of The World Highway. The views were great, but for some reason we were not awed. The road surface changed back and forth from gravel and pavement which made the ride a bit interesting, but for some reason, there were an abundance of motorhomes and vehicles with trailers on the road despite being fairly in a fairly isolated area. It became a bit frustrating as the motorhomes were very slow going up the very big hills we encountered and very fast coming down sometimes traveling uncomfortably close to Kim as she descended the hills.
But after about an hour we started a gradual descent and approached the town of Dawson City. Coming down some of the final hills, we came to a clearing and could catch a glimpse of the city we were about to visit. We could see the town center and it was painted in bright, lively colors that beckoned to us from the valley below. The Yukon river continued its lazy flow in front of us, for now cutting us off from the delightful little town. But we were only a couple of miles and a free ferry ride away from 3 days of fun in Dawson which we’ll tell you about in Part 4.
Arai XD4 vs XD3 Helmet Initial Impression
I’ve had a little time to ride in Arai’s XD4 and have an initial impression of it as compared to the Arai XD3. On a sunny Vermont day, we were able to put in a little over 100 miles mostly on pavement with some dirt and gravel and a tiny amount of slimy mud left over from the Vermont mud season. With temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s, we did everything from low speeds to some higher speed twisties, so we had a fairly good day and mix of conditions to get initial impressions.
Arai XD4
Arai XD3
For me, both helmets seem to have the same helmet shape shell and the fit was essentially the same between the two models. However, for the XD4, Arai has redesigned the cheek pads. Not only are they a slightly different shape and size, but the cheek pads supplied as original equipment with the helmet are apparently now 5 MM thicker than with the XD3. In the size M that I purchased new years ago, the stock cheek pads were 20 MM. Now, in the XD4, the stock cheek pads are 25 MM. Frankly, the 25 MM cheek pads are probably the best fit for racing and 100% safety, but in return they give you that squished face, kissing fish face feel and look. Not the most attractive and comfortable way to ride.
So if you don’t like the look and feel of a small aquarium fish, never fear, in the XD4 Arai has thoughtfully included an easy peel 5 MM layer for the cheek pad. You simply just remove the cheek pads, then the covers and carefully remove the clearly marked 5 MM layer. I chose to go this route and if I can do it, anyone can. Then just put the cheek pad covers back on and insert the cheek pads back in the helmet and you are ready to ride, newly minted 20 MM cheek pads and all.
Out on the road, one of the things that the XD line of helmets provides is excellent visibility. The XD4 continues this tradition with excellent visibility with a wide viewing port, again big enough to wear goggles in if you wanted to remove the face shield. Another thing that the XD series does well is flow air and the XD4 does not disappoint in this area either. We did over 100 miles yesterday in temperatures ranging from high 30s to low 40s (F). You do get a good amount of air around your neck and lower chin so if it’s really cold, you’ll want to make sure you have some way to block the air in theses areas. However, with closed vents, air flow was blocked off and no cold drafts were noted, so I’m going to say that the seals are apparently good since the XD3 flows a decent amount of air through its vents when moving. The vents on the XD4 are substantially larger than the XD3 and they portend much more ventilation than the XD3. I’ll update this when we get into warmer weather.
The shield was susceptible to fogging in the cold, but it was easily dispatched with just a slight crack of the visor. Nonetheless, I’d suggest an insert of some sort. Kim and I use Fog City but there are others out there like Pinlock that Arai shields are set up to use.
The visor on the XD4 has been redesigned, is smaller and is claimed to be more aerodynamic than the XD3. We did ride at a brisk pace during the day, but nothing approaching race speeds. I was riding a KTM 990 Adventure and if you are familiar with that machine, it has a tiny windshield. At 5’9″ sitting behind the stock KTM windshield, I did not notice any substantial increase or decrease in buffeting. If there is a benefit, it must be more recognizable at speeds over 80 MPH.
Weight is claimed to be down on the XD4 compared to the XD3, but frankly to me it’s not that noticeable in riding. Perhaps over a very long day, the lighter weight would be more noticeable and less tiring, but over a mere 100 mile jaunt, not much difference was noted. I’ll add that Kim carried the helmet a bit and claimed it was lighter when compared to her XD3 and she’s a pretty good judge of these sort of things.
So there you have it, an initial impression of the XD3 versus the XD4. Once the weather heats up a bit and we have a few more miles under our wheels, we’ll update you with a longer term update on living with the XD4.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
We Need To Know!
Now that we have a fair amount of content posted, we’d like to know what you like and don’t like about R2ADV. Here’s a chance for you to give us a bit of a road map to tell us where R2ADV should go in the future. So we’d like to ask you to take a minute or two to complete this very simple poll to tell us what you like the most about R2ADV. If you’d be so kind to leave a comment with the poll, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Mike and Kim
Sometimes Adventure Is Not So Far Away
As we crested a hill in nearby Dunbarton, NH, we spotted a police cruiser on the opposite side of the road in perfect position to nab passing speeders. Damn, was he first thought that crossed my mind as I looked at my speedometer to find that I wasn’t speeding and that I needn’t worry. But it was enough adrenaline to make me slow down considerably and look more closely at the police cruiser that we were now slowly approaching.
It was a Dunbarton cruiser all right, but upon closer inspection, it was a 1970s era Chevrolet Chevelle cruiser, with two bubblegum blue lights on the roof and an old bee hive siren on the hood. In addition it had an old style whip antenna attached to the side of its rear fender. So as Kim and I slowly rode by, I knew that something was up.
Curiosity was eating at me. What’s a 70s era cruiser doing on the side of the road running radar? They say that curiosity killed the cat, so I guess that I’m lucky that I’m not a cat. About a mile down the road, I signaled for Kim to stop and turn around so we could go get another look at that old cruiser. We reversed course and as we approached we could see that there wasn’t anyone in the cruiser. So naturally, I signaled Kim to stop.
We turned off our engines and both got off our bikes. It was a 70s era cruiser all right and it was in perfect shape. In fact, it was gorgeous, it had been fully restored and I was impressed. As we walked around the cruiser admiring its restoration a gentleman walked out of the driveway of the house from which the cruiser had been parked. His name was Len and he had restored the cruiser himself.
Len told us that he like to restore different kinds of vehicles and invited us to see the other ones he had restored. So as we walked past his high hedges into his front yard, we saw his large oversized garage with a sign that read “Toy Box Garage” in whimsical lettering. As we walked inside, we were in for a treat!
Not only did Len have restored vehicles including old Packards, 1 1/2 ton Army trucks, jeeps, 1930s era farm trucks, an aluminum engined Oldsmobile and tractors, but he also had the most amazing collection of gas station paraphernalia including pumps, signs, you name it, he had it. It was a thing of beauty.
It turns out Len had retired and he restored old vehicles as a hobby. He now donates his time and his vehicles for town events to surrounding towns for parades etc. He and his wife Beth both helped out as much as they could and are well known in their communities for donating their time and energy for free.
Before we could leave, Len gave us some parting gifts from his vast stock of paraphernalia he had collected over the years. He invited us to come back any time and to bring our friends. So when we had a world traveller come and visit us on his BMW from Australia, we could not think of a better local place to bring him. Once again, Len rolled out the red carpet and our newly minted Australian friend left with gifts from Len and Beth of expired Massachusetts and New Hampshire license plates that he could take back to Australia and tell his friends about.
So not to far from our home, less than 20 miles in fact, our short adventure ride enabled us to find and share our friendship with Len and Beth with our new Australian friend Geoff. Through this sharing, on a brief 20 mile ride, we shrunk the planet a little more for a person that came from half way around the Earth. What more could anyone ask from adventure riding.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 2)
As we said earlier, we stopped at the McKinley View Lodge where we were in for a special treat. After a brief lunch we learned a bit about the history of the lodge and its progenitor, Mary Carey. Mary was one of the first female pilots to fly an aircraft over Mt. McKinley and she also built the lodge with some of the tools and heavy equipment you see in the slideshow. Google Mary for she was a very interesting woman.
But we were in for a more interesting treat when as we were leaving, we struck up a conversation with a couple who noticed our NH plates on our bikes. After telling them about our journey and where we were headed, they asked if we would mind if they shared our email address with one of their friends who also motorcycled around the area. Of course we agreed and we were on our way.
We continued our way towards Cantwell in a dreary overcast, hoping that the cloud cover would lift a bit so we could see Mt. McKinley in all its glory, but persistent rain showers pestered us as we moved north. Although at times the clouds did appear to break a bit, they never fully opened and we did not get to see McKinley. But as the day progressed, it did brighten and we were treated to some breathtaking scenery.
When we rolled into Cantwell, it had pretty much cleared. It had been a long day of riding and we were pretty tired. We checked in to a small off the road hotel and asked them for a place to eat. It turned out that the closest place was called “The Perch” and was about 15 miles away. So we jumped back on the bikes for another ride which turned out to be quite beautiful and to top it off, the dinner was quite awesome as well.
After a long and sumptuous dinner, we lazily headed back to the hotel for a night’s rest before we headed out across the Denali Highway in the morning. I must say that I was concerned that it would a potholed, RV clogged, gravel disaster, but as we started out westerly on the Denali the following morning, it became quite clear that I needn’t have worried.
The “highway” was indeed gravel for all but 24 of its 135 miles, but it was nearly free of any traffic. As we rode along, we really could have used clamps to keep our hanging jaws shut as we were awed by one after another beautiful view or scene. Mountains rose from vast plains covered in spruce. The air was so clear you could see that the trees went on miles and miles until they reached the soaring mountains covered in snow.
Glaciers slid down the sides of several mountains leaving ice falls which glinted in the bright and sometimes almost harsh sunlight. The whites of the snow and ice at times became silver and almost clear as the refractory fire of the light bounced and reflected off the many facets of the mountains’ faces. Each time we thought we could not be more awed, we were indeed even more floored at the visual treats we encountered. It is difficult to explain the beauty of it all. In fact, we were stopping so much, we were in danger of having to stop and camp on the side of the highway if we didn’t get moving.
So with great difficulty, we soldiered on without stopping. After about 5 hours of stopping and starting on the road, we came upon the only place on the highway that serves food. We had seen only two or three vehicles the entire time we were on the highway, but as we pulled into the parking lot of the Gracious House and the Home Style Cooking Cafe we found where they all were. The dirt parking lot was packed and there was not a single seat in the house. Not one. We waited about 20 minutes and not a single seat opened. We then broke the code and decided that our lunch would consist of almonds, cashews, power bars and water, served on a bluff overlooking mountains and glaciers.
Boy did we make the right decision. It was a stellar 20 minutes of relaxation and communing. Few words were said between us while we munched on our meager lunch and soaked in all the surrounding elements would give us. It was 20 minutes or so that neither of us will ever forget. Soon it was time to get back on the road if we were going to get to our destination for the evening, the Tangle River Inn in Paxson.
We loaded up our gear and got back on the road, the scenery birthing a tranquility that I’d not previously known. We had been riding about an hour on a section of the highway that had been built up about four feet off the tundra. Steep embankments rolled off each side of the road into a thick green underbrush. I was just motoring along at about 45 miles per hour when suddenly from my right, a gigantic blackish blur darted out from the underbrush and ran up the embankment from in front of me. It was very large and it was moving fast, but then suddenly a second smaller brownish blur followed immediately behind the big black blur.
The only thing I could do was nail the brakes and try to avoid hitting the blurs. Then it dawned on me. As we were packing our gear, the agents that we used to ship Kim’s bike warned us that it was moose calving season and the moose were plentiful and wherever you might see a moose, there might be a calf with it. Well surer than heck, I’d just found my first two moose in Alaska. I managed to get my heavily loaded bike stopped about 10 feet short of and behind the adult female moose and the calf which was running with her. They both continued running across the road and down the opposite embankment.
It just so happened that we were approaching a small river at the time. I reached into the sleeve of my Stich to grab my point and shoot camera, but by the time I got it out of my sleeve, they had already dived into the river and gotten to the other side. By the time I could focus, they were in the brush and gone. I was so happy and sad at the same time. I had missed hitting the moose and avoided injury, but I had missed an awesome camera shot.
Moose avoided we only had about 40 miles to go to get to our destination. When we arrived, we found that the accommodations were less than stellar. But once again, in keeping with the Alaskan tradition, the food was home cooked and amazing and there was plenty of it. For dessert, there was spectacular scenery from our room with lake and mountain views. Well satiated after dinner, we took a few pictures outside battling our first real difficult encounter with Alaskan mosquitos, but it was well worth it. Tomorrow morning, we would head back onto the pavement towards Tok and ultimately the Canadian Yukon as you’ll see in Part 3.
Sidi Adventure Goretex Boots
When you get old-“er” things might start to hurt. It’s the beginning of payback time. Remember all those falls you took having fun. Remember feeling and thinking you were immortal? No scratch that, remember knowing that you were immortal?
Now re-adjust your brain a bit and remember all the not so fun injuries. A few get offs from your racing days. A couple of collisions with immovable objects. Well unfortunately they’re coming home to roost and you had better be prepared. Prepared with good equipment if you want to keep up. So it is with my decision to up the ante with a new pair of Sidi Adventure Goretex boots.
A hybrid of a pure off road boot and a touring boot, the Sidi Adventure Goretex would appear to have the goods to solve the problems of the Adventure Rider who wants a more protection and support than a road boot, but doesn’t want the all out stiffness of an off road boot. Throw in the breathability and claimed waterproofing, it would seem that you have a winner. We’ll be testing the boot in the near future to see it they live up to their reputation and whether they are worth their rather lofty price tag.
Stay tuned for more info shortly…
UPDATE: We will be out for a full day of cold weather riding tomorrow (Saturday April 7) so I will have my first impressions of the Sidi Adventure Goretex Boots posted by Sunday. Stay tuned!
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Arai XD4 vs XD3 Helmet
With the new Arai XD4 recently released and my trusty Arai XD3 now having four years of hard labor under its visor, it is time for a replacement. One thing Kim and I won’t skimp on is a quality helmet. So I’ve ordered a new XD4 and we’ll shortly have a review and report on how it stacks up against the old XD3. With a significant price increase, we sure do hope it’s a lot better!
There’s still a bit of snow around these parts of NH and VT, so we may be a bit delayed in writing the report, but this is an adventure riding website so how can we delay for too long? What kind of journalistic integrity would that reflect, eh? So stay tuned and we’ll be reporting in shortly…
UPDATE: We will be out for a full day of cold weather riding tomorrow (Saturday April 7) so I will have my first impressions of the XD4 vs. the XD3 posted by Sunday. Stay tuned!
When Opportunity Knocks…. Slam The Door?
Let me start off by saying I love KTM motorcycles. The little Austrian brand that builds high quality, very sporty, enduro motorcycles capable of covering all matter of terrain. Actually, you might even say I am a KTM fanatic. But sometimes, even if you are a fanatic, you have to call out your “hero” and tell them like it is. Well, I’ve had something on my chest for the last seven years and it’s time I got it off. So here goes…
If you saw the motorcycle adventure movie “The Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman, you have to ask yourself, “What was KTM thinking when they refused to give two actors three motorcycles in return for the world wide movie promotion of their motorcycle brand as they ride their way around the world on a charity mission? Could a better opportunity presented itself to KTM on a platter?
So let’s boil this all down shall we? Two actors, one of whom is literally known throughout the world as the planet hopping, Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi, along with a lesser known actor who provides comic relief, want to go on an around the world trip using your less than well known brand of motorcycle. They will also be making stops along the way, helping children while using your bike. In addition, to help them along during their journey, they will have some help. Not one or two people, but an entire support team. The support team will have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, a doctor, satellite communications and several other people with the ability to make border crossings happen via influential people. Hmmm…. does that sound like an opportunity for failure to you? KTM apparently thought so.
Oh, and don’t forget… The whole journey is going to be made into a movie! The kind of movie where the reality can be changed “a little”. In movies, through the magic of film making, things happen that might not happen in real life. Can an actor play a “Jedi Master” who reports to a two foot green creature who is even a more powerful “Jedi Master”? In movies they can. Can an alien land in a spaceship that looks like a Christmas tree, befriend a little boy and make his bicycle fly? In movies they can. Can an ogre make friends with a talking donkey and marry a princess? In movies they can. Can a KTM make an around the world trip with two actors and an entire support crew? According to KTM management at the time, apparently not; not even in a MOVIE! Jeesh!
By the time the Long Way Round movie was in production, KTM had already won 4 straight Dakar rallies, one of the most gruelling tests of man and machine on the planet. Thereafter, KTM would continue its winning streak with an additional 7 Dakar wins in a row, a true testament to the KTM marque and the ability of its machines (as well as the men who rode them of course). So why would KTM balk at giving up 3 bikes which would more than likely have been the far better choice for the trip as Charlie Boorman had suggested? Could it be that they took the word of a single “consultant” and just outright refused on one person’s viewpoint? How shortsighted and terrible.
After the Long Way Round movie and its successor Long Way Down screened, sales of BMW adventure motorcycles skyrocketed. Even though the big GS’s were oversized and heavy, had breakdowns and were difficult to handle when the conditions got rough, many people just want to be like Ewan and Charlie and latched on to the BMW adventure bandwagon. BMW must send Ewan and Charlie flowers every time the sales of the GS’s climb and I for one wouldn’t blame them. They’ve created a marketing phenomenon with adventure motorcyclists. Just mention the Long Way Round or The Long Way Down and people think BMW. Congratulations BMW.
As for you KTM well, I hope you’ve learned your lesson. You make excellent machines that win gruelling races and competitions. But in North America, almost no-one knows about you. You’ve got to come up with a way to get people to know you and let them find out how excellent your machines are. Maybe you ought to call Charlie and tell him you’re very sorry for the error. You have new KTM 990s just waiting for him at his garage with panniers etc. ready to go. Call Ewan and tell him that anyone can do the long way round easterly, it’s time to do it westerly and no highways allowed. Period. And while you’re at it, show off some of those sexy KTM accessories and even some of those non-KTM accessories so people know they are out there too. They’ll only make people want your machines more.
KTM, I’ll always love your machines but the group of us here in the US can’t keep the flame alive by ourselves. You have to help. When opportunity knocks, don’t slam the door. Please. Charlie and Ewan already have too many flowers from BMW.
Falling Off Sucks
Falling off sucks. Yes it does. The bruises, the scratches, the potential injury, to say nothing of the embarrassment, falling off sucks. Or does it? If we step back and examine our falls (I’ve had plenty), what caused them? Was it my inattention? My lack of ability? Impassable terrain? Equipment failure or lack of the appropriate equipment? Something else?
As you can tell, there are lots of reasons we fall off. But if we step back and analyze our falls, are they all bad things? Did we learn something from them? Did we learn that we need to pay attention at all times or that we need to lay off the front brake in low adhesion situations? Did it make you think that you need more practice and drive you to go out and do so? Did it make you think a second time before attempting that muddy track on smooth tires when there was a different way around?
Well then, perhaps falling off really doesn’t suck. Perhaps it’s something you can use as a tool when it happens. You can use these experiences to learn and improve. It’s a bit humbling perhaps, but if you take away a learning experience from the fall, you’ve come out ahead. That’s the secret. Just make sure that you walk away from that fall with new perspectives and new insights that will keep you from repeating that fall and others to come.
So… after all, maybe falling off doesn’t suck. Maybe it just stinks for a little while.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 1)
Alaska has been called the Great Land. Well we’re here to tell you that it’s not. It’s not nearly enough of a superlative name for Alaska. After visiting and riding though only a very small portion of Alaska’s 586,412 square miles (or 663,267 square miles if you include the water inside its borders), Alaska truly is the Spectacular, Gigantic Land of Grandeur. Alaska is one of those places that defies easy description; even with pictures. Passing on the beauty and the overall majesty of Alaska is nearly impossible. Add to that a side trip into the Canadian Yukon and you have a nearly indescribable adventure. But we will try to give you but an idea of what you can expect if you choose to journey to this wonderful place.
Naturally, planning for a trip such as a ride through Alaska and the Canadian Yukon requires a fair bit of planning. Kim was riding her Suzuki DR650 which I prepped extensively for the trip. Installed were panniers, top box, windshield and numerous protective bits and bobs to ensure that a drop here or there wouldn’t end the adventure early. Once ready to go, we shipped the bike to an agent in Anchorage where we picked it up to begin our adventure.
I am riding a KTM 640 Adventure, a bike designed for a trip such as this. Originally designed for the Dakar Rally, it was made for off-road and needed little for this adventure other than the equipment to carry “stuff”. I was lucky enough to find a used one in the Anchorage area through the community at ADVRider and all that I needed to do was to have the panniers installed at a local motorcycle shop in Anchorage.
Bikes prepped and ready to go, we arrived in Anchorage on an overcast and rainy day. Our enthusiasm however was far from diminished. We grabbed a taxi from the airport and headed to the agent to off-load our gear and let Kim start the setup of her bike while I continued to the motorcycle shop to pick up my bike.
While in the taxi, I noticed that Anchorage is just like any other medium sized city. It has office buildings, chain restaurants, lots of people running about doing what they do and lots of traffic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. After about a half hour, I was able to pick up my KTM 640A and be on my way to the agent’s to meet up with Kim, load up my bike and head to the hotel to drop off our gear, grab a dinner somewhere and get a good nights rest so we could be ready for a fresh start the following morning.
We were pretty tired from packing for our adventure, getting to the airport, taking our flight, picking up the bags and picking up the bikes and unloading the gear into the bikes. By the time we had finished, it was around 8 PM Alaska time. We wanted to head to the hotel, grab a bite to eat and head back to the hotel to get a good nights rest. By the time we got to a restaurant and finished dinner it was 11 PM. Then it dawned on us. It was still light outside and if it hadn’t been rainy, it would have been downright bright! At 11 PM! Lesson 1, the sun doesn’t set until really late in the summer in Alaska; later as you go further north. That is a pretty cool phenomenon, one that I could definitely live with in the summer, but it’s just the reverse in the winter, so…
When we awoke, it was raining heavily, but we were determined to get out of Anchorage an into some of the less populated Alaska. Our destination for the day was generally north towards Talkeetna and a small lodge there. It did take about an hour to get out of Anchorage in the traffic and rain, but once on the Parks Highway, the riding got better and so did the scenery. Traffic congestion gave way to smaller roads and mountains. Ahhh…. that’s more like it!
After a full day’s riding, we made it into Talkeetna for a quick night’s rest and we were back out on the road early for a quick breakfast where we learned our second Alaskan lesson. Everything is big in Alaska. Everything. The mountains, the distances between locations and… the portions of food! Unbelievable is the only word. Ordering our “Half Standard” breakfast at a Talkeetna roadhouse resulted in each of us receiving two completely overflowing plates complete with eggs, bacon, two slices of Texas toast and a coffee roll. Can you say gut buster?
Totally overflowing with food, we set out again in a northerly direction towards Cantwell. Much of this riding was still on pavement but the scenery really began to pop. On the schedule for the day was a viewing of Mt. McKinley if the weather would cooperate. We stopped for lunch at the McKinley View Lodge where we would have seen Mt. McKinley if the weather were cooperating. It did not, so we did not. Oh well.
However, this stop did lead us to the opportunity to “Shrink The Planet” once again and we were quite thankful for that. Our bikes had New Hampshire license plates on them and that often is an opportunity for conversation. We were approached by a couple and we struck up a conversation about adventure riding and where we were from and where we were going. We talked a bit about them and also, one of their friends. They said they had a friend who was a rider who would be very interested in what we were doing and asked if they could share our email address with him. Of course we said yes, and this chance meeting would lead to a “Shrinking of the Planet” that has continued to this day, not only in Alaska, but across this country from Tennessee to Colorado. We’ll tell you more about that in Part 2.
If It’s Tuesday, I Must Be In…
Some of us who “work for a living” may think that “Adventure Riding” is beyond our capabilities. There’s no way that I’ll ever get to make that epic journey without:
- Ditching the corporate shackles, quitting the day to day job and becoming a migrant worker
- Ignoring all family responsibilities and spending every nickel earned on vagabond roaming
- Growing a beard and abandoning all personal grooming
But when you really look around and think about it, no such extreme acts are necessary. Do you really have to pile on long days and thousands of miles to start on your way to your dreams? Think about it. What is it you really want to accomplish on your journey?
Aren’t you looking for:
- Changed surroundings and environment
- To meet some new people, learn what they are all about and share some of yourself with them
- Enjoy some riding in the elements and experience the heat, cold, wet, dry. Smell the smells, sweet or dour and experience whatever nature has to give.
- Soak in all of the above in a unharried manner without the stresses that we generally have day to day
So when all is said and done, when you examine all of the things you are really looking for in your adventure ride, you need not quit your job, ignore your family, travel months away from home and ride tens of thousands of miles. No, what you need to do is change your mindset, ride to a place you’ve not been before and experience what nature has to give. Stop for a few minutes and talk to someone and ask them who they are, what is going on in their day/world and let them know why you have travelled to meet them.
If you are not careful, you will suddenly find that you have created your own adventure. Your short journey will have reinforced the mantra…
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet, One Ride At A Time
“Lucky Tester”
Yes, I make no bones about it, I am indeed one unbelievably blessed, supremely fortunate, possessed of propitious providence “Lucky Tester”. So what is a “Lucky Tester” you may ask? Well dear reader, a “Lucky Tester” is a divinely fortunate person whose spouse enjoys adventure riding as much as I do. So it’s clear where the “Lucky” aspect comes in. But where does the “Tester” aspect come in?
Well, it comes in the form of all things riding oriented. Take for example my Aerostich Roadcrafter riding suit. Made of Cordura and Goretex, it has a large dual zipper system that allows it to be put on and taken off in seconds. It’s bulky enough to layer warm clothes under, has plenty of ugly zippered vents for when it’s hot and it has sort of “bulky” ungainly armor. Overall, it’s quite utilitarian looking but it does its job well.
My lovely spouse however, riding a BMW F650GS at the time, had her sights set on a BMW branded Sahara riding suit. Wonderfully styled and also functional, it was a two piece riding suit of excellent quality. But, it was designed to be worn as your riding gear and could not be removed lest you walk around in a t-shirt and underwear. Additionally, it was more than $300 more than my quite utilitarian ‘Stich. Nonetheless, we proceeded with our individual purchases, me with the ‘Stich and her with her quite stylin’ Sahara. We then embarked on a couple of rides where it was quite warm.
ZIPPPP!!!! ZIPPPP!!!! ZIPPPP!!!! I was able to open vents and let in cool air. Zip, and Kim’s pants were falling down. It started to rain. ZIPPPP!!!! I closed the vents and I stayed dry. Zip, and Kim got drenched. But she did look quite sexy! So after a few rides in heat, rain and dust, I had completed the testing. It was clear that the ‘Stich was the better performer of the suits.
Then came the anticipated question. “Can I get a Stich of my own?” Test 1 completed.
I was ready for a new pair of boots having worn down my previous street boots in the LRRS series. I did a little research and found the Sidi Canyon Goretex likely fit the bill for our type of adventure riding. I really like the Goretex stuff as you can tell. Kim on the other hand, was used to Alpinestars race boots and was ready for another pair.
“Are you sure you don’t want some Sidi Canyon Goretex Boots? They are waterproof, the Alpinestars aren’t.” “No, I’ve had Alpinestars for a long time and besides these are Max Biaggi boots and they are awesome.” She was right, they were awesome looking. But as we headed for our trip to Newfoundland which turned out to be 2 weeks of riding in the rain, this tester found that the Sidi Goretex Canyon boot was indeed waterproof while the sexy Alpinestars Max Biaggi race boot which looked so good on Max and Kim, weren’t.
I did find that my efficiency in testing was increasing, because it did not take the full two weeks of riding in the rain to recognize that the Sidi boots were indeed waterproof, the Alpinestars were not AND ultimately receive the anticipated question. “Maybe I should get some Sidi Canyon Goretex Boots of my own?”
Finally, I was ready to change from my Arai RX7-RR race helmet and go with something that flowed a bit more air and had more visibility. The then new Arai XD-3 seemed perfect. So to shorten the test cycle I asked Kim if she wanted one as well. “No, I like my AGV Rossi replica. I’m going to stay with that or get a new one later.” So as we proceeded into a broiling summer, I was riding with my XD-3 with the visor open and as the sun set, all I had to do was tilt my head down so the visor blocked the sun’s rays. Poor Kim, I could see her behind me in my mirror doing the blinded by the sun left handed salute, trying to block out the descending sun while trying not to block out her vision. Once again, my test cycle was complete when Kim said, “Should I get one of those XD-3s?”.
So while I often do have to perform a thorough test program to ensure the performance of a particular adventure riding product, it’s one I gladly bear while I recognize what a “Lucky Tester” I am. Because every time I look in my mirror, or look in front of me, I see my best friend, soul mate and riding buddy covering my six or twelve, and what could be nicer than that!
Oh… I almost forgot. Does anyone want to buy a barely used BMW Sahara woman’s riding suit?
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
From The Pegs
Thoughts, musings and diatribes from the people who bring you Ride2Adventure. Now that we think about it, some of this stuff may be really weird.
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