Oil...10W40Jack

Is that there whiskey in your oil? 'nough said.

Little Things

Finally...the first day of a trip that was born 6 months ago in a beer-laden "we should ride to..."...Alaska. And here we are. No, not in Alaska, but on the way. How did I know? How could I have known that the celebration of the start of a 3-week motorcycle ride to Alaska would begin in the post-binge haze of too much fun. Wesley called it a late start...also known as a hangover. But there's nothing like balancing on 2 wheels, motorized, and extra heavy when in a slight haze. Ugh. My R1150 GS weighs in at over 500 lbs dry...without extra fuel, camping gear, photo gear, food, bear repellent (let's see how that goes) and a spare oil can conveniently carrying American-made whiskey over the Canadian border...we'll see how that goes as well, eh? But it all comes down to those little things as we get into the groove of the ride... Like locking my keys in my own garage when I started to pack. Going back to the house for the tire repair kit and leaving empty handed. And by the third gas stop I figured out the order of life...sidestand down (ALWAYS...even if you're not getting off the bike), gloves off, sunglasses BEFORE helmet, headset out of ears before throwing the tank bag down (ouch)...etc etc. And we also now know that leaving the San Francisco bay area mid-day on a Saturday in heavy traffic (all heading to Infineon race track) is no way to start an Alaskan adventure. But we're getting there. It was a hot-as-hell ride up the central valley. But once we got to Redding and into the curvy, rolling hills, the ride was...well...sobering. There's nothing like rolling through curvy mountain roads on two wheels and soaking in the view like this one of Mt. Shasta. And this is only the beginning. We're also figuring out the workings of posting to blogger, so bare with us...photos and videos to come.

The first day was HOT (Wesley)

So the first day went well. Doug and I were both tired from being too amped up for the trip to sleep. Late start. Once we got into the central valley it was hot as hell. My Ipod shut down it was so hot. In Yreka tonight in a hotel 6. Had a delicious dinner at Taco Bell and a few Jack and Cokes thanks to Doug carrying some in his spare oil can...we don't need spare oil anyway. Tomorrow an early start to Portland to see my sister and niece and brother in law. Al Lemire from Idaho is riding out to meet us for a day of riding to Vancouver Monday. We had a bunch of photos to upload but...Doug somehow erased them! Wanker! Hard to believe we have 20 more days of this. I always forget how taxing this many miles a day is on the body. Not much to say today. Just getting into the groove. Encountered a fellow ADV rider on the road and was given the obligatory ADV salute...the middle finger...its a motorcycle thing. I returned the gesture. Met up with them later at a truck stop and chatted a bit. They were doing way more miles than us and two up on a Vstrom with no rear brakes because they wore them out...but we are easing into it....we will be up to speed soon. More from Portland tomorrow...