Cycle Trip

Back home to Atlanta

2005-08-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

After rafting, I got a really early start, before 7am to visit my dear, sweet mother in Richmond, Virginia. The ride, which I wasn't expecting to be all that spectacular was awesome. Rt. 33 through West Virginia was gorgeous, and the weather wasn't too hot. I really needed that good ride as I was starting to feel sad about the trip getting closer and closer to its end. I got to Richmond a little after 2pm and I got a very warm welcome from Mom. We immediately took a stroll through the yard to see all the gardening that had been done over the summer. Someday I hope to be as enthusiastic about my yard as she is. I figure that day is coming soon, though. We visited the country club for a quick bite, and then took a very long walk and talk. We could probably talk for days on end. Besides all of the usual things you would expect from a loving mother, like attention, love, great meals, and, hugs and kisses, my mother also took care of one of my cycle needs. My speedometer had gone on the fritz about half way through Michigan. My resourceful mother managed to find a new speedometer cable for me in Richmond.

After I installed that, we had a lovely dinner. We attacked a crossword puzzle together after that and called it a night. After breakfast, I headed onto Raleigh to see Steve and Laura and their son Cian and newborn daughter, Ciara. I got a pleasant surprise when I arrived. Steve's mom, Janet, was there and had been staying for the last month to help Laura out with the newborn. We had a great lunch, BLTs, mmmmmmmmm! I got to see their family in everyday life, which was nice to see. Getting to view a good family unit in action really can warm my heart. A picture will be posted soon, so check back in if you want to see the whole family. Unfortunately, it was a quick stop, only about 2 hours, and I was headed to find national forest to pitch a tent. Unfortunately, weather, for only the 3rd time since the onset of this trip, made me choose to get a hotel for the night. I ended up in Hickory, NC, and had a quiet evening in front of the tube, and made a couple of phone calls. I was sad that my last night wouldn't be in a tent, but was happy when I was well rested in the morning. The bad weather was still waiting for me when I got up, and had briefly tossed around the idea of just catching interstate 85 right into Atlanta so I wouldn't have to deal with the rain for as long, but decided that since it was my last day, I would take a more scenic route and hope the rain didn't ruin it. That was the right choice. I caught Rt 19 in SW North Carolina, and it was a beauty. It had all of the riding I love, like nice curves, mountainous views, and river views. Also, I only caught about 3 minutes of rain, and the cloud cover made the ride nice and cool. Here's my last shot away from home in the Smoky Mountains.

Maybe it's the often presence of the clouds that gave them their name. That's another I'll have to research. Shortly after that pic was taken in NC, I knew I was close to home. I saw a hand painted sign that read "Hot Boiled P-Nuts" on the roadside. I wasn't in GA yet, but that was a real hint that I wasn't too far away from the border. I finally got home around 2:30pm and was happy that my roommate, Joe was home. I really didn't want to come home to an empty house. Anyway, one more shot of the of the cycle, to prove that it made it all the way back to Georgia.

I estimate (since the odometer quit working in Michigan) that in total the little Yamaha took me about 14,000 miles. After a short nap, I met Kathy out at one of our favorite hangouts called Blue Moon pizza. It was a great welcome to sit and chat with her on a warm afternoon outside on the patio. I didn't have my camera with me, but here's a good pic of her with her kids, Lauren and Gabe.

Thanks, Kathy, for a great welcome home, and for lots and lots of phone support on the road. So the road has come to an end, but stay tuned if you're interested in seeing some other Atlanta folks who kept me ticking while I was gone.

Non-rafting trip

2005-08-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

After Akron, I had planned on visiting Niagara falls, but got an invite from my bro to hang out with him for a night in Columbus, where he has been doing some part time work. We had a low key, but very fun evening. One on one time with Jim was just what we both needed. The next day, I stopped in where he was working and they set me up with internet access...which, along with battery life on the phone, is a very valuable commodity. Here is Sharon, partial owner to the company that made that possible. Thanks Sharon!

The trip to Seven Springs, a ski resort in Donegal, PA was a nice ride, but way too hot for wearing heavy black leather. It's fine as long as the cycle is moving, but coming to a stop was murder. That is where I realized how many more towns there are in the East. I had actually gotten to liking the openness of the West. Fewer towns mean fewer stops. Seven Springs is where a group of friends from Columbus, OH meet every year for what used to be a white water rafting trip. We gave up rafting probably 6-7 years ago, but still call it the rafting trip. Now we just meet at the resort and spend the weekend together. Some golf, some play volleyball, some relax by the pool, but we all have fun. While most were golfing the first day, I stumbled upon a motorcycle shop while trying to find a place to rent 4-wheelers so my friend Ron could go riding with me. No luck on rentals, but the place actually had a dual-sport tire, and I was really needing a new back tire. Most places only carry strictly street or dirt tires. Have a look at what was the brand new tire at the beginning of this trip.

The tire, installed, only cost $68! That's a hell of a good deal. I think the old tire cost double that and only lasted me about 12,000 miles. With the new tire on, I actually took the bike up and around the mountain, which is something I always thought would be fun, but never had a motorcycle to do it. The trip's attendees were around 15 this year, but my lacking diligence on camera duties didn't manage to get everyone. Here are Ron (the outstanding grill chef) and Carl (the trip organizer). Ron is hard at work with his chef duties. Looks like Carl is supervising. Both Ron and Carl are founding fathers of the rafting trip. They were part of the original 4 guys that started this whole tradition back when they camped out in tents, and actually white water rafted. Another original member, Tom Yetter, died last year. Thanks to Ron and Carl for leading us all in a toast to his honor.

Here are Mark and Tracy. Mark has recently become a triathlete. He told me that his decision to do so was because of the death cycle...which has nothing to do with motorcycles. Apparently, when a human reaches 35, the cells begin degenerating until we eventually die. Since Mark just reached 35, he said getting in great physical shape was how he wanted to deal with it. And he is in great shape. Mark was also my first passenger on this whole trip. We took a quick ride up one of the trails after volleyball...and only went down once...without injury. Tracy is the controller of Workers' Comp. in Ohio, and mother of four. She and I duked it out with a couple of crossword puzzles every morning, and usually got into some great conversations (porch time) in the evenings. We also shared some great times on the dance floor.

Here are Amy, Anne, and Karen. Amy is a great one-armed volleyball player. Years ago, she had a broken arm and had to learn to play one-armed, but she still whips out a successful "chicken wing" years later. Anne, wife of Mark, was my second cycle passenger on the trip. She held on a lot closer that Mark did. She even wrapped her legs around my waist for a second, just for effect. She did successfully make me feel pretty manly. Thanks Anne! Karen, Ron's wife, was a little quieter than usual on this trip. No drinking for her. After a lot of hard work (and I'm sure a lot of fun) she and Ron managed to put a bun in the oven! Congrats to them both.

All smiles from Becky and Tracy. I'm sure that has something to do with the outstanding food they're having. Becky is one of the quieter of the non-rafters, but none short on words if you're lucky enough to get her in a conversation. I got to play some Euchre with Becky as my partner. It was unfortunate that she didn't realize that she was my partner until after the second hand was played! I guess figuring out who is sitting across from you isn't as easy as it sounds. Sorry, Becky, that was too funny to pass up! Tracy is activities coordinator for the trip. She is also my favorite partner whenever we get to play 2-man volleyball. She recently had her second child, and I could tell that she is really enjoying being a mother. This isn't the greatest shot of Tracy, but even at that, she is still a cutie!

Joel and Steve (the instigator). Joel is Becky's hubby, and an all around good guy. When I met Joel, I was just becoming interested in volleyball. He, on the other hand, definitely knew his way around a court. Seeing him play definitely made me want to take the game more seriously. So, needless to day, Joel has had a huge impact on my life. Steve is the man of all activities. I've never known anyone else who always up for doing whatever comes his way. I think that is one of the main reasons we have always been such good friends. He and his wife, Laura, who couldn't make it this year, are the proud parents of two. The second is but a month old, which explains why Laura chose not to attend this year. Take a good look at his picture, and I think you can see in his smile that he's got some devious plots brewing behind that grin!

Below are two of Mark's brothers, Marty and Matt, who made their first non-rafting appearance this year. Having only spent a day with them, I don't know much, except that they were both a ton of fun. They even introduced some new drinking games to the crowd...like we needed that!

Corey has been a non-rafter for quite a while, and was introduced to the crowd by Steve. They met in Arizona before Steve showed up. Corey is the athlete among the crew. He always ends up on the winning team in the golf scramble, and I know that isn't just coincidence. Also he is an awesome volleyball player. We didn't play kickball this year, but I'm pretty sure Corey has booted the ball over the cottage roof in years past. I also learned that Corey was on TV this past summer on FX. There was a show called 30 days that his girlfriend's mom was the subject. Apparently, Corey was in a few of the scenes. Here is the link I found if you'd like to see if you can see him, http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/main.html.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I only wish I had taken more pics so I could have included everyone in the log.

Akron and Family

2005-08-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

I headed straight for Akron to Grandma T's from Mt. Vernon, OH. As expected, she greeted me with a big smile and a hug and kiss. It wasn't a minute after that, that my dad pulled in. Good timing! It was great to see Dad, since I had thought of him so much during this trip. He was the person who introduced me to the motorcycle when I was only 8, so I always think of him first when I am experiencing a good ride. Anyway, here's Grandma and Dad.

We went out for Akron's famous burgers at Swenson's and topped it off with an ice cream cone. That's a great way to get welcomed home! We headed back to Dad's place where he wanted to see what it was like to ride the cycle all loaded down.

He didn't have too much trouble with that. In fact, he looked to me like he was ready to do some hill climbing. I took the rest of the afternoon heading (in the car) to Toledo to visit a friend I missed on the way through. She (Erin) was a friend I hadn't seen in years that I'd met a long time ago when I used to take rafting trips in West Virginia over Memorial Day. We'd kept in touch by phone, but hadn't seen each other in probably 8 years. She hadn't changed a bit.

We sat outside the Dairy Barn ice cream shop and talked for way longer than either of us expected. It was amazing how many similar memories we shared from our rafting days. Of course, it was also great to share what our lives have been like since then, too. Thanks to Erin for her part in driving from Detriot to meet me half way. It was great revitalizing an old connection! Last, but not least, I got to have breakfast with Dad, Grandma, and brother Jim. Jim had been on vacation, so I was afraid I wasn't going to get to see him, but caught him on his way from Cleveland to Columbus. Nothing like a nice quiet family gathering...at a truck stop!

Thanks to Jim for taking time away from work to meet us, and thanks to Dad and Grandma for taking care of my housing, and every other need that only family can provide.

Minneapolis to Columbus

2005-08-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Minneapolis a little before my host, Chris Nicolai. He told me to knock on the door and if nobody answered, to just get the key and let myself in. What he didn't tell me that his wife's brother and girlfriend had moved in. I knocked on the door and a total stranger answered, and by the look on her face, she wasn't expecting a stinky, sweaty man to be at the door trying to let himself in. I rattled off Chris and Laura's (Chris' wife) names, but she was still a little leary about me coming right on in. Finally, she called Laura and straightened it out and my presence was accepted. Nicolai had just returned from a climb up Mt. Ranier with his friend. I couldn't believe all of the gear these two took with them. Their luggage, which Laura called body bags, were aptly described. I thought I was packing a lot of stuff...yet these guys were carrying all of this stuff without the aid of a cycle! I didn't take this pic, but here is Nicolai and gear climbing Mt. Rainier.

We talked about each other's trips until the wee hours before calling it a night. The next day, Nicolai worked, so I did my own thing then we went out to our usual Mexican restaurant that night. Then we took a quick peek at the Mall of America for a quick rollercoaster ride and topped off the night by watching a very funny movie called Napolean Dynamite. Here's Nicolai in front of the tube.

I took off in the morning and headed up the coast of Lake Superior towards Canada where I planned on following the coast all the way back down into Michigan. I made it to right before the border of Canada the first day where I saw some Elk, but didn't get a pic. Only got this pic of the lake.

I headed into Canada the next day and had a great lunch in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I had the best waitress ever! She and I talked for probably 15 min. She told me about her kids and life and I told her about my trip and my life. She even took the time to have a look at the bike all packed up. This is a person I really should have captured on film...dammitt! She and the many other folks I talked to in Canada really made me like the country. Unfortunately, I only got one pic from Canada and it wasn't a great one. This is by my campsite.

I didn't get into Michigan until 4pm the next day and most of that ride was through the rain. So, that's another reason I didn't get more pics. I made it to Oscoda, MI, which was a great ride. All along Lake Huron, the scenery (especially the trees), weather, and even smell reminded me of Ohio. It was very comforting. I made it to Ohio the next day and went all the way to Wayne National Forest in Southeastern Ohio where I used to dirt bike ride and camp. You can never go back! I used to have that whole place to myself, but not anymore. The only flat spot I could find that wasn't occupied looked like this.

And if that wasn't bad enough, a policeman stopped me the next day out and tried to give me a ticket for not having a pass to the National Forest...ugh. He must have felt sorry for me, because he let me off, but still the whole experience was disheartening. I headed straight for Columbus, OH after my run-in with the law and met my friend Suzanne and her family; husband Tim, and daughter and son Natalie and Collin. We didn't get to visit for too long since they were headed up to Lake Erie for the weekend, but they were a great welcome to Columbus.

After that, I made several phone calls to friends and didn't have any luck reaching anyone. I went up to the Bogey Inn to see if there was any volleyball going on, but there wasn't, so I checked out another place called Gatsby's where there are some courts. There was plenty of vb going on, but it was a tournament, so I was out of luck again. Instead, I sat down for a beer and shortly after that, my friend Phil called and made spur of the moment visit. What a guy! That really saved the rest of my day from being a downer.
We caught up on each others lives, talked about our mutual Columbus friends, and enjoyed each other's company. Thanks a ton to Phil for making the effort to see me. After Phil left, I headed up towards Akron in search of a campsite for the night. It got pretty dark before I came upon any possibilities. I stopped at an organized site, against my better judgement, and made a pact with myself that I wouldn't pay more than $10 to pitch a tent. They wanted $18, so off I went in a huff. I made it to Mt. Vernon and finally stopped in a bar to see if anyone could direct me to a free place to pitch a tent. I did get that info, but still didn't have a great feeling about the info I got. So, as I'm getting on my cycle, a guy approaches and says that I look like I'm in search of a place to stay for the night. I couldn't believe it when he said that he and his friend were in town on their cycles and would put me up for the night if I went in for a beer with them. Of course, I did! Here are Jason and Gary...the nicest bikers I've met on the trip yet.

Denver to Minneapolis

2005-07-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

I got a really early start out of Denver. The traffic and heat really had me scared after the miserable ride into Denver. I was on the road before 7am. My first stop was in Cheyenne, WY. Nothing too exciting there, but I didn't stay long enough to notice, even if there was. Again, like Helena, I found this to be pretty small for a capital city. The weather was already getting pretty hot, but I wanted to make it to the Black Hills National Forest, so I kept moving. I made it to Pringle, SD for a meal by around 5pm, but it took me another hour or so to find a spot to camp. I was definitely secluded that night, but no river or mountaintop. Just a spot in the middle of nowhere. I have a theory of why it is called the Black Hills. When I set up camp, I thought the ground was wet as some rain had come through. Turns out that it is just very dark, almost black soil, which made it look wet. There's probably a totally different reason for the name, but I still like the theory. The next day, I headed in to see the 4 heads...you know, Mt. Rushmore. The trip in, I finally got to make use of my leathers. The road was very curvy. On one of my side-bag-ground-touching turns, the bike let loose and then we were on the ground. Since the turn was so tight, I wasn't going too fast, so although the leather on my right knee, and the right side bag were damaged, me and the cycle came out without a scratch. Needless to say, I'm cornering a little less aggressively now! So, onto the 4 heads. Like most places I've traveled to see, I didn't stay long to gander. I looked for a bit, snapped a pic, and off I went.

The 4 rock heads may be better looking, but I think the guy in the orange shirt is more colorful. The rest of South Dakota was a whole lot of farmland. I goofed and went too far North, not realizing that Minneapolis is so far South, but that gave me a chance to go through the towns of Buffalo and Bison. I found that odd, since on my travels through Custer National Park (no charge, yippee) I had a herd of buffalo/bison cross the road in front of me and it made me wonder what the difference was. At this point, I still didn't know. That evening in Timber Lake, SD and the next in Ortonville, MN the only excitement was being woken up around 2:30 each night by howling winds! Both nights these 50mph+ winds pulled a couple of the tent stakes out of the ground and left me wrapped up in the tent. It was more funny than scary, though. The only other thing I found interesting is that I had developed a case of biker's tan. I'm sure you've heard of a farmer's tan, but biker's is a little different. It's kind of funny looking. On my whole body, there's only one uncovered spot, between where my gloves and jacket sleeve leave a gap. I thought it was pretty funny.

Perhaps, I'm finding idiotic things funny in all of this solace! About an hour outside of Minneapolis, where I was going to see my friend Chris Nicolai, I stopped to see some friends that I met through him in Howard Lake, MN. This is where the bison/buffalo mystery was solved. According to Jeremy, he doesn't know exactly what the distinction is, but that no buffalo are native to North America and that what are here are all Bison. If anyone has more information on this, please publish your comments. It was good to see Jeremy and his wife, Delia.

Although I only stayed for an hour and a half, it was a great break in my ride. And if anyone is in the marked for a custom, hand-made guitar, Jeremy is your man. I've seen his craftsmanship, and it is a thing of beauty.

Spokane to Denver

2005-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

The first day back on the road from my long stay in Spokane was a beautiful ride. I went straight East across the panhandle of Idaho (I now Know that Florida isn't the only state with a panhandle) and into Montana where I started heading Southeast through the mountains. The entire ride was full of river and lake views and nice winding roads. What I didn't expect, though, was the blazing heat I would get in Paradise, Montana, where I stopped for lunch. It was 98 degrees! I had a great conversation with the elderly waitress at the restaurant, who actually had some motorcycle stories. She and her husband bought motorcycles in the early seventies when the Japanese bikes were storming the US. The rode them for a couple of years until, as she says, "There got to be too many crazy people on the roads." You said it, Sista! I ended up in Ovando, MT at a great campsite next to the Blackfoot river.

My tent was so close to the rushing sounds of the river that I really slept like a baby that night. The next day's ride, which ended me at a National forest outside Pray, MT, was mostly good, but ended up with some serious head winds and a little rain when I was about 60 miles from Yellowstone. I passed through Helena, which was surprisingly small for a capital city. I thought it looked like it would be a nice place to live...but then remembered about the winters! My campsite in Pray was the worst in a long time. I traveled 12 miles of dirt road, so I expected it to be secluded. Not at all. Lots of RVs, loud redneck quarrels, and screaming kids. This place was definitely not worthy of a picture. The next day I headed into Yellowstone. $15 just to drive through the park. I was not happy. The park was beautiful, but cold. I had no idea the park was at such a high elevation. I'll bet the majority of the park was above 7,000 feet. Worse than the cold was the people. All of the nice winding roads were wasted as I spent most of my time stuck behind an exhaust bellowing SUV or minivan. I did snap one pic, though. It was of what intrigued me the most, the steam spewing hot springs.

Luckily, the $15 charge also allowed me to continue through Grand Teton National Park. The park was smaller, but I preferred it for this shot alone. There is something about a mountain lake that I find gorgeous.

Directly to my left in that shot that you can't see were a couple of sweet young things sunbathing with their bikini top straps undone so as to get a lineless tan. That was pretty gorgeous, too. Has anyone figured out to make a woman in such a position sit up quickly? I couldn't come up with any sly way of making that happen. I stopped in Jackson, WY for a late lunch, and then headed South in search of a campsite. Today is where I learned what I wish I had learned a long time ago. Instead of looking for a signs indicating campsites, only look for National Forest access. This will assure that there is no organized camping, but that camping is legal. I found a great spot next to the Hoback river with nobody around but me and the stars and the bears.

Waking up next to a river always gives me an invigorating start to the day. I headed to CO with a grin on my face that morning. Unfortunately that wouldn't last long. Southern WY, and Western, CO are not the most exciting landscapes for riding. Not a horrible ride, but just not as picturesque as yesterday's ride. I picked some very obscure routes once I got through Rock Springs, WY. A few were dirt roads, but it was worth if for lack of seeing other cars. Speaking of dirt roads, when I got into Craig, CO and started heading for the Routt National Forest to use my new found knowledge of where to camp, I looked at the map to see that I had maybe 20 miles of dirt to get to the National Forest. It turned into 60, and I was none too happy, but it was well worth the miles. I found myself atop Pyramid Peak. I followed a path to about 50 feet from the top where I set up camp.

Next to camping next to a river, mountaintop camping is my next favorite. Talk about a Rocky Mountain high! But, with a Rocky Mountain high, came a Rocky Mountain back. My campsite was not so smooth and I was aching a little in the morning. I shook that off and headed into Oak Creek, CO, where Mrs. Coziahr crew up. I had a cup of coffee and a good conversation at a coffee shop called the Mugshot, then headed towards Denver. I took Rt. 34 through the mountains. This is the route I wanted to take on my way West, but was closed. What I didn't know was that Rt. 34 goes through another National Park. Yup, that means $10 to get stuck behind more slow moving SUVs and minivans. It was probably beautiful, but I was so annoyed by all of the people, I missed most of it. I found myself in Estes Park again, just like about 2 months previous on my way West. It was just as beautiful as I remembered, but this time there was a little sadness. This is where I realized that I was well into the latter part of my trip. I was perked up when I met my friend, and Brenda's cousin, Mike Munden in Denver. It was a long hot trip through murderous traffic, but worth it to see Mike. He had me laughing within 2 minutes of seeing him.

I stayed with him for 2 days. The first night he took me to a brew house in downtown Denver and we hung out 'til about midnight. The next day, he worked while I made a pig sty of his apartment and washed 9 days of dirty laundry. That night he took me out to meet his friends Gary and Mary. We ate and had some drinks, then to my surprise, there was Team Trivia. What a deal! We didn't win, but had a great time. I wish I had my camera to take a pic of Mary and Gary. They were great people and great fun.

Short of Spokes in Spokane

2005-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

From Seattle, I had planned on heading into Canada and catching a ferry to Victoria, a city on Vancouver island, but there was rain that direction, and it was sunny to the East. I was sad to miss it since co-worker and friend, Barry McLoghlin had recommended visiting. But, since weather is the single biggest factor in a good ride versus a bad one, I headed towards Spokane. There were mountains directly East of Seattle, so the trip started out beautifully. On the way out of the mountains, I finally got a chance to use my spare gas can. I ran out about five miles before the next town, but it left with a good photo location next to the river I was following out of the mountains.

I was warned that the Eastern part of the state was boring, but not at all. When I came out of the mountains, I was greeted by an awesome rolling landscape. There wasn't much wind to deal with, so that always improves my opinion of my surroundings. I took a slight detour to ride along the Columbia river to the Grand Coulee Dam. Driving along the river was beautiful. Sort of like driving in a very small grand canyon.

Of course, I had to snap a shot of the dam, too. Nothing too exciting, just a wall holding back a few millions of gallons of water.

About 30 miles North of Spokane I found a campground next to Long Lake. Best part was that the site, as all campsites in WA, are no charge. That was welcome after spending up to $25 in CA just to pitch a tent! Ridiculous! It's a good thing sites in WA are cheap, because upon doing my routine inspection of the cycle that night, I found yet another spoke had bitten the dust. This time it was really close to having punctured the inner tube. I decided it was time to rectify the problem, but that meant I was going to have to stay there until the parts arrived. So here is were I hung out for two days.

Nothing too exciting, which is way I took some day trips, leaving all my gear behind so to alleviate the pressure on the back wheel. After 2 days at Long Lake, I went to another campground about 30 to the East called Dragoon Creek. The place was pretty empty, so I was able to get a spot next to the creek. Here's a shot for my brother, Jim, who's primary concern of me going on this trip wasn't the dangers of cycling, or being attacked by bears, but whether I was staying clean. When there wasn't a shower to be found, I always tried to find a water source like here at Dragoon Creek.

My parts arrived a day early, so I picked them up in Spokane and installed them on site. I didn't head out that afternoon, but instead decided to get a fresh start on Friday morning. It has been nice here in WA. It would be hard to find a better place to be stuck, but I was happy to be leaving.

L.A. to Seattle

2005-07-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

I left L.A. and headed up the coast on Route 1. I spent the first three nights on beaches in California. The first night I ended up in Morrow Bay. The campground was pretty crowded an I turned in early, but did manage to get a shot from the campsite the next morning. It was still pretty foggy, so this massive rock in the water didn't come out too clearly.

I've learned that fog is pretty regular for mornings on the West coast.
The next day, I drove right through San Francisco. The morning weather had been pretty cold, windy, and foggy, but when I got to S.F. it was pretty nice, so I wanted to continue riding while the sun was out. I drove over the Golden Gate bridge, which was fun, but no better than any of the other bridges I've come across in my travels. Bridges are great to travel over on a motorcycle. They always seem to be higher than I expect and give a great viewpoint of the world below. Unfortunately, the nice weather was short lived, and by the time I got to my destination in Bodega Bay, it was freezing and windy. I snapped this shot, and though you can't really see it, the wind almost blew me over.

My last day in California, I ended up just North of Eureka. The weather was beautiful, for a change, and I even met some nice folks a the campsite. One guy even left me with a bunch of wood so I could have a fire of my own. But the best part of this day wasn't the camping, it was the riding. The last 25 miles of Route 1 was unbelievable! All tight twists and turns that left cars and bigger motorcycles lumbering through while "piglet" and me were winding through with ease. I swear my side bags were almost scraping the ground when I was leaning really hard into the tightest turns. It was a real rush. Anyway, here's a shot just West of my campsite.

That nice weather was short lived. My ride into Oregon started nice, but by noon, it started raining and didn't quit. Here is a good idea of what the coast looked like, but minutes after this shot was taken, it was raining and I couldn't see the beautiful coast I was following.

With all the rain, I wimped out and got a hotel in Newport, Oregon. I expected that I would be waking up to more rain, since the weather report called for it, but I lucked out and was dry all the way to Seattle. It was a little cold, but no complaints. I was glad to be dry. I arrived in Seattle a little after 6:00 pm. I came to visit friends from when I lived in Columbus, Ohio, Sara Marxen and Jon Sjothun. I pulled in to find Sara and their son Aidan in the yard. I had never met Aidan, and he is already turning 2 tomorrow. Time certainly flies. Jon came out and we shared some cycle conversation. He owns a beautiful Triumph.

We didn't dawdle. We headed straight out for dinner and had some good food and caught up with each others lives. After that, we dropped Aidan off with a sitter and headed to a bar and played some pool and continued with the great conversation. We stayed out later than any of us expected, which still wasn't all that late by any means, maybe 12:30. The next morning, I gathered the family in the kitchen for a photo.

I think they would have rather I snapped a photo the previous night while they were dressed for the evening, but I still think it's a great shot. It's easy to take a good photo when you've got great subjects! Of course, I couldn't forget about Sara's long time companion, Monty. He was a puppy when I met him in Columbus. I can't believe he is 12 years old. Speaking of time flying.

I think he looks pretty darn good for an old pooch! I did a little sight seeing while in Seattle. Went to the beach with Sara and Aidan in the afternoon then Jon took me to see Seattle's sculpture of the troll under the bridge. I found it worthy of a pic. That's John and Aidan standing on the troll's hand.

The other excitement was watching a little of Sara's soccer game. I couldn't get any good action shot. The delay on the camera kept me from catching any action in the frame, but here's a great pose!

Tonight, Jon is making spaghetti for dinner and then it's back on the road. I'm either heading to Vancuver Island or Idaho...still not sure which yet. Thanks to Jon and Sara for taking good care of me in Seattle.

Vegas and Los Angeles

2005-07-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

Now that the work part of the trip is over, I headed back to Vegas. Spend 3 fun days downtown at the Horseshoe. The room was pretty lousy, but that was the only low point. Didn't gamble too much...spent most of the time wandering about or at the pool at the top of the hotel soaking up the sun and doing crossword puzzles. Went to the strip once and checked out the Venician and then the New York, New York (by way of Margaritaville). Had planned on riding the coaster, but at $12.50 a pop, bypassed it in the name of frugality. Monday, I headed back to visit my relatives. Most of the time spent there was sitting around shooting the breeze. Very fun! Aunt Mary made some scrumptious meals, and Aunt Jessie fed me breakfast and lunch. I didn't feel worthy of all of the great attention, but accepted it with a smile. I only took one pic of my time in Vegas, but it is a good one. I coaxed Aunt Mary take a ride on the cycle, since she is a fellow cyclist, and got a shot of her. Have a look!
I lengthened my stay there by a day when I discovered that my rear wheel bearings were shot. I think all of the dirt road rides took their toll. I didn't have too much trouble getting the bearings, but when I went to put the wheel back on, I noticed that rear sprocket was missing a few teeth. Not a difficult fix, but I could only find the part in LA, so my trip to Mexico didn't happen. I really didn't want to find myself on the side of the road in Mexico with a toothless sprocket, so I bought a new chain, installed it on the old sprocket, crossed my fingers and headed straight to LA. In route, I stayed at a campsite at the top of a ski resort about 100 miles outside of LA. Can you tell that I just love taking mountain top shots? I got to LA the next day just in time to pick up my part and head to Venice to see my childhood friends who I knew in Kenya, Scott and Skippy Bibo. I hadn't seen them in 5 years or so, but picked up like a day hadn't gone by. Scott, a film director, took lots of pics, including a shot of the new sprocket installation. Hard to tell from the photo, but that sprocket was pretty chewed up. Mornings were spent at a coffee shop a couple of blocks away. Here is the very enthusiastic Scott Bibo. What a smile! Kinda makes you want to grin, yourself, eh? Here's a shot of Skippy and me...perhaps a little buzzed from the caffeine.
And we can't forget Skippy's best pal, Atlas. Unfortunately, Atlas, being a pooch, wasn't allowed to join us inside for coffee, so he had to wait patiently outside. I spent most of my 3 days there with Skippy, since Scott was working a lot. We did a lot of bike riding and walking through the Venice area and non-stop talking. We even hit a volleyball around on the beach, but tired of that quickly being that neither of us were in very good shape. Scott took me out to a private screening of Batman Begins. I guess that's a perk for being a director in L.A! We also hiked up a mountain that overlooks the city. I really got an idea of the its size from that viewpoint. For Independence day, Skippy took me to a couple of parties. First we met up with her group of Russian friends who were having a cookout at a park in Marina Del Rey. The served us some great food and sangria, but it was cold and windy, so we only stayed for a couple of hours and then moved on to the second party which was indoors. The host, Leslie, grilled some delicious ribs, with a little of a spicy kick. Most of the crowd hiked up the mountain behind the house to see fireworks, but I stayed huddled next to the fire. L.A. is much colder than I ever expected. Tuesday morning, Scott and Skippy were back to work, and I was back on the road, but not before one last shot of the three of us.
I am hoping the we will keep in much better contact after this visit. I don't want to see another 5 years go by without seeing them.

Work at Barrick

2005-06-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Incorporating work into this motorcycle trip was great! I actually welcomed my two stops in Elko. Having a comfortable apartment and challenging work was a welcome diversion from the road. Work at Barrick for me consisted of taking data that was extracted by Barrick's IT guru, Stuart Pingree, from their previous computer system (MP5) and moving it into Oracle's asset management system (EAM). Exciting stuff! All of the data was divided into two areas, asset and inventory. Asset folks were: Dave Schreiter (Big Dave), also a cyclist, but under his own power; Jamie Hughes, a barrel of laughs who tools around on her jet ski in her off time; Alan Larkin, a model racketeer...and I'm not talking about your typical Estes toy model...his rockets are as tall as me that go over 10,000 feet; and Danita Muenster, who's personal life I didn't get into, but loved working with her. Inventory was a one man show by the name of Steve Eardley. I've never seen a guy who had more people in line at the door of his office, often me. His main distraction from work is church. I'm not sure exactly what his role in church is, but I gather he carries some weight. When system troubles came my way, Lisa Brown was my savior. She even helped me through some programming troubles (shhhh, don't tell anyone I needed help doing what I do best). Outside of work she is a Margarita connoisseur and a great conversationalist. Leading this whole pack of wolves were John Hobbs and Jae Cramer. John is a good golfer outside work, who stresses use of the word "fore." We all know how dangerous golf can be! John took care of us Signum folks very well. He's one organized man! Jae is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda gal who knows how to "Git 'er done!" Everybody digs her! She likes driving her Cadillac 120 mph when she's doesn't have her nose to the grind. That's not everyone, those are the just folks I worked with directly. Here is the whole team. Don't they look like a happy group? Well, we should be. This shot was taken on the day I was leaving! Well, it also was on the day of the official go-live of the new system...a very successful go-live, at that!

As far as Signum folks, these are guys I spent the majority of time with. Rod Smith was my roommate (and human alarm clock) who spent most of his work time compiling training/user manuals. Rod is one of the happiest and most positive men I've ever met. Outside of work he spends time with his family in Pensacola, FL. John Stewart knows the Oracle EAM system better than most. His job was to attack every problem that came his way...and he did...ask anyone! Outside of work, from all I can gather, he travels. He's been to more places than I can count. It wouldn't surprise me if he was headed to Bolivia with his girlfriend when his work at Barrick is done. Miguel Giles was pretty much "the man" from Signum. He was the project leader, who like Steve Eardley, had people looking for him every 10 minutes. He's a no-nonsense guy who knows how to make things happen. He's a soccer player in his off-time. I suppose that stems from the fact that he spent the majority of his childhood overseas. Also, he was my favorite man to get into a debate with...especially over a beer or two. All good guys, they made my work experience fun. That's John, Rod, and Miguel from left to right. They're all enjoying a cup of java from our favorite coffee house, Sierra Java. Their position in front of that white van is no coincedence. I had to get a shot of our faithful transport vehicle, lovingly known as 744. I'm sure you can figure out why.

Work in Elko...not all work

2005-06-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

In the 3+ weeks that I've been in Elko, it has definitely been mostly work, including many weekend hours, but not so much that I couldn't find sometime to strip the cycle of it's heavy gear and hit the mountains. I took several trips by myself and had a pretty good time. This is a shot from atop a mountain to the South of Elko. Riding alone was fun, but much better times were had with Mike Dahlberg, a friend I met working at Barrick, and his friends Wade, Dave, and Devin. I was the only motorcycle rider among the bunch. The rest of them were on 4-wheelers. Despite the differences in our machines, we all kept up with each other through different terrains. I mostly like climbing hills, not only because it's fun to get to the top, but that's the best place to take pics. Here are my riding comapnions atop one of the many mountains we rode up. That is Devin, Mike, and Wade from left to right. I don't know how Dave missed getting in this pic...maybe he was being camera shy! But I don't want to leave Dave out (or his awesome, super-fast, Yamaha Banshee), so here's a shot from our starting point, Dave included this time. These guys really made my free time in Elko much more fun. Thanks to all for including me in their fun.

Besides cycling in the mountains, I took a tour of a local microbrewery with Rod Smith, my coworker and roomate in Elko. Thanks to Rod for setting it up and coming up with the idea. The brewery is called Ruby Mountain Brewing. They mainly serve Salt Lake, Elko, Reno, and Las Vegas, but Elko is their biggest market. The four main beers produced are Lager, Hefeweizen, Amber, and Porter. Rod's favorite is the Hefeweizen (Hefe, as abbreviated by the owner and brewmaster, Steve). And for all of you "Hefe" fans, Steve suggests adding an orange slice to the beer as opposed to the typical lemon. My favorite is the Amber, but no special instructions for how to enjoy that, see below. You can see that the place isn't all that big. I can't believe that beer that is well known in several cities all comes from such a small place. The brewery is located in Clover Valley, NV. That is a few miles South of Wells. It sits at the foot of the Ruby Mountains. I guess there's the explanation of the name! This is what it looks like from the back door of the brewery. Steve and his wife and some out of town guests were on their way to hike up those mountains with their skis after Steve gave us the tour. Sounds like a good life at the Rocky Mountain Brewery.

The most ironic part of my taking a motorcycle trip was being in Elko for Barrick's "go live" on the weekend of June 18. That happened to coincide with the annual Elko Motorcycle Jamboree. Thousands of bikers flock to Elko to be with fellow bikers...and drink beer, listen to music, and gamble. I'm sad to say that of all of the bikes lining the streets, there wasn't a 250cc cycle to be found, not even mine, as I had a major oil leak and I couldn't get the needed part in time. There were plenty of big bikes, though, even an 8-cylinder monster. Check this out! The majority were Harleys, but there were also plenty of Japanese cruising bikes, Japanese "crotch rockets", BMWs, and custom choppers. I really wanted to snap a shot of me and my little cycle (dubbed "piglet" by a Barrick friend, Kevin Faust) among the sea of "hogs", but pushing the cycle into town for a photo op seemed silly. Without the company of "piglet," I still took pleasure in starting conversations with the bikers I met. It was always fun to see their reactions to finding out I came to Elko from Georgia on a dirt bike. Most thought I was crazy, but there were a few who found it adventurous.

Another highlight of of the Motorcycle Jamboree was seeing a friend from Barrick perform on one of the music stages. Mild mannered training manual creator, Eric Wilson, turns hard rocker as the lead guitarist of a local band. Here he is jamming at the Jamboree.
Kind of makes you want to join a rock band, eh?

Death Valley, hot springs, and ghost towns

2005-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

From Vegas, I headed to Death Vally, CA. That was an interesting experience, to say the least. As I dropped into the valley it just kept getting hotter and hotter. From 80 to well over 100 by the time I was below sea level. Riding on a motorcycle through there was like having a hair dryer blowing in my face. I can't believe people live down there. The valley had it's own little sandy desert spot. Climbing back out of the valley was hell on my poor little motorcycle, but unbelievably, it made it! The rest of the trip through the CA mountains was beautiful. I ended up in Big Pine, CA where I found a great campsite that was right next to a small river. There's nothing like having the sound of a rushing river to lull you to sleep. From Big Pine back to Nevada was 100% mountains. A bigger cycle was definitely in order for all of the uphill stretches of road, but still a very fun ride. Once back in NV, I started heading to a dirt road between Empire (the town whose welcome sign read "welcome to nowhere") and Winnemucca. That dirt road passes through two ghost towns called Sulfur and Jungo that I thought would be interesting. In Empire, a store clerk informed me that a great place to camp was about 10 miles East on the dirt road where there are hot springs. So, I stayed at the hot springs where I met a group of folks from San Fransisco. They drove 6 hours to visit these hot springs. They were a very friendly bunch and I really enjoyed conversing around their fire that night. I took a quick dip in the hot springs the next morning and then started to tackle the 85 more miles of dirt road. I totally missed seeing anything of either of the ghost towns. Either I missed seeing them, or maybe there just aren't any structures left to see. I was a little disappointed, though. So since I missed the towns, and I didn't want to feel like I travelled 96 miles of dirt road for nothing, I just snapped a shot from the side of the road. I had lunch in Winnemucca, and then pressed on to Elko and that ended my week off. Back to work!

Zion, Canyon, and Vegas

2005-06-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

After a great breakfast, I left St. George on my way to The Grand Canyon via Zion National Park. Zion was a beautiful park, but way too many people for my taste. I didn't care too much for having to pay to drive through the park, either. I always expected that National Parks were free, or rather, paid by our tax dollars, but no such luck. As far as the Grand Canyon, I decided not to take the paved road to the rim in hopes of avoiding the crowds. Instead, I took a 60 mile unpaved road to a place called Tuweap. The bike took a beating. I lost a spoke and picked up a whole lot of reddish dirt. Tuweap turned out to be nothing more than a park ranger station about 5 miles from the rim. That was a long and dusty 60 miles, but well worth it. When I got the campsite at the rim, there was only me and two other sites filled. It was really cool to be so far away from any civilization and have only a handful of people around. My time spent right at the edge was pretty short. I'm not one to sit and stare. I got my eyeful, snapped a couple of pics and spent the rest of the evening at the campsite reading. I got up bright and early and took on the 60 miles of hell back to the highway. I took a slightly different route out that would put me further West than my route in. I hit a couple of silt patches in the road that almost separated me from my motorcycle. It was scary. All of the sudden it feels like the road disappears from under you! The wheels stop following any kind of path. Scary! The rest of the trip to Vegas was uneventful. The high point was 60 miles of road that I took south along the edge of Lake Mead. Very scenic and nice winding roads! Getting to see Uncle Tom, Aunt Jessie and Aunt Mary was great. We talked nonstop until we all turned in. I had planned on getting an early start, but ended up sitting at the breakfast table talking to Uncle Tom until noon. What a great way to start the day. Thanks a ton to the three of them for making my stay such a pleasure.

Ely and St. George

2005-06-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

After working for two weeks, I wasn't needed at Barrick for a week so time for more cycle travel. I headed south out of Elko towards Ely, NV. I had planned on stopping for gas in a town called Jiggs as this was the last town for a many miles before getting to Ely. Turns out that just because a town makes it on the map, doesn't mean they have a gas station. I had to back track 30 miles to fill up in Spring Creek. I also made the decision to buy a gas can and strap it on just in case I ever was to find myself without gas. Just what I needed was to add more weight to that overloaded cycle! I haven't had to use it yet, but the peace of mind is worth it. I took a long stretch of dirt road through the Ruby Mountains and by Ruby Lake. If you look along the tree line towards the right of the picture, you can see the road that I was travelling. That was a great ride. I even vered off the main road and climbed a few hills where I got a better shots of Ruby Lake. Hill climbing fully loaded is a bit of a challenge!

The rest of the trip to Ely wasn't too exciting. I camped out in Ely at a KOA. I wouldn't recommend staying there. It cost me $22.50 just to pitch a tent! I woke up that morning to temps in the 30s. Did I mention the date is June 6? The first many hours of the ride from Ely to St. George, UT was cold. Thank God for a strong tail wind! It was plenty warm in St. George, which went well with the warm welcome I got from the Coziahrs. Mr. Coziahr was waiting outside and greeted me with a big grin when I pulled up. That evening was passed with good conversation, good food, watching boxing on TV, and topped off with a game of Scrabble with Mrs. Coziahr. She handed me a good butt kicking, but it was fun nonetheless. Thanks very much to the Coziahrs for the great hospitality.

First leg to Elko

2005-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Starting in Marietta, GA, the tour of my homeland began with a trip to Elko, NV. Elko is hometown to a company I've been working for called Barrick, a gold mining company. I had 10 days to get to Elko from Marietta, which sounds like plenty of time, but on a small motorcycle with a top speed of 55, I was wondering if I would make it. As it turns out, I was able to make it in 7 days. The route took me through GA, TN, KY, IL, MO, KS, NE, CO, UT and NV. Best times were travelling through the mountains of TN on route 41, and CO on Routes 34 and 14. This is in Estes Park on Rt 34. Worst times were winding my way through a very windy MO and coming into 100 miles of a strong headwind into CO. Turns out that wind is much more annoying than rain. I travelled through rain on my second day in KY and IL. Although I'd prefer a warm sunny day to rain, I still prefer that to strong wind.