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Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Right room, wrong hotel.
A pre-rally night isn't too exciting...unless you're into maps. The night before a rally usually entales some last minute checks or repairs to bike and equipment, a good meal and sufficient hydration and then a fitful couple of hours as you try to get to bed early. It usually doesn't involve a visit from an attractive woman.
Ten minutes ago there was a knock on my door. I answer to see an attractive women holding a bottle of wine with a surprised, startled look on her face. I obviously wasn't who she was excepting.
"Oh, I'm sorry", the woman says.
"That's alright. Wrong room?"
She glances at the number on my door and without missing a beat says "Right room, wrong hotel". And off she went.
Ten minutes ago there was a knock on my door. I answer to see an attractive women holding a bottle of wine with a surprised, startled look on her face. I obviously wasn't who she was excepting.
"Oh, I'm sorry", the woman says.
"That's alright. Wrong room?"
She glances at the number on my door and without missing a beat says "Right room, wrong hotel". And off she went.
The Jackass is in the Pen
It was after 11 AM when I finally departed the good folks at Stephan Wade Motorsports and got on the road for a very indirect ride to Bluff. Thanks to Brian, Joey and Neil for taking care of me. The Pirelli Angel Street has a nice feel and easy turn in. A few miles down the road it occurred to me I had read a review of this tire in a magazine a couple of months back. The tester liked it but mention the center of the tire is solid with no tread pattern to disperse water. Something to remember in the rain.
I enjoyed a nice, uneventful ride today that took me in and out of Utah and Arizona twice. My route took me Page, AZ and then (eventually) north to Bluff. Monument Valley is beautiful: I'm sad Esther missed that during our SW trip several years ago. I have to bring her back someday.
No sign of the rally master in Bluff, so I pushed on to the nights lodging in Monticello about 40 miles north. My stinky LD Comforts are washed, I'm fed and now its time to get into rally mode.
I enjoyed a nice, uneventful ride today that took me in and out of Utah and Arizona twice. My route took me Page, AZ and then (eventually) north to Bluff. Monument Valley is beautiful: I'm sad Esther missed that during our SW trip several years ago. I have to bring her back someday.
No sign of the rally master in Bluff, so I pushed on to the nights lodging in Monticello about 40 miles north. My stinky LD Comforts are washed, I'm fed and now its time to get into rally mode.
Maybe not...
George Z put not one, but two bonus locations in Kansas City, MO. On the assumption that they're be mega points there, I've plotted a little route that goes from Bluff to Austin, TX and then on to KC. There seems to be quite a bit of weather in the mid-west right now though. Hmmm....the points would have to be good.
SPANK Gerlach bonus
Gerlach is a location near and dear to the Long Distance motorcycle community. Situated in the Black Rock desert of Northern Nevada, Gerlach is home for the Iron Butt Association's Guru Lane and Bruno's Country Club. It's also a bonus location for SPANK. Check out Reno John's report of who made it to Bruno's for a little old world ravioli. http://www.goraiders.org/bike/100807SPANK_Gerlach/1.html
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Luck caught up with me.
For the first time in a decade of LD Riding and rallies, I managed to pick up a nail in one of my tires. Riding through the mountains just outside of Rachel I noticed that the bike wasn't handling the way it should. In the small town of Caliente I found out why: the rear had a nail and 12.5 pounds of air pressure. The edges were seriously cupped and the center of the tire bulging slightly. I filled the tire with air and limped into Cedar City. The tire seemed to be holding air pretty well, indicating that I picked up the nail early in the day but just didn't notice o n the long Nevada straights that don't require a lot of cornering.
I'm now in St. George, Utah, at one of the nicer Motel 6s and waiting for Stephan Wade Powersports to open tomorrow morning. I'm sure they'll have a tire that fits althought judging by the number of sport bikes on the showroom floor it might something with a life span measured in hours when on a ladened FJR in rally mode.
I'm now in St. George, Utah, at one of the nicer Motel 6s and waiting for Stephan Wade Powersports to open tomorrow morning. I'm sure they'll have a tire that fits althought judging by the number of sport bikes on the showroom floor it might something with a life span measured in hours when on a ladened FJR in rally mode.
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Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Big Empty
I'm not being critical, but the Big Empty is what I call the Great Basin. And it is great, extending north to Burns Oregon. My ride took me through a small portion of it today as I rode to Sisters, Burns, Winnemucca before stopping for the night a the Big Chief Inn in Battle Mountain. A/C, HBO, wireless internet and a comfortable bed for $45.98. I'll take it.
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Off to get SPANKed
T-minus 30 minutes to departure for the SPANK rally and the Iron Butt Association's National meet in Denver. The bike is prepped. I took the precaution of adding another gallon of drinking water to the bike, bringing the capacity up to two. I could be very hot where I'm headed.
Today through Monday I'll be wandering around, finally ending up in Bluff, Utah for the start of my SPANK rally at noon on Tuesday. George Z, the rally master, came up with the idea of having two rallies in one, that is, there were 5 and 2 day options. I'm actually joining the rally at the half way point. Forty-eight hours later, noon on Thursday August 12th, the rally will finish in Denver. You can track my rally here: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1b5b4c4b012b7c6cb The page doesn't go active until the start of the rally.
Today through Monday I'll be wandering around, finally ending up in Bluff, Utah for the start of my SPANK rally at noon on Tuesday. George Z, the rally master, came up with the idea of having two rallies in one, that is, there were 5 and 2 day options. I'm actually joining the rally at the half way point. Forty-eight hours later, noon on Thursday August 12th, the rally will finish in Denver. You can track my rally here: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1b5b4c4b012b7c6cb The page doesn't go active until the start of the rally.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Results of the Dutch Treat test
Planning the Dutch Treat ride has taken many, many more hours that I ever thought it would. There are so many variables to be considered; traffic, road conditions, the wait time at every location to make my purchase (you have to have a reciept you know). Yesterday's ride was a great opportunity to check the theoretical against reality using the day that is likely to be the most challenging. Day 4 that includes the Salem and Portland areas as well as losing an hour when going from Pacific to Mountain time. Running the test backwards put me in the Portland and Salem metro areas during a much higher volume of traffic and allowed me to test in a worst case scenario.
I've planned the Dutch Treat with a 10 minute stop at each store. During yesterday's test I halved that to 5 minutes. This reduced my overall trip time by 2 hours and 35 minutes. After completing this, I've decided that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle and that a 7.5 minute average stop is probably pretty close to what I'll actually need. During yesterday's test (again, using 5 minutes a stop) I was able to stay on schedule right up until I hit Portland afternoon traffic. By the end of the ride I was almost 30 minutes late. My GPS stats tell me I was actually stopped for 3 hours and 13 minutes, exceeding the theoretical by 38 minutes. Most of this is accounted for by heavy metro travel that forced me to wait at practically every traffic light and have cars flowing at under the speed limit in many situations. These conditions won't come into play during the actual ride since I'll be clear of Portland by 9 in the morning.
The run also showed me that the time estimates generated by the mapping software (MicroSoft Streets and Trips)are pretty much right on with the actual numbers on the ride. The result is I'm confident now that Day 4 is do-able.
I've planned the Dutch Treat with a 10 minute stop at each store. During yesterday's test I halved that to 5 minutes. This reduced my overall trip time by 2 hours and 35 minutes. After completing this, I've decided that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle and that a 7.5 minute average stop is probably pretty close to what I'll actually need. During yesterday's test (again, using 5 minutes a stop) I was able to stay on schedule right up until I hit Portland afternoon traffic. By the end of the ride I was almost 30 minutes late. My GPS stats tell me I was actually stopped for 3 hours and 13 minutes, exceeding the theoretical by 38 minutes. Most of this is accounted for by heavy metro travel that forced me to wait at practically every traffic light and have cars flowing at under the speed limit in many situations. These conditions won't come into play during the actual ride since I'll be clear of Portland by 9 in the morning.
The run also showed me that the time estimates generated by the mapping software (MicroSoft Streets and Trips)are pretty much right on with the actual numbers on the ride. The result is I'm confident now that Day 4 is do-able.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Dutch Treat Test Run
I haven't been riding much this year, but have a ride in the works; Dutch Treat. Dutch Bros ( www.dutchbros.com ) is an Oregon-based coffee company with 154 locations in seven states. I'd like to visit all of them. Since I'm going to be in Baker City Oregon tomorrow, Saturday will provide an opportunity to test run what is likely to be day 4 of the Dutch Treat ride. I'll be riding about 650 miles visiting 32 DB locations along the I-84 and I-5 corridors beginning in Boise and concluding in Salem. I running it backward from my actual Dutch Treat ride, but the test will still give me a good idea of the average time I need at each location and whether it can be done in 17 hours.
If you'd like to follow along, the ride begins Saturday, June 12th at 5 AM Mountain time. Here's the link to the SPOT page.
http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=5990
If you'd like to follow along, the ride begins Saturday, June 12th at 5 AM Mountain time. Here's the link to the SPOT page.
http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=5990
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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Saturday, April 17, 2010
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Friday, April 16, 2010
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Check-in/OK message from peloquinboys SPOT Messenger
peloquinboys
Latitude:44.85481
Longitude:-123.22236
GPS location Date/Time:04/16/2010 07:19:29 PDT
Latitude:44.85481
Longitude:-123.22236
GPS location Date/Time:04/16/2010 07:19:29 PDT
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.85481,-123.22236&ll=44.85481,-123.22236&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Message:Doing okay. Just checking in.
Paul
Raising the safety factor for millions who step into the outdoors each year, SPOT notifies friends and family or an international emergency rescue coordination center with status messages based on situation and need. Ask for Help (or SPOT Assist), Alert S.O.S., Check-In/OK and Track Progress-all with the simple push of a button.
http://www.findmespot.com
Looking for a great way to share SPOT tracks and waypoints, stories and photos? Head to http://www.spotadventures.com and see how users are creating their adventures and sharing them!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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