Here we go again...

Back on the road with Paul. Little to no internet so far, so I don't expect many opportunities for blog posts or other updates. Hopefully one or both maps above will update if there's cell data coverage on the road. Here's the general plan, as firm as mud:

Trip 2: Day 2: On the Road to Big Bend

We got on the road after a big breakfast and nice sendoff from Paul's family.  We headed southwest through the Hill Country of Texas with some great scenery and nice (but bordering on hot) weather.  We went a little out of the way to ride one of the best motorcycle rides in Texas, the Three Sisters, and then continued making our way towards Big Bend.

Here are a few photos from the road:

We made it to Big Bend National Park just before dark.  The ride into the Chisos Basin to our camp site was fun thanks to some nice twisty roads through a pass into the basin. After a nice dinner at a restaurant in the park, we made camp in the dark and rested up for the following day.

Trip stats: 490 miles in 11 hours 34 minutes on the road

Trip 2: Day 1: The Beginning

Paul and I met up in Northwest Houston a little before noon on Good Friday to start our trip.  We grabbed some lunch and hit the road.  It was a (relatively) short day, taking a detour down Doebbler Road on the way to Fredericksburg to stay with Paul's family.

It was nice to meet Paul's family and join them for a great dinner.  We all went to a music/comedy show in Fredericksburg for a little fun before Paul and I turned in for some sleep.

All in all, we had some nice weather and a nice and easy start to the trip.

Trip stats: 238 miles in 6 hours 25 mins on the road

Trip 2: Day 0: The Plan

Another year, another trip.  This year Paul and I are mixing it up with a little Southwest Spring Break action through the Texas Hill Country and southern New Mexico and Arizona.  Covering a bit over 3000 miles in 9 days (April 2nd-10th), it should be a slightly less grueling pace than last year.  We'll be detouring down some awesome roads, riding mountains and canyons, hitting up a few museums along the way, and checking out some natural wonders, including that one that eluded us last year: the Grand Canyon.  Here's the overall route:

Oh yeah, if you're reading this you've probably noticed something new on the blog.  That map up there at the top of the page should be tracking our progress in real time while we're on the road (and in cell range).  Enjoy stalking our progress and actually knowing what we're seeing and doing without waiting for my delayed blog posts.  You can thank Google's awesome Nexus One Android phone and InstaMapper's great free tracking service for this feature - hopefully it works out well during the trip.

Wish us luck, follow our progress, and Happy Easter!

Apologies

So, umm, yeah... I'm almost a year behind finishing up the last few days of the Summer 2009 Moto Psyco Trip.  I lost a good chunk of my photos and other random excuses but basically I lost the motivation and time kept on ticking.  Maybe I'll finish the story soon and maybe I won't but I will at least try to post the rest of the photos in the near future.  In the meantime, Paul and I are about to embark on another adventure, so stay tuned for that.  I am trusting in modern technology and promise to keep the blog updated more often during this trip.

Day 15 (May 28): Yosemite to Vegas

We got an early start from camp and headed straight into Yosemite National Park.

         

Yosemite was definitely my favorite park to date, and I think Paul's as well.  The scenery and weather was great.

      

We continued through Yosemite and headed south to Death Valley.

         

         

We skirted the edge of Las Vegas and made it to the Hoover Dam just before dark.  I pleaded with Paul to obey the Dam warning signs, but sadly he just wouldn't listen and ended up having a Dam accident.

   

We left the Dam and headed back into Las Vegas.  We cruised down the strip but didn't stop anywhere - we had places to go.

      

We continued on to the Valley of Fire State Park.  We set up camp well after dark amidst swarms of bugs and had one of the warmest nights of the trip.

Day 14 (May 27): All Fixed Up and Somewhere to Go

My parts came in Wednesday morning and Dave at The Zen House had everything repaired within a few hours.  The axle that we received wasn't the right one for my anti-lock brake model, so Paul and I had to run to the nearby town of Gualala to have part of it machined down to fit.  It all worked out and Dave did a great job getting the bike back on the road ASAP.

We continued down the coast and headed towards Yosemite National Park.  We had originally planned to go a little south of San Francisco, but we split off further north through Oakland to make up for lost time.

We got our first exposure to lane splitting (only legal in California) while driving on the interstate through Oakland.  Lane splitting was an absolute rush, and a big time-saver.  It was pretty intense considering how wide our bikes are with all the touring luggage, and there were times when I must've had only inches of clearance.  Pretty much anytime the traffic dropped below about 40mph we moved between lanes and passed right between the congested lanes of traffic.  Most of the cars were pretty good about sharing the road, giving us room when they saw us coming down between the lanes.  We were surprised that there weren't more motorcyclists on the road, considering it was such a time-saver in heavy traffic, and with a narrower bike it would have been downright fun.

We continued east for the rest of the day.  We made decent time and had nice weather, and it was great to get back on the bike and on the road.  We camped just outside of Yosemite for the night.

Days 12-13 (May 25-26): Point Arena

Monday morning we went back into town to the motorcycle shop (The Zen House).  Dave, the owner, already had most of the front end of my bike taken apart and was making a list of parts that needed to be replaced.  He had to leave, but I spent a while on the internet and phone trying to locate new or used replacement parts.  Unfortunately everywhere was closed since it was Memorial Day.  After exhausting all the options, we called it a day and walked down to the wharf for lunch.  We had sandwiches at a cool coffee shop and spent a few hours relaxing on the coast.

We walked back into town and remembered that there was a really cool old art deco theater that had been turned into a single screen movie theater.  They only change the movie once every week or two so we didn't have much of a film choice.  This week they were showing "Angels and Demons," which ended up being pretty decent.

After the movie, we rode back down to the pier for some great pizza.  We also picked up some ice cream which we took back to share with the couple who had taken us in during our unplanned stay in Point Arena.  Dave and Jamileh were great.  They made us feel incredibly welcome and really helped make a bad situation as pleasant as possible.  Since they were both motorcycle riders, we spent a bit of time talking about the great roads we'd all ridden.

The next day (Tuesday) I was finally able to get ahold of people on the phone.  It turned out that new parts would take 7-10 days to arrive, so I turned my attention to salvage yards in the area.  I gradually expanded my search area and after calling 30 or 40 salvage yards finally found some parts from an '04 model in LA that sounded like they would work.  I paid an arm and a leg to have the parts overnighted and hoped they'd make it early the next morning.

Home at last, will try to catch up on posts/photos tomorrow

Back in Texas, only 600mi to go!

Day 11: Man Down!

We broke camp on Sunday morning and left Eureka, continuing down the coast. The roads and weather continued to be great and we were making good time towards San Francisco.

In the afternoon, about 130mi north of San Francisco, we were riding down Hwy 1 when I went down. I was taking the turn a little wide, and right at the outside edge of the lane my front tire lost traction on some dirt and gravel from the road. This caused me to slide off the road where unfortunately there was no shoulder. My bike went into some thick grass and soft dirt which really bogged the bike down. The bars were going left and right to full lock and I was barely able to keep the bike upright when it threw me off, still going what must have been 30-40mph. The next think I know I'm rolling and sliding along the pavement. I don't know exactly how, but both my bike and I ended up back on the road next to each other.

I made it through with barely a scratch, just a couple of small bruises. My helmet and jacket showed signs of taking the brunt of the impact. My bike, however, had a severely bent fork tube and my trunk had broken off and cracked open. Most of the rest of my luggage was okay, and actually did a pretty good job of protecting the rear of my bike. We hauled my bike upright and the front wheel was tweaked so badly that it was only pointing straight ahead when my handlebars fully to the right. Among the other damage, the windscreen, the shifter foot lever, and the left foot peg had sheared off.

A couple in a pickup stopped and helped us gather up the loose pieces. We asked if there was a motorcycle shop nearby and to our amazement the only one within a couple of hours was in the next town of only 500 people. The ride in was interesting with the missing foot peg and having to fool around with the broken shift lever. The inability to turn the front wheel to the right was a little concerning at first, but luckily most of the turning of a motorcycle is done with the leaning motion at any reasonable speed. I managed to tackle the curvy road all the way into town up to the motorcycle shop.

It was Sunday and the shop was closed, but someone managed to get a message to the owner and he came in to take a look. The damage was pretty bad and he said the tube was bent too much to bend back and would need to be replaced. He said he'd come in the next morning (Memorial Day) and tear the bike apart to check everything out and see what needed to be done to get me back on the road.

While we were standing outside the motorcycle shop trying to figure out what we were going to do, a couple came by on their motorcycles. They offered to help in any way they could, and ended up putting us up for the night in their beach house. There wasn't anything else we could do that day, so we called it a night.

Zion NP, check.

Thursday night: Camping in Valley of Fire State Park. Lots of bugs, but I brought my friend DEET.

Leaving Las Vegas, getting tired, another hour to go tonight

Dam, Hoover.
Next stop: Vegas, baby!

Paul wussed out and stopped for gas. Lame.

110 degrees and negative altitude

Entering Death Valley. Will Paul have enough gas to make it through? Stay tuned to find out!

In Yosemite!

Day 10: Back on the Road

Saturday morning we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the comfy beds and began loading up our bikes. After another great breakfast courtesy of Uncle Joe, we said our goodbyes and got back on the road.



We headed west until we hit the coast and began following it to the south. We rode the rest of the day with the ocean to our right. There were a lot of really fun roads along the cliffs, and the weather was great most of the time. We only stopped once for photos, but got some pretty good ones:





After a long day of riding, we made it to our destination at the Eureka, CA KOA and made camp (in the dark, again).