It's All About the Bike » Road Posts

Wordpress for iPad

moto — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:52:37 +0000

This is my first time taking a crack at posting to IAATB via iPad. The new Wordpress app for iPad plus a brand new camera connector kit will make this here iPad thingie a blogging machine. Funny, because all the haters say you can’t create content. There. I just did.

Day 8: Even Riding Solo, You’re Never Alone

Sat, 24 May 2008 15:01:05 +0000

Around 6 PM on Friday, I rolled into Hines, Oregon and found a room at a new Best Western. I met a couple from British Columbia on a big Honda touring bike. They had been all over Utah, Nevada, and Oregon, and were heading back to Canada after 10 or so days on the road. We ate at the same cafe that night, the Apple Peddler, and traded stories. Al Brooks is a motorcycle cop in the Delta, B.C. area of Canada, and a motorcycle instructor as well, so he knew his stuff. Al and I talked for awhile about bikes, the roads and dirt roads in the northwest, and about how motorcyclists are never alone out there. Safe travels, Al and Glenda!

Dessert and coffee at The Apple Peddler.

Day 7: United We Stand. Divided We Ride.

moto — Sat, 24 May 2008 03:59:07 +0000

This morning at Crater Lake Lodge, we awoke to The Shining. Our bikes were covered with some of that 500 plus annual snowfall they get up there. It was decided that no amount of haste in checking out would make the descent off the mountain road any drier, so we opted for hot coffee in the Great Hall and a full breakfast. Let me tell you, you can’t go wrong with Crater Lake Eggs Bennie. Suiting up was grim and our bags were lighter because if it was wearable, had holes and a zipper, we put it on. At the bottom of the access road was where our routes diverged. Darth and Obi-Ben were heading coastal, and Moto was in for a solo ride East. After a few high fives, like three spacemen after planting flags on the moon, I pointed it east to Bend, and the Brothers Rafferty sought out the next leg of the Trans-America Trail.

All three bikes started up, no problem. The riders had a tough time.

Day 6: Crater Lake Lodge

moto — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:11:15 +0000

After slabbing it from Adel to Crater Lake to try to make up some time, we decided we should detour and spend a night at Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet deep, and the seventh deepest lake in the world. The body of water is a caldera (volcanic basin), has no inlets or outlets, and is filled by 500 plus inches of snow a year. We paid our entrance fees to the National Park Service, then climbed the switchback road to Crater Lake Lodge, which is perched on the rim at about 7800 feet. We parked our bikes in the circle, next to a 10 foot snow bank. Woolfree, the nice bellman from the Dominican Republic (the “DR”) told us this was only the lodge’s second night of the season. We would find they were still working out all the kinks. The front desk could not pull up Darth’s reservation, even though he had a confirmation number from a call earlier in the day. They were able to get us a split level loft room, with plenty of space to stretch out. Then while getting our gear to the room, the power in the whole building went out. Good time to take a nap before our 8:00 PM dinner reservation. The lodge is operated by a company called XanTerra, which has a big fat contract to run this and other grand old national parks lodges. The building itself is grandiose, with a spacious great room with a stone fireplace (with a lame gas burner instead of logs), but comfortable chairs and couches you can just melt into, especially after sitting upright on an enduro bike all day. Due to the power outage, they offered an improvised menu which turned out to be ok, all things considered. The power went back on while we were finishing up coffee and dessert, just in time to turn in for the night. We stayed up for awhile looking at all the photos and video trapped on our respective digital devices, reviewing the good times, small victories, and reminders of the little challenges we have had along the road and trail. Good way to end the night.

Crater Lake, from the deck of the Crater Lake Lodge just before dinner.

Day 6: Cold Night at Gooch Springs

moto — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:21:30 +0000

After leaving Denio Junction, we hit the dirt in the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. We passed numerous Opal mines, not many people out on route 8a. We settled in at the Gooch Springs campground and set up our tents in a bit of a squall. By dark, we had a raging sage brush fueled campfire, some beer, and some red beans and rice. We listened to packs of coyotes calling across the valley to each other. When we awoke, there was snow on the ground and ominous dark skies above. We packed up in haste and started a frigid death march across the Nevada/Oregon border. Coming into the town of Adel, the crosswinds blew me from the righthand side of the road all the way to the left. Fortunately, the Adel Country Store was open, with a fire raging in the wood stove, and a friendly sleepy eyed dog named Bush curled up in front of it. My hands were so cold, I couldn’t get my gloves off for a good ten minutes. We just sat there not saying anything for awhile. The proprietor, a woman named Marcie, gave us hot coffee and made us bacon and eggs. I don’t know what we would have done had it been Tuesday. The store is closed on Tuesdays. Sent from my iPhone.

Not sure what we would have done without this place.

Obi-Ben, messing with his phone.

Day 5: Denio Sounds Like Denial

moto — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:09:08 +0000

Just threw down lunch at Denio Junction , just a few miles from the Oregon border. Met a rancher in the cafe who gave us some advice on what roads to take. He gave us yet another viewpoint on how the rising fuel costs are killing rural America, particularly tough on the cattlmen. Basically, thanks to GW’s brilliant ethanol subsidy, there’s no freaking corn to feed the cows. He and his wife had their cows at a local pasture and they had come to check in on them. They were from Oregon but had to come over to Nevada to find pasture because it is so hard to find these days. After some massive burgers and shakes, it was time to roll. Darth bought a can of Chunky Stew, allegedly to be his dinner for later that night. After he and Obi-Ben are done hammering out the dents from his aluminum Touratech pannier box after his digger in the mountains, we get on the bikes and go. Sent from my iPhone.

Another bar/gas station/grill/grocery store/post office/motel in Nevada.

A Little Bit Of Paradise

moto — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:33:03 +0000

We rolled into Paradise Valley and the little hamlet of Paradise for a quick rest. Little did we know that Paradise would be a shangri-la to wait out a major wind storm. We threw down some lunch at the Paradise Saloon (best cheeseburgers in all of Nevada so far). Our plan was to saddle up and ride over Hinkey Pass. At the 7820 feet elevation summit, Obi-Ben and Moto caught a glimpse of a lion on a distant ridgetop. Unmistakable, lurking low to the ground near a big boulder. When Obi-Ben got his scope out, it had vanished. What was in front of us was an impassable stretch of snow. We scouted it out, but the downslope of the pass was all north facing. What really turned us around was a fast moving
squall that chased us back down into Paradise. We returned to the saloon and met many townsfolk trickling in for spaghetti night. We met Steve Lucas, a friendly and generous man with a big cowboy hat who bought our dinner. Besides running the local feedlot, Steve runs a B&B 10 miles out of town called the Stonehouse. He also owns a little house in town called the Adobe House, which is where we stayed. The Adobe was a fully furnished house with beds, a loft, a coffee maker, and satellite TV so we could see the final performances on American Idol. There was also a .38 Special CD in the stereo, so we rocked that out the next morning. Stay tuned for more about our stay at the Adobe, our thoughts on Cook versus Archuleta, and the prospects of getting into the ranching business.

Sent from my iPhone

Hans Solo Returns to Salt Lake | Tres amigos continue west

moto — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:56:51 +0000

Designated Pace Car for the opening segment to Baker, NV, I reported home to
Cottonwood Heights, late Sunday afternoon after logging 504 mostly all-dirt
road trip miles in about 28 hours.

The boys are in high spirits, suffering a few challenges yet recovering with
grace each step of the way. We have about 20 new best friends from our
overnight experience in Baker, and will report more soon.

The challenge will be, due to the remoteness of this amazing route, getting
internet or cell phone coverage for posting images and text. The boys will
figure out how to get ‘er done, though… they are all tech-savvy, highly
driven mostly upright mammals.

Me, I will post some more thoughts about awesome Day 1 after a night or two
of distilling. Or distilleries.

Day 2 Update From Eureka, Nevada

Mon, 19 May 2008 18:06:35 +0000

All is well after two days and lots of dirt. The small issue I was having with the KTM not starting ended up being a non-issue. When we rolled out of SLC on Saturday, we stopped at The Edge Motorsports in Draper, Utah. Cody the technician took one look at my clutch lever and offered an explanation: I had replaced a bent clutch lever with an aftermarket lever and the aftermarket lever wasn’t engaging a small switch in the clutch assembly. In a nutshell: it starts every time as long as it’s in neutral. No worries.

After the first day, we landed in Baker, Nevada, at the Silver Jack Inn (which will warrant a longer post later). Hooked up with an old friend from Park City, Mike, on a tour on his Moto Guzzi.

Second day was scheduled to be an all dirt route from Baker to Eureka. Before getting rolling, we all rode to the top and back of the paved road into Great Basin National Park, a twisty climp up to the summit of 10,000 feet. After gassing up back in Baker, Hans Solo split off from the group and took his own path back to SLC. Darth, Obi-Ben and Moto did about 240 miles in the dirt, saw some ghost towns, an amazing sunset, then rolled in to the Best Western at 9:00 PM local time. No cell phone service the whole trip, so no road posts. Today’s route takes us to Battle Mountain, Nevada, where we expect to have cell.

All is good.

Road posts

moto — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:36:20 +0000

This is how I will update my blog on the moto trip.

Sent from my iPhone