We Made it to Our Starting Point (Day 2)

Another long day of riding, but we've made it to our starting point.  Steve and I were on the road by 6:45am.  It was a balmy 47 degrees and dropped into the low 40s as we rode into Oregon and over Siskiyou Pass.

Interstate 5 just gets better and better.  The first half of Oregon was constant sweepers.  The car tire makes my bike a little sensitive to sudden acceleration/deceleration when in a turn. (which seemed to be all the time) Always in a turn is good thing, but the wobble is not.  It's forcing me to ride very smoothly, but if I get sloppy or caught off guard with cruise control in a turn, it will sometimes start the bike wobble by itself.

One good thing to come out of it is that applying smooth and constant throttle is becoming my recovery reaction, instead of the bad habit of chopping the throttle. I've worked on that technique for a while, but it is pretty nice when you can actually catch yourself before you chop it.

Enough of that, what I really like about Oregon, besides all the big green trees, rivers, and other scenery, is their 'move over' law.  Not sure if that's what it is really called, but there are signs posted as you enter the state that tell slow drivers to move over "it's the law."

Things are a bit slower in Oregon, and that includes the drivers.  With a posted speed limit of 65, most drivers will be doing about that.  The ones who go fast are about five over.  We rode most of the time at around nine mph over, and while 74 in a 65 doesn't seem like much, it really does when other cars rarely go that fast the entire day.

The "move over" law though is great!  Every car we approached in the fast lane, except maybe 2, moved to the right immediately to let us pass.  After a while I could count on the fact that I wouldn't have to slow down when I was approaching a car.  I wish they would train people to drive like this in CA.

About 125 miles south of Portland, my nav radar started warning me of rain ahead. For the rest of the day it seemed like we were riding from downpour to downpour.  We saw other bikes seeking shelter under bridges, but we just rode on.  We had a lot of miles ahead to get to our starting point. Since it was raining, there weren't many pictures from today.  Besides the camera not being waterproof, it's difficult to take pictures while riding as it is.

We ended up getting to Bellingham, WA just before sunset (9pm).  It threw me off when a the local restaurants were closing down before dark. I didn't expect the length of days to be very noticeable until Alaska, or at least northern B.C.

Tomorrow we picked an area just south of Prince George, B.C. to start looking for a camping spot.  We'll ride across the border into Abbotsford first thing in the morning.  From there we'll take Canada Hwy 1 North to the Carabou Highway (29).  That turns into Hwy 97 which goes into Prince George.

The general route will take us east on Hwy 16 and North on Cassier Stewart Hwy (37), but we'll figure out the specifics for the next day based on where we end up tomorrow.

We figured the trek through Canada will take about 4-5 days before we reach Alaska.  Updates will be dependent on campground wifi.

Also note that the trip pictures will be posted here as I have time to upload them: http://picasaweb.google.com/coder1/Alaska2010

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Camping at Lake Siskiyou (Day 1)

We rolled into camp after a little over 700 miles today.  Even though we left Menifee at 5am, we still had to split lanes through some of the LA traffic.  We routed 215 - 60 - 71 - 210 - 57 - 5.  Once we hit the 5, traffic thinned out and the ride was at least relaxing.

I didn't think I was going to enjoy much of the scenery until northern CA, but there's something about riding at sunrise.  I think the morning sun can make a lot of scenes you may normally look past, look amazing.

Shasta lake is incredible.  I've always avoided the 5 going north, so this was my first time there.  We rode right through though and on to the next town for a late lunch in Dunsmuir.  I want to come back to spend some time in the area when not on a canon ball run to the border.

This Siskiyou Lake campground we settled in is pretty plush.  It has a store, restaurant/bar, arcade, showers, movies ... a little more than I'm used to on these trips. Oh and huge bugs.  Didn't think I'd have to break out the deet till Canada, but there are mosquitoes here.


Just after we got to camp, this deer walked up.  I think they must get fed because it wasn't afraid until we dropped something that made a bit of noise.

This netbook setup is working out pretty good.  The campground has wifi, but we don't get it at our site.  So, I have the netbook tethered to my phone for the internet connection.

Oh look, this just fell out of the tree onto my keyboard.  I'll leave you with that.

Bike Prep and What to Take

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The Goldwing makes it pretty easy to swap out a tire since it lays so nicely on its side.  This morning after washing the bike and installing the bra, I removed the Bridgestone motorcycle tire and put on the rim with the Falken 912, a car tire.

I've been using car tires for the longer trips because it's great for traction, has a higher load capacity, and will last longer than a motorcycle tire.  They are also less expensive.

Jack asked me yesterday, "So what do you pack on a 30 day camping trip?" ... it usually ends up being whatever I can fit on my bike.  I'm not taking the trailer, and this time, I wanted to keep my back seat empty.  I managed to do it and get all this packed.

Camping Gear:
tent, sleeping bag, 2x thin fleece sleeping bags, twin size inflatable mattress (that's rouging it eh?), tarp, chair, hatchet, flashlight, shovel, telescoping fishing pole and small tackle box

Fire/Cooking Gear:
a small burner and 2 fuel canisters, cooking cup, a drinking cup, a nifty spork, a 5 gallon collapsible water container, small fire starter logs (ya brian!)

Riding Gear:
jacket with removable liner, rain gear (frog troggs), heated jacket liner with thermostat, warm gloves, summer gloves, a soak towell (to keep cool when its hot),

Bike Stuff:
bike cover, front mask (bra), cooler rack, tire gague

Misc:
netbook, clothes, sunscreen, bug repellent, duct tape, electrical tape, nylon rope, bungee chords, patch kit (for inflatable mattress), day/night glasses, camera, bunch of rags, towell, phone + charger, excedrine, playing cards

Dogs:

Maddisen brought over "Slush" for me to take on this trip.  I think it's a Husky with really big eyes.  Hopefully he's one of those dogs who likes a lot of wind because there will be a lot of it.

If Canada or Alaska have quarantine laws, I may have to smuggle him in a saddle bag till we're clear of the border towns.  Once through, I'll just have to try to keep him out of trouble.

Things I am not taking that I usually take on bike camping trips are a lantern and a cooler.  I figured since the sunset in Anchorage right now is around 11:30pm, that light won't be too much of a concern for the majority of the trip.  Then, if I start wishing I brought a cooler, I'll just pick one up on the way.

Alaska or Bust

Tomorrow (6/14/2010) morning I'll be meeting Steve at 5am to begin the trip north. We're going to do about 700 miles per day on the super slab for the first two days in order to meet Paul at a Dennys, about 10 miles south of the border, early Wednesday morning.

From there, the three of us will slow down our pace and take in all the new adventures north of Bellingham WA.

We have planned a basic route, but have not committed to be anywhere along the route at any particular time, except to be home around July 15th. That is the spirit of the trip, to travel north along the route and choose our own adventures as they present themselves. When we arrive home, we will most likely have about 9,000 more miles on our odometers.

At this point I'm not sure how easy it will be to post on the road, but I will try to update this blog with pictures and stories from the road.

Keep checking back for updates.