Expedition Recovery

9/26/16 Sacramento, CA to San Jose, CA  144.1 miles Ridden  Today was the roughest yet.   Waking up in the hotel next to Cat and knowing she was leaving was incredibly tough, far more difficult than leaving the first time. We spent the morning together at the hotel and then took the rental car back to the airport and got picked up by Cat's mom.  We ended up buying the tools and hardware I needed to mount the tractor tubes (Cheapest source I could find) from Lowes and then going to drop Cat's mother off and borrow the car. Cat and I went back to Vera's for my bike and for me to install the new disposal as a thank you. All went smooth and I rode back to Cat's mom's place to work on the bike.  We ended up making one more trip out for supplies at the auto parts store but I was able to get both tool tubes mounted as well as the highway pegs installed. (Install Blog) It was all an emotional experience as the time wound down for Cat to leave...

9/21/16 Eugene, OR to Sacramento, CA  501.9 miles ridden.  What it looks like to be carrying too much gear.  Thankfully the black bag on top is only going to Sacramento where it will go home with Cat. I woke up to do a radio interview (At the bottom of the linked page) for The Soldiers Project  and then got loaded up and hit the road for a long highway slog.  Not much of note happened but I got some decent video journals done and did my first lane splitting which really was much faster and safer than waiting in traffic for someone to hit me while they were texting.   I made it into Sacramento late and went to my friend Vera's home to off load the bike and catch up for a bit before sleeping away the day's weariness.  I am so grateful for the amazing friends I have and getting to see so many of them on this trip. 9/22/16  Errands, errands, errands. I slept in a little bit and got a bit of recovery from ...

9/20/16 Portland, OR looping to Eugene, OR 348.2 Miles Ridden. Starting out early from Portland it was a bit over an hour on highway 84 East before I crossed the Hood River Bridge at Hood River, OR in the Colombia river gorge to go to White Salmon, WA and the home of Mosko Moto .  The ride was better than the slog down I5 as the road was following the curves of the Columbia river and though it was cold enough to need my rain gear for warmth, it wasn't bitter. I had been in contact with Mosko Moto via e-mail as I was excited to see their products up close to the hear about their ideas for if the Back Country 35L quick release panniers could be fitted to my bike.  While the Giant loop Sisku panniers were working, I wasn't really happy with them and the amount of work it was taking to load and unload them everyday, as well as the movement I was getting out of the system. I arrived mid morning after I managed to get myself lost a bit by not reading my e-mail...

9/11/16 Whitehorse, YT to Dease Lake, BC 682.4 kilometers, 424 Miles ridden. Morning started out slowly as I worked to get ready for departure. It was my first time repacking the bike and I shifted a few things around where they went to try to make for better access and balance. No real breakfast, just computer work to get everything prepped and then an egg salad sandwich and a chocolate milk at my fuel stop.  Got on the road later than I intended but mostly a smooth start. 36F when I started out. Ran into some GPS issues that left me wondering if  I was on the right route. Got directions from a hitch hiker and then figured a way around my GPS issue by rerouting to somewhere close to the border on the maps I had. It turns out my downloaded off-line GPS for my phone didn't have the Washington map loaded. Stopped to top up on fuel after just 135 kilometers just to be safe.  Had a great scone and a peach iced tea while I sat and typed on my phone to ...