The Long and Winding Road - Alone!

You have decided to do a trip over 2-3 days to a very interesting place where you have never been before.  There is a good chance that someone would like to join you.  Say it’s a trip over a week, then fewer people will be willing to take the time off,  No, you want to do a real trip of 2-3 weeks crossing the US or into Canada and visiting people and places along the way….you are on your own!  You are lucky to have this flexibility to be gone this long but very few other riders can do this.  Money, family responsibilities, late changes in weather, problems with equipment and that ugly word WORK will cause many to drop out.  You will have some that want to change your plans to accommodate their schedule, called high-jacking  your trip, but don’t let this happen;  they will probably drop out at the last minute!  It’s your trip and doing it with someone that you don’t really know is a recipe for a very bad trip.  After all, going by yourself is a trip with someone you have known your whole life and you will discover more about yourself and meet interesting people along the way.

Now the first thing you do is go to YouTube and watch the videos of long distance risks and disasters.  You should keep in mind that no one watches YouTube videos of a nice ride down the road, that’s boring, but add in a bear attack or mechanical disaster even wrecks attract viewers and that’s how they get paid for the video.  Had I believed in these videos then I would have stayed home with the occasional trip to Dairy Queen!

First off you need to be somewhat comfortable in your own skin!  It is not as lonely as many think.  I have found that traveling by yourself makes you very approachable, assuming you shower and do laundry regularly.  I can’t tell you how many people have come over to me at a restaurant or coffee shop and asked if they could join me.  I have had people join me and buy my lunch or coffee.  They have brought their family over to meet me and produced maps of the area so they could point out interesting sights to see.  I have found that people in Nebraska don’t like  to see you eating by yourself. 

While camping in Nova Scotia a woman from a neighboring campsite brought me a half of a blueberry pie, they couldn’t eat all of it and thought I would enjoy it and I did!  A man in a pickup truck stopped at my campsite when I was getting my fly rod out and told me to get in the truck, he new all the streams in the area and fishes there every summer for a month.  We had 3 great days of fishing the Nova Scotia coast and we caught lots of trout.  Take note of the 9' 2 piece fly rod sticking through the sleeping bag.  I wonder what happened to that rod.  I almost took out some toll takers on the George Washington Bridge in NY.  So get over this fear of the unknown and go!  But first:

Get the bike and gear ready!

1,  Do your service – having your service done by a mechanic you know and trust is far better than dropping in somewhere for service by someone that will never see you again and the price will reflect this,  I carry on my phone the directory of Independent BMW Mechanics just in case.  But I have been ripped off price wise by major dealers more frequently than the independents.  You don’t want to wander in looking for a tire that isn’t in stock and waiting days or accepting some other tire.  If I am leaving on a long trip then I leave with fresh oil and filter, good air filter, checked brakes, new tires and checked bolts for tightness.

2.  Carry enough tools to be self sufficient – Tire patch or plug kit, critical tools for changing a tire, small amount of emergency oil, first aid kit.

3.  Clothes – imagine the worst weather you might encounter and pack for it.  These bikes can carry a significant amount of stuff.  I pack for 4 days of clean clothes.  Every 4^th day I stay at a motel that has a laundry.  Good rain gear is critical as well as warm clothes in cold weather.  Bad gear can and will make a trip miserable.  Remember all your toiletries and medicines.

4.  Lift off! - Yes, you are going to be a bit apprehensive but this will pass as you go down the road. Anything that you have forgotten is available at drug stores, Walmart, motorcycle dealers or grocery stores.  You have packed energy bars, Gatorade, and plenty of water (very important)!  I drink lots of water so it kind of makes a pit stop necessary every hour.  Some people stop every 45 minutes and take a 15 minute break, you will figure it out.  A lot is unique to the rider.  I typically do 300-400 miles a day.  If it is hot I leave earlier in the morning, sometimes as early as 4:00 am and find a place to camp or a motel around noon.  Most days I ride from 7 until lunch when I figure out how far I want to go and put that town in my Hotels.Com account and reserve a room.  I am always where I want to be by 4 pm because at 5 pm all the tourists come rolling in to lodging without reservations and you could be blocked out!  In Amarillo, TX I pulled into a Hampton Inn at 3 pm and was the only vehicle in the parking lot.  I thought it was closed.  At 5:30 pm they turned on the NO Vacancy sign.  Whether it is a rest stop or the end of the day, go for a walk, even a short one.  Sitting all day in one position is not good for the circulation!  I try to do a 2 mile walk every night when I get to a new place.

5.  Routing – It’s your call!  If I am on the big highways doing big miles it is a point to point fastest route on the phone or GPS.  If it is the blue highways then routing with detail is a great help.  When I went to the MOA Rally in Great Falls, MT I did 80% of my miles on the back roads and used Basecamp for most of it.  You are not going to see it all.  Your first trip to a location will just whet your appetite. When you get home you will recall what you missed and want to go back.  I am already thinking of retracting my statement that I won’t cross the Mississippi on two wheels again.  There is a long stretch of Rt 66 that I missed.  I would also like to spend 2 weeks on US89 in Utah seeing all the National Parks.  This would also let me pick up NV and CA for my 47^th and 48^th state on a motorcycle.  So much to see and so little time.

Important

Do not make this a race!  Every morning do a self assessment and if you don’t feel it, do a short 150-200 mile day.  Better yet is to take a day off.  I typically take every 4-5^th day off as laundry and tourist day, see the sights and check the bike oil, tires and repack.

It's a wrap! Boone to Cary, NC

Well, after 7,827 miles and 51 days on the road, I have arrived home!  It has been a wonderful time visiting friends, seeing new places.  Some days I did 400 miles and other days I did 120 miles but mostly I did 250-300 miles.  Weather dictated the ride with heat the prevailing problem.  I only had rain on one day and that was the ride from London to Boone, NC.  I/we put on rain gear a couple of times but it didn't rain.  Other than heat the most difficult issue to address was the serious cross winds.  I returned home with significant pain in my rib cage due to fighting the crosswinds.  I experienced this the last time when I crossed Kansas and it took a couple of weeks to go away.

I have washed Waldo and will wax him in the coming days.  He is also due for an oil/filter change which i will do this week.  Mechanically the bike was solid and the tires seem to have another 7,000 miles left on them.

No, I didn't get attacked by gangs or indians on this trip.  I found all the people that I encountered welcoming and curious about where I was going by my self.  I only had 2 near misses with one being the box truck on I-20 going across Louisiana that ran me off the road.  I saw it coming because I saw a motorcycle on the side of the road to the right with the rider standing there drink from a water bottle.  I knew that most people move away from vehicles on the side of the road so I had scoped out my exit.  I rode a bit on the left side of the rumble strip in the passing lane until the driver realized I was there.  The second near miss was the FedEx truck tire tread that flew by my right shoulder.  That could have been bad because that would have gone through the windshield had it hit me.  But again, all clear.

My thanks to my many friends that took me in and fed me.  My friends have always been very special to me.  I am very lucky to have my health, and energy to do stupid things like this.  I encourage everyone to go out and see this country of ours.  It is so diverse and beautiful. 

I have riden in 46 of the lower 48 States.  It looks like I will have to fly into Las Vegas and rent a motorcycle to ride in California and Nevada.  Then the lower 48 by motorcycle will be complete.  That still leaves Alaska as a teaser.  Will I do it next year?