Getting Ready

Preparing for this trip is a little different than it was preparing for my first trip out west last year. Back then I was setting out after having read books written by grizzled and highly experienced endurance riders as well as research on the internet. This time I have the benefit of not only that research but also the experience that trip gave me. There were a number of lessons I learned on the road that should, hopefully, serve me well on this adventure.

Probably the hardest lesson of that trip was tire management. As I set out I made one assumption that cost me half a day on a workshop bench. The assumption was that motorcycle tires wear the same as car tires – 40,000 to 60,000 miles, depending on whether you chose high grip summer tires or long-tread-life touring tires. I left Cleveland with 3,000 miles on the tires only to learn in the middle of the desert in Utah that the life of the stock tire is approximately 6,000 miles!! This time I replaced the tires less than a week before my departure so that I don’t end up on that bench again. The object of the trip is to do what I love with this bike and that is to ride it as it rolls through beautiful scenery and sitting around waiting for a new tire doesn’t come anywhere close to that.

In the time since that trip I have worn through three sets of tires, leaving rubber shavings on the roads of Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Each set was a different manufacturer with the same promise – better grip and longer tread life. Well, promises and all, none of the tires lasted much beyond 6,000 miles. In fact, the last set I tried, the Avon Storm, lasted only 5,000 miles – and I took that one all the way down to the threads!

On that trip and numerous other shorter ones I have taken, I have learned how to manage adequate hydration. In addition to quenching thirst, adequate hydration staves off fatigue and when you are putting hundreds of miles on each day it is crucial to avoid getting dehydrated because it takes several days to recover from it; not to mention that the disorientation that results from dehydration is dangerous!

On my way back home through Kansas I experienced serious butt-whooping cross winds that drove me so close to desperation driven madness. That wind blew so hard that fully loaded semi trucks were getting tossed about and when I stopped I made sure to point the bike into the wind so that it would not get blown onto its side!! Hmm, you say, that is a 500 pound machine loaded up with an additional 50 pounds + of luggage, now how would that get blown over on its side. Well, at my first stop I put the side stand down with the bike parked broad side to the wind and as I was getting off a gust of wind hit me and as I struggled to maintain my balance I noticed the bike was wobbling just like me!!

Well, long story short (you can read about that day on the blog I kept for that trip at http://wheresthehorizon.blogstop.com where the posting is titled Kansas Crosswind) that wind took its toll on the windshield support pegs and a couple of weeks after I returned home one of them broke (in fact, it was on a trip to West Virginia). Knowing that I will be riding across the plains again, out on the lower road through Oklahoma and Texas and back through Kansas, I want to make sure I am prepared in the event one of those chooses to go if I encounter those winds again!

I am planning on doing my normal routine of a good hearty breakfast to start the day and a large dinner at the end. I work through the day on surviving on Planters Trail Mix, munching a handful when I stop to rest and stretch. Those packets cost about $2.50 and I was thrilled to finally find a grocery store that carries them at 2 for $3.00 – needless to say I bought a bunch to take with me!

I learned that “water proofing” spray does no such thing to gloves. I tried that on a pair of leather gloves I owned only to end up with wet fingers and soggy gloves. Thankfully, the sun came out after about four hours of rain and the combination of the sun and wind dried them off before the end of the day. After I lost one of those gloves in the middle of the night riding through Missouri I bought a pair of fabric and leather gloves with a gore-tex liner – also supposed to be waterproof! You guessed it, after a couple of hours riding in a rain storm (and this time it was in the lower 40’s!) I had soggy gloves and wet fingers. Now, when it rains, I pull out my $6.00 industrial rubber gloves and little wool glove liners and use those to keep my fingers warm and dry. For those of you who do not ride in inclement weather, glove liners are basically a thin fabric glove worn as a first insulating layer. I had tried just the rubber gloves but, as you can imagine, they are not the most comfortable thing in the world to wear and, especially not for extended periods.

Little tweaks here and there and hopefully they serve me well on the road. The little remaining things I have to do include getting new batteries for the three flash lights I carry as well as one for my digital camera.

My best meal last time was in a single-location family-owned and run Mexican food restaurant in Durango, Colorado. I am looking forward to a couple more good helpings of Mexican food when I am in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah!!

In my next posting I will lay out the route so that anyone who has any interest can follow it on a map.