![\"bike7-13-16\"](\"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/bike7-13-16.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI also go the tool box mount on the bike between the left pannier and the bike so it was somewhat hidden. You could only see it when you looked at the bike from the back, and it looked like a power outlet.\u00a0 Nice way to hide things on the bike.\u00a0 The picture above is what the bike looked like for the entire trip, fully loaded up.\u00a0 When I weighed out the boxes with all the gear it came out to just under 98 lbs.\u00a0 The list of what I packed is here:\u00a0 Packing List.\u00a0 I ended up sending home from Anchorage, my off bike shoes, tee shirt, extra under armor and cotton socks.\u00a0 I picked 3 more pairs of smart wool socks, and shirts to replace them.\u00a0 I actually used everything I packed with the exception of tools and spares, but those are things I would take with me again.\u00a0 So the list I believe is pretty solid.<\/p>\n
Before I get into how the trip started, I’ll just say now it didn’t get off to the best start. \u00a0I shattered a brand new Ipod nano as I was walking out of the garage first thing in the morning, followed by leaving, ear buds at home, along with dumping a full glass of water all over Jaime at lunch on the first day, \u00a0there was issues with logging into work, screwing up things at work, than fixing the things I’d screwed up, getting pulled over, \u00a0issues with bear spray, and bike issues. \u00a0 I was thinking that was going to happen on Days 1 and 2 it kind of\u00a0wondering just how the rest of the trip was going to go…. I was really thinking at the time it might be best to cancel the trip and give it up then, before it got any worse.<\/p>\n
The first two days of the trip were spent in Utah. It\u2019s usually hot, but not this time, I ended up using my heated hear coming into Salt Lake when we had to ride through two really have thunderstorms. It was still pretty for most of the ride.\u00a0 Heather met me at my place, we rode to pick up Jaime and the others at her place.<\/p>\n
Jaime and I headed off to Moki Dugway to ride our first section of dirt road. Once at the top, I had the brilliant idea to head to the lookout for some pictures, I remembered the road being more hard packed, but about 50 feet down the road, I hit some deepish sand.\u00a0 I told her on the Sena, that this might not be the best idea I\u2019d had for awhile.\u00a0 It was about 20 feet later that I hit the REALLY deep powdery sand, the bike got really out of shape, I gave it bit more throttle and sat back some more, it straightened up, but then it just got worse and I went down in the sand the bike slid for a couple of feet.\u00a0 No worries, Jaime go it all on the GoPro. \u00a0Well, she had it on video, but she’s having issues finding the video of it, maybe it got lost with the video of me in Dawson after having a bit too much to drink one night. \u00a0One can hope.<\/p>\n The section of sand\/powder that I fell down in\u2026 Yeah, for getting the first (hopefully the only) crash out of the way.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n After the excitement, we decided to just head straight to SLC so we could crash for the night at Mike and Lindsay\u2019s.\u00a0 However, our excitement for the day wasn\u2019t over, thanks to Jaime\u2019s great idea of seeing how closely our cruise controls matched.\u00a0 What speed did she pick for the test?\u00a0 85mph, Did my common sense kick in? No.\u00a0 Course not.\u00a0 Did this test end well?\u00a0 No, course not.\u00a0 Just how did it end?\u00a0 With me getting pulled over by a Utah trooper of course,\u00a0 there are no pictures of this\u2026\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get a performance award, my version of why I didn\u2019t get a ticket and Jaime\u2019s are different, and we are just going to leave it at that.\u00a0 However, the officer did thank both of us for wearing all of our safety gear, unlike a biker they had scraped off the pavement earlier in the day.\u00a0 His wording not mine.<\/p>\n I was just happy to not get a ticket, as we pulled away, I was starting to question the wisdom of having the Sena being paired.\u00a0 Since I had Jaime, giving me grief about not even being out of his sight and my already speeding\u2026 For the record, I wasn\u2019t according to the GPS and by the speedo on the bike I was only 2 mph over.\u00a0 The next two days of being always being under the speed limit kinda bugged crap outta me, but she got over whatever it was and was back to her usual speedy self by the third day.<\/p>\n We had a great morning riding some fun twisty roads out of SLC with TMC and Lindsay, Mike, as usual had to show me some great gadget for cleaning and lubing chains.\u00a0 He then gave it to us since we were going to be do a great deal more of that than he was for the next month.\u00a0 He\u2019s just an amazing, smart, talented, funny, and generous guy; I\u2019ve met the best people because of motorcycles.\u00a0 Only getting over to see him once or twice a year just isn\u2019t enough.\u00a0 He\u2019s helped me a great deal over the past years with my racing.\u00a0 I\u2019m just going let him keep thinking that he\u2019s still faster than me on the race track\u2026.<\/p>\n BTW: That\u2019s him directly behind me in this picture.<\/p>\n Back to the ride report\u2026 There was no way we were going to get lost on this trip\u2026 Just sayin.<\/p>\n Along the way we\u2019d make sure that Jaime learned how to work her Sena, GPS, and her bike computers.<\/p>\n But does that mean I can tell you where every picture was taken?\u00a0 Not a chance!\u00a0 Lol.<\/p>\n However this one was up at Flathead lake, which is where we FINALLY did some camping. Not a bad view for the night, eh?<\/p>\n This was the site of the bear spray incident.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s just say I now know how to use it, and so does Jaime, she also now knows how it tastes too.<\/p>\n The next day we cleaned up the chains on the bikes, and used the grease ninja<\/strong> that Mike gave use, this was the first time that Jaime had taken her bike off the center stand by herself with it fully loaded\u2026 it didn\u2019t quite go as planned.<\/p>\n It might have been the first drop of the trip, but it wasn\u2019t the last.<\/p>\n Don’t let the pictures fool you this was our last day of sunshine, from here until the 3rd<\/sup> day in Anchorage it rained almost non-stop. We did have sections of no rain, with little bits of teasing bursts of sunshine, but it really did rain every day for 8 days. \u00a0Overall not a bad average, for a 40 day vacation, but I was feeling a bit water logged on the second day. \u00a0 From here we made a mad dash up to Shuswap in Canada, we stayed at a really cute camp ground with cabins. The people who ran it were just awesome to us; they let us use their dryer so that we didn\u2019t have to put on wet stuff the next day.<\/p>\n This would be the day my Jet Boil die a horrible death at the hands or tires of a Semi truck\u2026\u00a0 No pictures it was just too horrible to see it all flattened out like that. The replacement jet boil would be brightly colored so that it wouldn\u2019t get left on the muffler of the bike.\u00a0 I just can\u2019t figure out how it stayed there for >200 miles before it fell off.\u00a0 I think it was a subconscious thing; I had wanted to buy a new stove, for this trip but couldn\u2019t justify it since the one I had worked just fine.\u00a0 This \u00a0new one has much better simmer control \u00a0it\u2019s also \u00a0much cuter too.<\/p>\n Just before the Jet Boil died….. I’m not sure how I missed it still sitting on the muffler when we stopped here for lunch.<\/p>\n However, finding the replacement in Prince George in the pissing rain was horrible, but I\u2019ve gotten a head of myself.\u00a0 Our next stop was in Prince George, we crashed in on a poor unsuspecting inmate who kindly offered his yard, but ended letting us stay in his house due to the rain.<\/p>\n Kelly was super kind to let us take over his house with such short notice not to mention his dogs are just too adorable! We headed out the next day in search of a jet boil, who knew it would take 3 hours and that we would tour the entire city\u2026 Next time I head to Canada, I\u2019m going to see about getting a better data plan for my phone.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t have to guess, the location of things or bad directions from people who work in the stores that don’t have what I’m looking for.<\/p>\n My view of Jaime for like 95% of the trip\u2026<\/p>\n From Prince George it was a long day up Stewart. \u00a0 \u00a0We still made pretty good time and inspite of a the road being closed for an hour we still made it into Stewart before 11pm.<\/p>\n We figured if we took a picture of the map, we\u2019d be able to remember where we were when the low blood sugar kicked in.<\/p>\n Speaking of low blood sugar…. I believe it was outside of Prince George one of the times that we had been riding for like 10 hours, in the rain, I was cold, on the tired side, and I was coming up on the side of hangry. \u00a0(ya know… hungry to the point of starting to get irrationally angry \u00a0about silly things.) \u00a0I was pissy that Jaime kept talking about being hungry and how she wanted a steak. \u00a0We rode past a place that looked like a decent steak house.. and by that I mean. \u00a0A nice looking building that said it was a restaurant.<\/p>\n So I snapped that we are were going to stop there so I didn’t have to listen to her anymore. \u00a0We turned around, worked our way back to it on some back streets, I pulled into the parking lot that was basically empty. For what ever reason I pulled up next to the only car there and promptly grabbed my front brake… Now, you should know happens when you do that while turning a really tight turn, right? \u00a0You fall over! \u00a0That is exactly what I did. Right next to that parked car, I was lucky that I missed that damn car by about an inch…<\/p>\n Jaime pulled up and sat there looking at me, like I had two heads and then asked me how I could be standing there when there wasn’t enough room between the bike and the car. \u00a0I still don’t know how I missed the car. \u00a0Or why I was in that spot to begin with. Jaime wisely choose not to take any pictures of the bike on the ground and just helped me pick it up. \u00a0We went in to eat and while waiting for our food saw the guy who owned the car leave. \u00a0He didn’t seem to notice the bikes at all. \u00a0I was glad to see that. \u00a0Drop #2 \u00a0Not that there was any counting going on…<\/p>\n Jaime didn’t get her steak as the only steak on the menu was steak and bacon\u00a0poutine. \u00a0So that’s what I had for dinner. \u00a0It was really tasty! \u00a0If you haven’t heard of\u00a0poutine, it’s kind of a comfort food\u00a0made with French fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy, that has a number of variations. \u00a0This was Jaime’s introduction to Poutine, she wasn’t brave enough to try it… boy did she miss out. \u00a0It was about 3\/4 of the way into dinner that she made the comment about me being more like myself and that I needed to not let the it (whatever it was, take your pick –> hunger, tired, or being cold) go so long next time. \u00a0Jaime doesn’t think that I should tell anyone about this, that we should stick to the great scenery, sights, and interesting people along the way, I’m not so sure about that. \u00a0As this was one of things that I’m still laughing about when I think about the trip. As well as one of the things that I don’t need a picture to jog my memory about. \u00a0So why not share it?<\/p>\n The tires I’d never heard of before I bought this bike were actually great and holding up really well. \u00a0I think I’ll be using them more in the future.<\/p>\n We stopped for more pictures along the way, the rain was on and off, most of the time I was actually happy to see the rain, as it kept the blood sucking mosquitoes off me.<\/p>\n The guy the trike showed us his bear pictures once we got into Stewart, we didn\u2019t see a single bear and hadn\u2019t seen any wildlife until this road.\u00a0 On the way down we saw two bald eagles.\u00a0 Jaime was starting to get upset by the lack of wildlife.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just tell you now, it doesn\u2019t get any better for Jaime, either.\u00a0 Lol.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve gotta love a hotel that has motorcycle parking up on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n They also had some great art, kind of like the painted ponies that we have around Santa Fe.\u00a0 I loved these two bears!<\/p>\n I had been looking forward to getting my fill of seafood on this trip, but we were too early for this local stop.<\/p>\n Instead we checked out the docks and a local gift shop where I picked up some fudge so I could feed it to Jaime when her blood sugar got low and she got grumpy, or when I was getting grumpy. \u00a0 \u00a0I also picked up a new hat for when we were camping, that night at Flathead Lake reminded me that I needed one when I was cold while camping.<\/p>\n The one way border crossing was interesting, I have to say this guy was a great deal nicer than the first one.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the guy at the first border crossing was an okay guy, but he was easily spooked and not very friendly.\u00a0 He acted like I had tried to stab him when I grabbed the window to keep from falling over with my bike.\u00a0 They really need to make sure the areas in front of those windows are level and not slanted, I went to put the kickstand down, pull my helmet off, after handing him my passport, and the bike started to tip over I grabbed the window and my helmet.\u00a0 He leaped back knocked his chair over and then got rather snotty.\u00a0\u00a0 He took my passport and told me to go wait under the carport around the corner for someone to come talk to me.\u00a0 I figured I was hosed and that they were going to tear my bike apart, but a nice lady came out and handed me my passport after about 15 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0 This second guy was nice and funny, he wanted to know why we were in such a hurry to get through Canada?<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty, but at the time it was really wet\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nLoaded and ready to head out
\n<\/a>
\nHeather made it and is readjusting things before we head to pick up Jaime and the others.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nFinally everyone shows up and is ready to head off to Goosenecks for our first night of camping\u2026 or at least that was the plan.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nHowever, we ended up here in Farmington.\u00a0 Now I love Brian (the really tall guy), as he\u2019s been a great friend\/sponsor for years now, but could have gone without spending so much time him this day.\u00a0 On the way there, we discovered that Karin\u2019s taillight had stopped working, we taped it up just outside of Chama, rode to Farmington to Speedin Motorsports were I knew that Brian and crew would be able to fix it.\u00a0\u00a0 They did but it took a couple of hours to dismantle the bike sodder some new connections, add more wire, and make it so that it wouldn\u2019t come apart again.\u00a0 By the time all that was done, it made the whole setting up camp thing rather hard to do, since we would be getting there in the dark.\u00a0 So we opted for a hotel close to where they wanted to have dinner that night.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nWhen we rolled into the parking lot for dinner at 8:30 that night, little did I know that was going to be pretty much the way this entire trip was going to go, really long days, with really late dinner stops, if we ate dinner at all.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThen again, I don\u2019t really mind drinking my dinner\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nWe did manage to get off to a decent start in the am, by 8 we had the bikes ready to roll. I only mention this, as it would be the earliest we got moving for the entire trip. \u00a0I’m not a morning person, as luck would have neither is Jaime.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nSee this would have been a great place to camp last night!\u00a0 We left Heather at Goosenecks, she was starting her ride off to New Foundland,<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe bike once we got it back up. \u00a0I was really happy to have those H&B upper crash bars on the bike, they got bent, but they saved the tank from any damage. \u00a0The bike wasn’t happy about it. \u00a0 The check engine light was on once I we got the bike up and restarted. \u00a0It stayed on for 3 restarts of the bike and than went off. \u00a0I’m sure it had to do with the tip over sensor. \u00a0At least that is what I was hoping it was. \u00a0It didn’t come back on so I figured it was all good.
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\nOur next stop was Stanley ID.\u00a0 We met up with another inmate there I want to say his name was Grizzly, but I\u2019m not sure that was right.\u00a0 He was riding a BMW but wearing a Triumph jacket I didn\u2019t think that was allowed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We stayed at Motel there so I could log into work that night.\u00a0 Part of the deal I made so I could get all this time off was that I would take my work computer with me and I would log in to get some things done while I was gone since I\u2019m the only one who know how to do them.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice job security. Even with the time in the hot springs I still managed to get about 5 hours of work done.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n