Repost of first entry: We just seperated from the local Ptero's who are heading for the Haul Road at Delta Junction. We are now sitting in Beaver creek. The ride over Denali Hwy was spectacular. Gusgus and Friar met up with us this morning at the gracious house. All is good. Nice to be on the road again. Be in the states in about 4-5 days. PS: thanks to Barb for getting Fite such a furry mount. We are having a great time with that and he spends a lot of time petting and grooming it... No More Mondays - glad I don't have to do it until August... __________________
repost #2 Leaving early after a stop a Tim Horton's, for the Casiar. Mrs. USxGS has to have her coffee, double-double and a couple of plain donuts. Road to Destruction bay has lots of frost heaves but not bad otherwise. Lots of moose, a fox, coyote, swans (one swan ran a moose out of a lake)... over 200 picts already and some great video. Gas is about $4.80 US a gallon. Ran into a couple of biker gals heading to AK. F650 and a Honda dual sport. German ladies I believe. Been on the road 3 weeks and have 5 to go. That's all for now........ __________________
Okay, the Cassiar has only about 40 miles of dirt. What is that all about? Now everyone will start using it! There is some sweet paved stretches around Bell 2. We ran from Whitehorse to Iskut - saw fox, coyote, and no bear. Great road - about 20 mi. of dirt before Dease Lake and 10 after with misc. stretches of dirt. Ran into a couple of groups of adventure riders. Most had heard about the D2D. Two guys on Harleys were running up to Deadhorse from Key West. Had to get there and back in 30 days. They had raised $110K for MS by getting pledges per mile... pretty cool. Were not worried about paint jobs - cosmetic can be fixed. We came across a family of 4 brown bears and 7 black bear btw Iskut and Prince George. One blackie was half way up a tree. Yeah, there is video footage. Saw a Black fox and a couple of shaggy reddish ones. We then set up camp in the rain in P.George and hit the showers. Prior to bed we gave a call to sis and the in-laws. Found out we had a family emergency on hand - Mrs. USxGS's grandma was in the hospital and it was not looking good (aggressive C of lungs - not even a smoker!). So, we have to get Gina down to Southern Ca. ASAP. So, as Sheryl Crow says, Everyday is a windy road...
From P. George to Vancouver, WA. I hate those long runs but sometimes you gotta do it. We got a flight for Gina to CA from Portland the next morning and I will ride the bike down and meet up with everyone. Frasier Canyon BC was awesome and the weather cooperated for a long ride. 20 miles from out goal (Gina's sister's place in Vancouver) we hit grid lock on I-5 at 11PM. We finally made our goal in 16 hours, including stops at several Tim Horton's on the way. Gotta love the coffee! (and doughnuts). I will toss Gina on a plane in the morning and head out on the road solo to meet up with my bride in Southern CA. Lonely days aheab but I love getting reaquainted! Oh, yeah - we met a guy on the Cassiar who said he met 5 Pterodactyl's several years ago at a rally and remembered Griz and his "painted" bike. Them Ptero SOB's sure get around! Anyway, I am three beer's into it, tired and need some rest. We'll drop some more 'scribe later... Thanks for the push on doing the thread, MotoMamma, and we live your motto. We have been thinking about you and Hacky and we are glad you are finally on the road!
Keep postin USBYGS. I must be the only one left in Anchorage besides poor Barb. Maybe I will see her today when I get a new tire. Maybe not. Assume you took some pix & we will see them sometime. Have a good & safe ride.
I am hitting the road this morning for Southern Ca. to meet up with Gina. Grandma is now at peace along with one of my aunts who had been fighting more aliments than I can mention. Same day. So not only is this road we travel windy but has some serious ups and downs. As you fellow bikers know, when life throws you a curve lean into it... So I ride with the thoughts of meeting up with my soul mate and the pleasures of the open road. Gas prices here in Vancouver are $3-$3.20 for reg and super:eek1 . The front tire (Dunlops) is looking excellent while the rear is flattening out quickly in the middle. Too many straight roads. Someday I want to wear out the sides first. I am thinking of splurging for some driving lights after riding out of town with Katoomer and seeing how visible he was. I hope all is well for the D2D riders as well as those on the road to the Land of the Midnight Sun. We wish you a speedy recovery, Barb, as we have been thinking of you. Thanks for the words, Tom. Time to roll, I am outta here...
Jerry, Sure hope Gina made it in time to say goodbye to her grandma. My condolences to the entire family. Have a good trip. I'm going in to the shop in the mornings before customers come in right now. When it quits hurting so much, I'll be there in the daytime. Call me in a week or two. Barb
I sure did enjoy reading your ride report. Sorry, to read about your losses, my thoughts go out to you and your family.
I rolled out of Vancouver late and started motoring the SLAB known as I-5. My goal was to only stop for fuel (fuel, bathroom, drink, cliff bar) and stretch the legs for about 15 min. I wanted to get as many miles as possible behind me before shutting down for the night. I don't like riding at night with the deer factor. Ipod on, wheels rolling. I got a crazy idea one the early part of the ride that to save time in the morning, I would not pitch a tent. I planned on sleeping on the bike. It was warm enough and very few bugs. Where should I do this? Well, I have noticed a lot of motorhomes parked at Wal-marts across the country (camping). So, I just had to find a Wal-mart. Man, it got cold in them hills in southern Oregon. It also got dark. I had to have a warm place to pitch my bike (No tent tonight!). So I rode into the night until about 10 when I came upon Redding, CA and a Wal-mart. I motored around the lot until I found a shaded spot (from the street light) and pulled in behind a motorhome. After a quick dinner snack of tuna salad and cracker (package deal so no clean up) I set up the bike to sleep on. The Helmet and tank bag went on the back UBag and the bike cover went over the bike. With the helmet on the back it created a perfect one-man tent - if you were only 5 feet tall. I crawled in and slept - kind of. The passenger seat was my worst enemy for it stuck up and created a lump in my bed. I slept on my side, on my back, with my feet on the bars, on the panniers, on the UBag. I tried it all. In the end I woke at 5am ready to roll. I was tired from working so hard to sleep, but I did get some sleep despite the noise from a lawn blower and kids whooping it up for a bit. Yeah, I worried about someone messing with bike - but what a shocker for them to have the bike come alive - besides, I was packing more that clean underwear for the travels. When I awoke, refreshed (yeah, right), I crawled out of bike to see that there were no motorhomes left in the lot. They must have gotten the memo that told of the cleaning that involved gas blowers... Whatever. I survived and fired up the beemer for a quick ride to Denny's for coffee and toast. I was heading down the slab by 6am with the same game plan as the day before except I needed to get to LaVerne before 5pm for a family event. Not 30 minutes later a trooper went flying by me (I was doing 80). A minute later I was passed again. By the third one the mind began to wonder... I came up to the accident 5 minutes later. A mini vana on the other side was upsidedown in the middle of I-5. 30 yards in front of the van a guy was laying on the ground, no one around him despite a minimum of 10 cars/trucks/semi's parked all over that side of the road. Troopers were talking to other drivers. The thought of that guy on the ground was unsettling for several hours down the road. Another reminder to stay alert of other drivers and yourself. I traveled 150-180 miles a shot before filling up, drinking something, and a cliff bar. A couple of stretches later I would hit the road again. Half the time listening to a book the other to music. Gotta love an iPod. By 10am I was over 300mi into it and getting sleepy. It was time to remove the sweat shirt and jacket liner. It was heating up outside. The closer to LA I got the more traffic there was. I have come to the conclusion that people don't care about the price of gas. There were so many large pickups and SUVs running about 90 that gas mileage must not be an issue. Of course these same people pay over $10 a gallon for bottle water and who knows what for a coffee... I got to LaVerne at 3 and that left me 2 hours to decompress after the last stressful hundred miles (CA drivers fly on big roads). I am once again complete (with Gina) and as a bonus the rest of the family is here. We have three days here to do the family thing and maybe hit the local bike shop before we get back to business. We are ready to get on with our travels and looking for the beauty in every state we go through. The ride will be slow, no SLAB, and we will camp early. No Wal-mart camping from here out...
My heart goes out to both of you You are in our thoughts and prayers! Thank you for the new thread! It is awesome! And I thought Hacky was the only one who napped on his bike......
I hope Mrs. USx made it in time. Keep posting away and don't forget to unload that little mac music thing you use to store pics on and toss a couple up here when you get a chance. I'll hoover down a donut and a snort a' coffee in you two's honor tomorrow morning. Be safe. Have fun.
Finishing up here in a day and we will be heading for Joshua Tree National Park and then start winding our way up north. So far our milage is as follows: Home - Gracious House 318 GH - Beaver Creek 409 (nice campground behind Westmark Hotel -cheap w/hot showers) BC - Whithorse 303 WH - 64 mi. past Dease Lake 497 - Prince George 592 (Camped in rain - found out about Grandma) PG - Portland 778 Gina on plane next morning P - Redding, CA 504 (slept on bike @ Walmart) R - LaVerne, CA 596 total miles to date : 3997 Today, Kit, Gina, SisterDi, and I went to Chapparal motorsport and Berts motorsport. Both carried 4 brands of bikes and had huge accessory departments. The showroom floor was HUGE. Prices were about the same you might find elsewhere but with a 7+ percent sales tax... We are looking forward to getting back on the road. We are about ready for a new tire. It was new when we left. The dunlop does not get the milage the Anakee's get. We will squeeze another 1000 out of them. We will work on picts, but they may have to wait (I am just lucky to be able to post once and a while. Happy Trails!
We are working hard on wearing the sides of the tires so they match the flat spots created by interstate runs. Joshua Tree is beautiful. If we had an unloaded bike we would have ridden more side roads but the soft sand is a turn off on a 1000 lb. machine. We hit the Palms to Pine Hiway which can compete with any road for turns per mile. Some of these roads are like one lane with a yellow stripe down the middle. Lots of video... We then headed back to LaVerne for the night. We cooled off in the pool and fired up the grill for dinner with Kit. The next morning we headed up to Sequoia Park via the Angeles forest hwy to 14 to 178 that took us into Lake Isabella. We ran north from there to Kernville and Johnsondale then up to Quaking Aspen and Springville. A stop for ice tea (about 100 degees) and directions to Junction 37 where the waiter questioned our road choice until he realized we were on a bike. We understood his hesitation after we hit the road. It was the most narrow, twisted road we have been on. Basically a bike path down a mountain. Way cool. What a work out! Gotta run but will continue later today!
So, up in the Sequoia park we camped one night. Hot day that ended with a dip in the frigid water of a nearby creek. Like Spearfish canyon creek cold. Took all I had to jump in but Gina didn't even hesitate... Spectacular ride the following day. We broke camp early and hit the Park road before the tourist woke up. More twisty turns. Gotta love this kind of riding. We did all the tourist pictures by the big trees, driving through the tree tunnel, and even got the bike on the driveway log. A picture will explain that. After the park we ran up Kings Canyon. Another must do road. Just make sure you have gas... It was over 4 a gallon with a minimun fill up of 6 gallons. Gravity fed pumps! Suppose to be the oldest ones still in use. Well, I didn't like the attitude of the attendent so I chose to ride on with what I rode in with. After the fuel light came on we were still a ways from gas. You never know how far you can go once that light comes on unless you try... Fortunately it was all down hill out of the park. I coasted (bike off in stealth mode) for a good 17 miles on twisty 10-20 mph corners. We did make gas without running out but it was close! The temp in Fresno was over 100 and we pushed on to San Jose were we are now at a relatives house. About 50 miles from here I was stung by something that was up my sleeve. That is always exciting... From here we head across the Goldengate and up the coast. Looking for cooler weather and a new rear tire. We will meet up with the in-laws on the coast of Oregon for a bit before heading to Spearfish and beyond. That's all for now and as you know words can't do justice to the joys of riding cross country. You don't have to read the book, you can wait for the movie!
JUST WAIT TIL THEY HOOK UP WITH THE OLD MAN!!! THEN WE WILL HAVE SOME REPORTS FROM THE ROAD, HUH FITE? "OH MY GOD" I CAN HEAR GINA NOW.
