The Mobius Trip

Looking forward to our adventures to come on our drz's...
Thanks! Awesome ride report!

Nice insight LDF... have read Mobius and several other TAT threads... You have figured out what you need to get you through the adventure and situations that may arise. The tidbit I gleaned was that travelling light made the ride more fun... not dragging the kitchen sink... bring tools, and gear for weather, but go with the minimum, the lighter the better. Shop along the way, and have fun! Doc Rock and LDF can probably add wisdom to this.

Thats the plan... light as possible

Hey! Power to you for having ambitions to do a trip like this... it's no small undertaking. I'm not big on giving our advice, but since you asked...

Suggestions:
1. You'll find that you and your partner will have different aptitudes and preferences for the many skill sets that you need to have: Besides the technical aspects of riding, there's the routing, the navigation, bike maintenance, logistics (arranging for tires, parts, etc.) motorcycle field repair, gear field repair (sewing, zippers, etc.) basic camping skills, cooking, outdoor survival, and first-aid, etc. Eventually you'll both become experts at all of it, but until then, figure out a good way of dividing things up that works for the two of you.

2. Balance planning with spontaneity. Plan and prepare as much as you can before you leave, but once you are underway, adapt to whatever the trip throws at you... Our first trip together to Nova Scotia, we had each night's lodging planned out. Now, we have our end destination, and two weeks to get there. Our route is planned, but we'll re-route or detour at the drop of a hat without missing a beat. When we wake up each morning, we don't know where we'll be eating lunch, let alone where we'll be sleeping that night... that gets sorted out sometime mid-afternoon. However, we always know where we'll be getting gas!

3. Beware of what LittleWan calls "The Tyranny of the Trail". That's when you're so focused on getting to your destination that you neglect the fact that you're over-tired, starving, thirsty, wet, and miserable, and that the best course of action for the long haul is to get rest, food, water and hole up somewhere until the storm passes, NOT to climb Hancock pass in 40 degree weather starting at 5pm. :huh

Our biggest problem: Well, I think LDF doesn't admit until it's really far gone that she's ready to stop. She pushes too hard sometimes. And I'm not so good at detecting when we're in that zone where I should say, "hey, we're stopping here", instead, I just push on as well. It boils down to communication. We don't often fight, but when we do, it's a consequence of a situation that's evolved that we should have recognized and dealt with way earlier. And we're pretty tight when it comes to communication... been together 'bout 15 years. So I'd say it's no easy thing to pull off, traveling way off the grid, having fun, and staying safe.

Go get 'em!

We were treated like visiting royalty by Gary & Deb... this was in their guest room:



and that's just a taste of their hospitality. We drove out to Girdwood for breakfast:



:dg



Delicious!



Hard to believe this is Alaska:



Prolly doesn't look so tropical now.

We got cracking on our post-ride chores... Hose them bikes down...



(Where's my uncle Leo when you need him?)

Air out the gear:



Duke supervising:



Blueberry next: (and a look at the rear knobs left on the Stonemaster after 3000 miles)



spic & span

Deb supervising:



Sneaky Gary oiling our chains:



I'm seriously contemplating how to implement a reasonable chain maintenance system... haven't decided whether to just carry a squirt bottle and do it at each stop, or to use some kind of auto-oiler.



I think the stonemasters held up pretty good, all said and done. Our next leg will be mostly pavement, which is unfortunate for the tires, because the one after that will be mostly dirt, and I think we'll have to replace them first.

was to LDF's liking:



We were all exhausted , so we headed out for dinner:



Great food, wine, and company!

Deb wanted to test ride the Blueberry:



they seemed to get along pretty well





then it was Gary & my turn to swap bikes:



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Thanks so much Gary & Deb... sorry we'll miss you when we're back in May, maybe we can arrange to meet on the road.



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I wouldn't be surprised if you start getting a bunch of tent space requests!

we sorted our gear,



stowed the bikes & gear,



and had lunch with the crew;



Took some photos for the celebrity gossip pages,



and one for our corporate sponsor:

cruising above that "fly-over" land, that we'd much rather be riding on.



which we will be, come next May. Stay tuned.

Dr. Rock, & LDF

Is it May yet?

Thank you!
Proof that workin' stiffs can have fun too.

great ride report.. nice icebergs. this got moved . http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15110224&postcount=57

You crack me up. PM sent.
d

Saw this on a KLR up in Illinois several years ago. Cheap and effective.


John

It really wasn't necessary to describe the bike model... Kind of obvious. Actually, I love it.

Awesome advice! Will keep the communication thing in mind for sure! Will continue to follow your RR Thank you!

I just got caught up on my reading/viewing/laughing/reminiscing. Never a dull moment following you two. Thanks so much for sharing.

I just bought a DR, a decision inspired in part by you.

Offer still still stands for crashing at our pad....hopefull that we'll see you in May

Thanks, Dave! We're currently plotting M7, and still on track to fly out of Edmonton, so we'll be taking you up on your offer. We'll be in touch soon as we start to sort out the dates and logistics. We'll need to source new rubber, and figure out bike storage May-Sept when we tackle the Tour of Idaho on M8.