Orange in the Greens or How many times can you screw up and still have a good time?

[drewjb7]

Day One: We don’t need no stinkin’ GPS…
(Nod to “The Commitments” for the interview idea)
Q: So, Mr. Drewjb7, how many years have you been riding then?
A: Over 40 years.
Q: And how many of those have you been doing dual-sport style riding?
A: Well, bought a R100GS about twelve years ago, took it some places it had no business going, then got a DRZ400 five years ago. Then last October I decided to do myself some real harm and bought a 2005 KTM 450 EXC.
A: With all that experience you must be able to plan a multi-day dual-sport ride quite well.
Q: You would think so, wouldn’t you?
A: Let’s get to the point. Exactly how many different ways did you manage to eff-up on your recent ride?
Q: Well, let me see…

Ready...



Steady...


Go!!!


Left Newton for Northampton in the AM. Going to let the 376C find me some dirt on the way. GPS is working fine but the XM weather isn’t. Damn. Must be that super-clever right angle cable I added.

Q: You did test that new cable before you started, didn’t you?
A: Er, no…


First rest stop. Headed for some Mass dirt. Plugged the XM antenna cable directly into the GPS (pita) but then it started working. Way cool. Can see a couple of storm cells but I’m on the northern edge, maybe a little rain but not for long.

Mass dirt





Coming out of the woods, the GPS is telling me “Route Waypoint Memory Full”. Pull over, press “Enter” and the thing shuts down and restarts again. Same drill a few more times. Try hard power down and power up, same thing again. Try jumping to the menu to delete the route but can’t get there fast
enough. Try some other stupid things that don’t work. Finally give up. Pull out the Delorme Atlas maps and head in the general direction the planned route was going to take me.

Quabbin area...






Moto Art



Quabbin Park...



Used to be a town there...




Destination for Day One was Northampton. LovelyWife goes to something called the Sports and Fitness Camp every year for a week. Basically, summer camp for grown-ups. I usually time a moto trip to visit her and then go off to get lost in the woods. After some exploring around the Quabbin, I head towards Noho. Holy crap! Miserable friggin traffic jam. After twenty minutes of crawling a few feet a minute, bike is fine but I’m melting down. There’s a right turn. I don’t care where it goes, I’m taking it.

In a quarter mile, I’m on a dirt road next to a corn field. Take a break and cool off. Follow the dirt road along the Connecticut River a ways. It dead ends but I’m recovered. The way around the traffic is twenty miles extra riding but it’s easy riding and well worth it. At one point, there’s a straight stretch of road and some slower cars ahead. Let’s see what she’ll do in sixth. Holy sh*t! This is a dirt bike?

Escape from traffic hell...




Dinner, beer, a night in the dorm with LovelyWife. End of day one