Coast to Coast (and back?) with an Italian Supermodel

[Fasnacht]

Have read from beginning to end....just want to add my nod of appreciation for this report.

I very much enjoyed it and look forward to the bits still to come.

[rico2072]

Great pictures!
There is just so much to see in the US.
I hope my new venture will turn my life into a prosperous one, but I won't be one of those people that spends all their money on fancy things and a huge house. I will be spending a lot of it seeing this great country of ours.....then canada and alaska, then heading south! LOL

Thanks for the pics, keep them coming!

[AntiHero]

Originally Posted by GotMojo?

I've been following along myself, excellent stuff!

Did you discuss this already... I was curious how the hell you travel cross country and back with just that small bag on the back of the Ducati. I'm guessing you are also carrying a laptop and camera equipment. So whats the scoop, how do you cram everything in that single Kriega bag? Or do you also have a backpack or something we don't see in the pics?

You'll spot a backpack in a few of the pics here and there. My camera is a point-and-shoot and resides in the left pocket of my Jacket typically, my laptop goes into the Kreiga (along with clothes) and I carry misc. things in my backpack. I should probably lay it all out and take a pic to demonstrate how it all works/what little I have/what little you can survive with.

[GotMojo?]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

I should probably lay it all out and take a pic to demonstrate how it all works/what little I have/what little you can survive with.

If you get some time, do it. Some of us would be curious as to how you packed for the trip. I think most travel with way more than they need, but I was just amazed that all you had on that bike was the one bag...especially for a long cross country and back trip.

[Tgpatrsn]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

I will make it back to SF, but it's going to be at least a few weeks....

Just finished reading all 74 pages. Its has been great reading. How many miles are on the bike now?

[jpod999]

Took me about two days but I was riveted the whole time. Congratulations on the purchase of the Panigale, this trip seems like the best way to break that sucker in. If Ducati USA is watching, this guy deserves some recognition.

[tcuguy]

Originally Posted by GotMojo?

If you get some time, do it. Some of us would be curious as to how you packed for the trip. I think most travel with way more than they need, but I was just amazed that all you had on that bike was the one bag...especially for a long cross country and back trip.

+1

I plan on heading out places for prolonged periods and would also like to see what to take. I'm a minimalist traveler as well!

[Nikster]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

Look, guys, I wasn't claiming that everyone can be in the NBA just because they wish it so, nor was I claiming that anyone can be the next Einstein. My point (before it gets lost completely) is that we are all more powerful than we think we are and the world is far less powerful than we think it is. Test it out. I do, everyday and it's worked out quite well for me. None of my own personal achievements (including this trip) would have been possible without a, 'fuck it--I'll see if it's possible before saying it ain't' attitude.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. (Eliot)

If this is such a horrible personal philosophy, I am not quite sure what to say.

Advance apologies for posting this 40 pages in....

I've been lurking - what a fantastic ride report!! Thanks!! You are making a difference to everyone reading this. You're giving us things doing what you love. And that's not a coincidence.

The issue with excuses is that people are not aware of them - the mind is really good into fooling itself. If you say to somebody head-on "you're making excuses" - well, expect an outpouring of excuses. As. Seen. Above. Expect all those "...but...." sentences to come out, even on this website. It's normal. It's to be expected. And it's just excuses.

Not making excuses, one has to be aware of one's own excuses first. I am certainly no superstar - but at least I am aware of my excuses. I am aware they're just stories I tell myself. And every time I become aware of a new story, every time I discover one, I go "ohh.. there's another one". And it's a huge A-Ha moment every time. It's thrilling.

At the same time, there's another confusion, which is about the goal of it all. What is the goal? Is it s trophy wife, a GT3, a Panigale super-extra edition? A huge house? 50 houses? A yacht, or 50? Wealthiest guy in the graveyard? Happiness?

Your idealized character Mr J is likely an exception; I've met people like that. And in my opinion the only thing that sets them apart from the others is not making those excuses. What sets them apart is not smarts, brawn, brains, birthright, upbringing. It's not making excuses. That's it. That's good news because you can do that, too. Even if you're not yet.

Everyone's obsessed with money - even ostensibly rich people think they don't have enough. Like the "poor" millionaires in the affluent areas of silicon valley - sure they might have 10 mill in the bank, but all their neighbors are billionaires. So they feel poor. Those who are aware that they have enough realize that, whoops, that wasn't it. But those on the other side of the fence think it solves all problems - a classic grass is greener scenario. All wealthy people will tell you otherwise - but you won't listen, until you see for yourself. That day may never arrive.

For myself I have come to the conclusion that if $100M appeared overnight in my bank account nothing would change in my life. Actually, and here's the relevance to this thread, the only difference it would make is vehicles. I'd drive a Porsche and have a stable of Ducatis. So now I can make educated decisions about what I am willing to sacrifice for money - I can make trade-offs. 10 years all work no play for better vehicles with nothing else changing - definitely not worth it. 1 year - nope. 1 day - maybe? Then again, each day is valuable.

On the other side of money is what would you do if you didn't need it. That's what you should do; now.

Hard work is an illusion. An 80 hour week doing what you love is not hard work. 1 hour doing what you don't want to is.

[lqgsrider]

Good RR keep the pics and narrative coming

[AntiHero]

Ok, so here's my secret:



Multistrada Luggage donated to me by Dr. J, velcro'd to the back of the tail section. It's got enough room for my 6-disc DVD Player and TV, a six pack of Hendricks, all my gear, and a set of lawn darts.

[vintagespeed]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

...and a set of lawn darts.

lawn darts, FTW!

that post by the semen was awesome btw, see AH, you've gone worldwide mang!

[Beemerlover]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

Soon after the various small town, charming gas station encounters (like dudes in full camo getting out of Corollas who looked like they lived in a bunker in the woods and only came into town when the urge to slurp down a squishee overwhelmed their fear of government monitoring) I ran into the green areas of the map, exactly what I imagined Colorado to look like:



Life was good. But I kept seeing signs that there was traffic congestion coming up. It never came so I figured that their idea of traffic in Colorado was 20 cars per mile.

And then...



Dead stop. In a tunnel. With a bunch of busses and semis (and Harleys and my Ducati) spewing carbon monoxide into a breezeless tube. It really was a parking lot. We'd stop for 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time, then move 20 feet. Occasionally we'd get up to 11 or 12 mph.

What really infuriated me was that there was PLENTY of room to lanesplit. But that's not legal in CO (or nearly any other states). You can ride without a helmet in Colorado, but lanesplitting is deemed to be too dangerous. No sense. The guy next to me on a 954 said his temps were 268. Shortly thereafter the bottom end of his engine started spewing coolant and steam. I kept telling him, 'dude, you have to get moving NOW--use the shoulder'. Reluctantly he took off and then saw him on the shoulder on his cell phone. Hoping he didn't seize his engine.

20 min. later it was still hell:



To make matters worse, I had to piss like a water buffalo. And exits were miles (read: 15-20 minutes, easily) apart. Finally pulled off and got some relief.



I was thinking to myself--man, it would suck to be stuck in this traffic right after ingesting a 12 oz coffee and a bran muffin. And then I saw some fast food napkins....and a bunch of flies....and a giant pile of poo. It was disgusting, but I imagined how happy that person was to have found the only secluded spot for miles. And as I was leaving a car was hauling ass up into the same spot I was leaving. Hopefully they look before they step. I snapped a shot of it, but figured there's a limit to what people want to see.


Anyhow, after realizing there was no end in site (and there were absolutely no alternate routes) I cruised up the middle and split the lanes like I'd done for hundreds of miles in CA. And good thing I did. It was a solid 20 more miles of parking lot. Anyhow, what would have been a spectacular and relatively fast drive turned into a frustratingly LONG and exhausting ride. Funny that states like Colorado don't allow you to lanesplit out of concerns for danger, but wearing a helmet is not required. Anyhow, the bike held up during all the idling and slow speeds. Water temps (at max) never went above low 220s and the hard-start-in-the-heat problem was never a problem in the literal 'start and stop' traffic.

Then right after Idaho Springs, traffic picked right up for no reason. From there I took a cool mountain/canyon road, but again, lots of congestion. Some woman on a Harley putted at 5 under, causing another backup. Soon thereafter, though, the end was in sight:



And then made it to my friend Niki's, who happily demonstrated what safety gear looks like in Colorado.

I know that spot where you took a leak. I've done the same right there too.

Yep, traffic on I 70 sucks ass 24/7/365.

You rock! Subscribed.

[GP1152]

Originally Posted by GotMojo?

I've been following along myself, excellent stuff!

Did you discuss this already... I was curious how the hell you travel cross country and back with just that small bag on the back of the Ducati. I'm guessing you are also carrying a laptop and camera equipment. So whats the scoop, how do you cram everything in that single Kriega bag? Or do you also have a backpack or something we don't see in the pics?

With AH's blessing (and to avoid any potential thread-jacking accusations), here are some pics of how I pack my gear into the same bag. This is the setup we used for our recent 15 day, 3,000 mile trip. I'll note that (aside from the clothes) this stuff is not jammed into there like canned sardines. Everything is accessible and there's nothing there that we really don't need. We learned our lesson a long time ago. People tend to overpack when on a trip like this (AH has the right idea obviously). You wear your riding gear during the day, so all you really need is whatever you'll wear when you get to your destination (dinner, etc.). We also take into account that we'll be able to wash whatever little clothes we have at some of our destinations.
Anyway, I use eagle-creek packing cubes, which aside from making it a lot easier to pack and unpack, they also make it a lot easier to get everything in and out of the bag. Pretty important when your packing and unpacking almost every day. It basically lets you compress the stuff down before you get it in the bag and allows me to get all of this in there:
- 2 pants (jeans and hiking pants)
- 2 dress shirts
- Fleece pullover sweater
- Cotton gym shorts
- underwear
- socks
- belt
- 4 t-shirts (2 white, 2 black)
- 2 long-sleeved t-shirts
- Small air compressor
- Tire repair kit

This is everything that is packed into 2 small Eagle creek packing cubes:


The bag on the bike:


Jacket taken out of it's compression sack (visible (packed) in back-pack picture below)



I like to keep the backpack as slim as possible, and even then I have all this in there and still have room to spare):
- Pair of shoes (black Nike running shoes, double duty for day/night...even with dress shirts)
- jacket (in black compressed pouch in middle between shoes)
- tool roll (some tools and a tire repair/plug kit)
- Small ratchet/socket kit (pictured below)
- cable lock to lock the 2 bikes to each other at night (in small black Buell pouch)
- Towel and small spray bottle with auto quick detailer to clean visor.
- iPad
- Spare gloves (rain/cold weather)
- Backup hard drive
- a small pouch with all my charger cables, lens pen, etc


Backpack (Kriega R-20)


Small tool kit (which has become a go-to kit even at home. If you ever had to work in the tight spaces around this bike, you'd know what I mean):


Small compressor and SAE lighter plug and USB adapter (plugs into battery tender lead):


Here you can see that the backpack is pretty compact:


Tank bag: serves as a camera bag and contains[/U]:
- Digital SLR camera and a not-so-small (way-too-big) lens
- sunglasses
- rain cover

[Blader54]

Originally Posted by AntiHero

I'm in a very strange place right now that I will most likely never understand. One of those times in my life that, if I could verbalize, I probably still wouldn't (some secrets should remain secret).....

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your wheels alone


"Anti-Hero's Ride" somehow makes me think of the scene in "The Great Escape" when Steve McQueen's character tries and fails to jump a bike over a security fence to freedom, except this time, he makes it.

Thanks for a superbly written and photographed RR that, with it's philosophical aspect, soared above.

[Rossbike]

AH. Words and photos are awesome. Thank you for sharing.

RB