GreenHornet
Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2006
- Location
- Sac Town
- Moto(s)
- 2019 r 1250 gs, 2002 998, 99 R6 Track Bike, 99 Yz 250, 2001 540 Exc, 2018 Benelli tnt 135
The Delta Variant was raging. My original plan was to take this trip in the summer of 2020 during my first sabbatical, which I had postponed for years, and was about to lose. Of course, we all know what happened next. The closures, the uncertainty, the fear of sickness and death (for about half of us at least). Then I was given a one year extension. So I postponed. Then I was given another one year extension, but I'd had enough of waiting. There would never be a "perfect" time to go.
I convinced a friend to come along. If I pushed out the departure from the first week of July, to mid August, he was committed to riding his GSA for the complete trip.
Then we went on a 3 day ADV trip, and he wasn't having fun. He decided this sort of thing was no longer his cup of tea. I couldn't be mad. There was no point in going on something like this if it weren't something a person really wanted to do.
Initially, by summer 2020, I had overcome my fears of going alone. I could have taken my KTM DS, that would have been easy. Well at least easier. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I could break the mould of the older white guy on his big Adventure bike, commuting to work, going to Starbucks. I would have a proper adventure, just me and the trail.
But then the doubt set in. What am I thinking? This is crazy. I considered RawHyde Adventures, which I had considered in the past. A concierge adventure with a chef, meals included, hotel and camping sorted, and a support vehicle sounded kinda cool. It was pricey, about $5K, but might have been worth it. But then I thought, where's the challenge in that? Sure, I'd still have to ride, but that's about it. I wouldn't have to find my way, I wouldn't have to rely on my own resources if something went wrong. Also, it was billed as "The Best of The Great Divide". It would be a 10 day trip, and not the full border to border route. They were sold out for the South to North trip, but there were spots in the North to South trip.
Another option was the GPS Kevin ride. This ride would have been closer to a group ride, than a full service experience. The route was planned, and Hotel reservations were made. The cost was about $2100, less than half of the RawHyde ride. It would also be a border to border ride, but it was geared toward big bikes, and every day would be big mileage days 2-300 miles per day. They were sold out, but I got on the waiting list.
Eventually a spot opened up, but the more I considered it, the less appeal it held. Big mile days, someone else's timeline. What about the National Parks I wanted to visit? What if I wanted a day to rest? What if I saw something else along the way I wanted to see?
In the end, I decided that a year ago I was convinced I could do it alone, nothing's changed. I'm just going to go and if things get too much for me, I can come home, or I can just ride the green routes. It would still be a good road trip, and I could still go to the National Parks. There was concern regarding the pandemic. How bad would it get? I'd be going thru anti covid country. What if I got sick along the way? I had 2 doses of Pfizer so I'd probably just feel a little crappy. What if I crashed and got injured and the hospitals were full of covid patients? But I conceded that motorcycling is inherently dangerous, and I've survived so far without any serious injury. If I were careful, and stayed within myself, I'd be fine.
I don't remember exactly how I ended up leaving on the evening of Tuesday August 17th. I think it went something like, I wanted to spend a last weekend with my SO, and on Monday I spent the day messing with my electronics. Getting all my maps ready etc. My original plan for Tuesday was to practice packing and try to reduce my load by getting rid of whatever I felt I could. That didn't really go so well, because I'm a notorious over packer. Anyway, by the end of the day, my bike was packed and I figured I'd be too excited to sleep, so I might as well just get started.
But first, 2 for the road @ Tower Brewing.
Way too much junk in the trunk. There will be a lot of images that are wavy. The image stabilization on my phone is busted. I found out recently that you aren't supposed to mount your iPhone on your motorcycle. It will break image stabilization on your camera. Oh, and you can't put it in your pocket, clean the screen etc...
I convinced a friend to come along. If I pushed out the departure from the first week of July, to mid August, he was committed to riding his GSA for the complete trip.
Then we went on a 3 day ADV trip, and he wasn't having fun. He decided this sort of thing was no longer his cup of tea. I couldn't be mad. There was no point in going on something like this if it weren't something a person really wanted to do.
Initially, by summer 2020, I had overcome my fears of going alone. I could have taken my KTM DS, that would have been easy. Well at least easier. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I could break the mould of the older white guy on his big Adventure bike, commuting to work, going to Starbucks. I would have a proper adventure, just me and the trail.
But then the doubt set in. What am I thinking? This is crazy. I considered RawHyde Adventures, which I had considered in the past. A concierge adventure with a chef, meals included, hotel and camping sorted, and a support vehicle sounded kinda cool. It was pricey, about $5K, but might have been worth it. But then I thought, where's the challenge in that? Sure, I'd still have to ride, but that's about it. I wouldn't have to find my way, I wouldn't have to rely on my own resources if something went wrong. Also, it was billed as "The Best of The Great Divide". It would be a 10 day trip, and not the full border to border route. They were sold out for the South to North trip, but there were spots in the North to South trip.
Another option was the GPS Kevin ride. This ride would have been closer to a group ride, than a full service experience. The route was planned, and Hotel reservations were made. The cost was about $2100, less than half of the RawHyde ride. It would also be a border to border ride, but it was geared toward big bikes, and every day would be big mileage days 2-300 miles per day. They were sold out, but I got on the waiting list.
Eventually a spot opened up, but the more I considered it, the less appeal it held. Big mile days, someone else's timeline. What about the National Parks I wanted to visit? What if I wanted a day to rest? What if I saw something else along the way I wanted to see?
In the end, I decided that a year ago I was convinced I could do it alone, nothing's changed. I'm just going to go and if things get too much for me, I can come home, or I can just ride the green routes. It would still be a good road trip, and I could still go to the National Parks. There was concern regarding the pandemic. How bad would it get? I'd be going thru anti covid country. What if I got sick along the way? I had 2 doses of Pfizer so I'd probably just feel a little crappy. What if I crashed and got injured and the hospitals were full of covid patients? But I conceded that motorcycling is inherently dangerous, and I've survived so far without any serious injury. If I were careful, and stayed within myself, I'd be fine.
I don't remember exactly how I ended up leaving on the evening of Tuesday August 17th. I think it went something like, I wanted to spend a last weekend with my SO, and on Monday I spent the day messing with my electronics. Getting all my maps ready etc. My original plan for Tuesday was to practice packing and try to reduce my load by getting rid of whatever I felt I could. That didn't really go so well, because I'm a notorious over packer. Anyway, by the end of the day, my bike was packed and I figured I'd be too excited to sleep, so I might as well just get started.
But first, 2 for the road @ Tower Brewing.
Way too much junk in the trunk. There will be a lot of images that are wavy. The image stabilization on my phone is busted. I found out recently that you aren't supposed to mount your iPhone on your motorcycle. It will break image stabilization on your camera. Oh, and you can't put it in your pocket, clean the screen etc...
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