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Wandering Biker

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost…

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Mon
21
May '12

A new adventure starts

Downsized to a new storage unit. Passed the move-out inspection. Everything is packed. Hitting the road tomorrow morning!

Thu
19
Jan '12

Wandering Again?

I’m starting to put together plans for an international and hopefully around the  world ride. More details as things develop.

Sat
24
Dec '11

Wandering Biker on a recommended blog list?

I just discovered that my blog is listed on Stacy Brock’s list of recommended motorcycle blogs. I had no idea! I am honored and now I feel even worse for writing so little this summer.

The list of blogs is here: http://bolty.net/motorcycle-links/

His blog is at: http://bolty.net

Wed
11
Aug '10

Wow….it’s been a while!

I didn’t realize it had been so long since I last posted. I’ve been trying to get my new business up and going and seem to have lost track of the summer.  Not only do I need to write, I also need to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress and install security so that I can turn comments back on and do an RSS feed.  I am posting on Facebook on a regular basis if you would like to join in the fun there:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wandering-Biker/110251557492

Tue
25
May '10

National Parks Tour Master Traveler Award

Woohoo!

Got a package today from the Iron Butt Association. Inside were my certificate and pin for completing the National Parks Tour Master Traveler Award last fall.

Sat
22
May '10

Durango, CO to Farmington, NM to Durango, CO – 120 miles

The GF was available for a motorcycle ride today so we decided to go to Farmington, NM and get another city in my Titanic World Tour.

The sky looked kind of strange on the way out to the storage unit because of the wind and the amount of dust in the air. In fact it was bad enough that the GF asked if we needed to worry about rain. The rain would not be a problem but the winds were fairly stiff.

Before leaving I attached the little video camera in hopes of getting some usable footage. The lights are impossible to see in the daylight so I opened the storage unit back up and made sure it was recording before attaching it to the bike. We were a few miles out of town when I remembered that I had forgotten to attach the tether to the camera and we pulled over for a minute to fix that little problem.

The winds were fairly stiff but mostly almost straight ahead on the way down to Farmington.  The GF hasn’t ridden in winds like that before and she was a little scared and hung on tight. We pulled up at the “Welcome to Farmington” sign and took pics for the world tour.

The trip back to Durango was much more pleasant with a tailwind and the GF took a few pics while riding.

All in all a nice little ride.

I still didn’t get any video from the camera. It seems that if it runs out of room or battery it doesn’t write the file header and the video just shows up as having zero length. Arrgh!

Wed
12
May '10

Comments and spam

Hi folks,

I’m afraid I’m going to have to turn off comments, at least for a while. I hate to do it as I really enjoy hearing from all of you, but the amount of spam comments I’m getting has gotten to be too much. If you are on Facebook you can find me at http://bit.ly/djjqEL or http://www.facebook.com/wanderingbiker .

Sat
8
May '10

Durango, CO to Ouray, CO to Durango, CO – 157 miles

I am starting a new tour called the Titanic Grand Tour. To complete this tour I have to go to at least 25 towns that end in “ton” or “burg” (or “berg”, or “burgh”).

For today’s ride I had two goals in mind. To bag my first town in the grand tour and to test out a new video camera mounted to the motorcycle.  I got out to the storage unit where I keep the bike a little after noon. The temperature was pretty comfortable but I knew it would be much colder in the mountains. Since the video camera only has batteries and memory enough for two hours I decided to wait until I got to Silverton to put it on the bike and start it.

The ride to Silverton was uneventful. The snow is still melting and there were a few places where rocks had fallen on to the road and there are still some patches of sand left over from winter.  When I got to Silverton I positioned the bike and my flag for the picture. The rules say I have to have the town sign, my rally flag and a major portion of the motorcycle in the picture. It was pretty windy and I had a hard time getting the flag to stay put. I am going to have to devise a better way of mounting it for the future.

I crossed the road to a gas station and topped the bike up and then went in to the convenience store. The lights on the video camera are too dim to see in any kind of normal light, so I went in to the rest room and turned off the lights I pressed the power button and then the record button on the camera. The record button was flashing (as it should) so I went back out and mounted the camera on the bike.

The ride to Ouray was kind of chilly and the weather started getting worse. I turned around at the overlook before getting to town and headed back. This is the section of the road I really wanted to get on video. There are very shear drop offs and no guide rails in most places. The mountains are very spectacular. I kept on riding when I got to Silverton and was almost back to Durango when I saw a drop or two of rain on my face shield and stopped to take the camera off the bike. Went back and parked the bike and drove straight home. I was really anxious to see how the video had turned out.

When I got home I hooked the camera up to the computer to check out what I had taken. I pulled up the memory card in the camera and there was…..NOTHING! Arrgh!

I don’t know what happened but I am thoroughly bummed.  Guess you will have to wait until another blog entry to see some video.

Sun
11
Apr '10

Back on the bike again

Well, it’s been a long winter and I have to apologize for not posting. The GF and I finally got out on the bike for the first time today. Here are some pics she took:

Mon
16
Nov '09

Fort Walton Beach, FL to Hendersonville, NC – 524 miles

Well it is time to leave the beach and head up to North Carolina to stay with my friend Carrie. I’ve enjoyed my couple of days in Florida.

I head north out of Fort Walton Beach and pass by/through Eglin Air Force Base. I keep on secondary roads and US highways through southern Alabama. The roads are pleasant, but not too fast as I have to go through many little towns.

When I reach I-85 the pace quickens considerably. Heading towards Atalanta is like being in a NASCAR race. People are going 20 mph over the speed limit even going through construction zones with county Sheriff cars sitting right next to the road. I guess they can’t stop everybody, so they don’t even try.

The GPS instructions are confusing going through Atlanta and I end up taking the wrong exit and having to wander around downtown Atlanta for 10 or 15 minutes to get back on the right road.

Atlanta to Greenville, SC continues the high-speed part of my journey. In Greenville I get off on secondary roads to go up to Hendersonville. It is dark by now and it is a little disconcerting trying to go the speed limit on these unfamiliar roads.

Carrie’s house is in a fairly new development and my GPS does not have her address, and I don’t really remember how to get to her house. When I get to Hendersonville I get off at the closest exit from I-26 and stop to have a fast food dinner. While I am eating I pull out my laptop and find her address in Google Maps.  I finally arrive about 7:30PM. I haven’t seen Carrie in about 3 years and I get a big hug and a cold beer when I get to her place.