Over the holiday I finished up the full scale drawing of my lugged steel road bike frame. It was a good exercise to go through as I found I kept making measurements from incorrect places and had to redraw the downtube about 3 times, the rest stayed mostly in tact with a few touch ups here and there. I'll start working on my practice tubes so that I don't screw up the real thing when I finally get my hands on them and start cutting and filing.
On the motorcycling front I have a tentative plan to ride to Prudhoe Bay Alaska in 2013. John Cooper, of the 2009 motorcycle trip fame, says he's in as well. This trip will actually take a lot of serious planning beyond my usual plotting out scenic roads and vague sights to see along the way. We'll most likely need new motorcycles. Dual sport, that can handle some off-road tires and the abuse that comes along with them. Some of the roads are well known for chewing up tires and causing lots of flats. We'll need to mark out specific fuel stops and places to stay. I'm not sure if we'll be able to camp as the threat of very large bears is quite real and I don't know if I have room to pack a human sized bear box (the secure boxes found in campgrounds to lock food away from bears) to stow myself in at night. Even if we don't plan on camping we'll need to pack camping equipment for use if we get stuck somewhere.
At 400 miles a day it will take a full week to get there. I think it might be fun to motorcycle there and take the ferry from AK to Seattle. This serves several purposes: it adds another fun element to the trip, it will save us some time and lastly, give our aching backs a rest. I'm pretty stoked about the trip and a possible subsequent trip several years later south of the border. Hey, if I'm going to buy a new motorcycle I better make sure I put it to good use. Cooper thinks he may just stow his bike away in my garage for another trip as well.
Jen is planning a trip to Yosemite this Sep. with several of her friends. They'll drive there and set up base camp in several spots while they take day cycling trips around the park and surrounding areas.
Lots to look forward to with projects and trips. I'll do my best to document things as they happen. My new phone, complete with camera will probably help add some visual to this 2010.
3 comments:
That sounds like fun. If I rode I'd totally join you. As it is I think we need to contemplate doing some whitewater sometime in the next couple years.
Yes, whitewater would be awesome. I've always wanted to do that.
Stew, plenty of time for you to get your license and get some experience! When Ryan first sent me the details, I misread and thought it was 2011 that he was planning, and was fine with that; then, when I looked more closely saw he had said 2012. Now it seems he has moved it to 2013, no later please? Seeing as I am planning on keeping a bike in the States for 2 years as part of this trip you will even have something to ride ...
Ryan, have started to work on my list of possible bikes, and found (and spoke to) a company based here that specialises in shipping bikes worldwide for trips - not sure if I will by a bike in the States and eventually ship it back here, or take one from here to the US - I kind of like the idea of riding through the States and Canada with Australian plates (and a Mexico trip too)
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