The Year in Cities 2008 (and 2007)
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 13, 2008 by John in Motorcycle News, Travel
I haven’t done the Year in Cities since 2006. In a nutshell this meme is a list of all cities that you spent one or more nights in. So far for 2008, I’ve got the following (including motorcycle trips to Arizona and Seattle/BC and another trip to BC):
- East Helena, MT
- Helena, MT
- Great Falls, MT
- Red Lodge, MT
- Thompson Falls, MT
- Big Lake, WA
- Surrey, BC
- Kelowna, BC
- Nelson, BC
- Spokane, WA
- Henderson, NV
- Prescott, AZ
- Springville, UT
- Richfield, UT
- Irving, TX
Much better than 2006, and pretty good for a hosehead. I don’t currently have plans to go anywhere else this year.
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The Road Beckons
Permalink | Tweet This! | | July 28, 2008 by John in Motorcycle News, Travel
(posted on the wall of the Triumph Bonneville America group on Facebook…)
I’m going through withdrawals. I’ve finished my big planned trips for the year. I’ve gone on three trips in less than a year totaling about 7800 miles. I want to hit the road again, but I can’t afford it and I have 4 hours of vacation left. ::sigh::
It’s probably all for the better though. I need to put a new rear tire on my bike and I’m thinking about buying a new drive belt to try to cure the squeaking the current one is doing. It also wouldn’t be bad to get the new paint job done and other accessories installed (headlight, turn signals, etc.).
I dunno, just needed to whine for a minute. The road beckons…
Best. Vacation. Ever.
Permalink | Tweet This! | | July 21, 2008 by John in Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
(Note: Updated several times after posting. My pictures now available. Zdenko’s too: 1, 2)
Reflections, in no particular order (and barely scratching the surface):
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2008 Kootenay Raid/PNW Tour
Permalink | Tweet This! | | July 11, 2008 by John in Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
Well, I’m off to meet up with Halpop (”Freedom” on BA.com) at his place in Thompson Falls, MT. Tomorrow we’re heading west over the Northern Cascades of Washington, rather than north up into British Columbia. This year we decided to make a run out to the west coast prior to the Kootenay Raid (Triumph Rally) in Nelson, BC (our fourth time at the event, and my fifth trip into BC). While out there we’re going to meet up with a couple of our Triumph brethren, tour Vancouver Island and ride to Nelson as a small group.
While in Nelson (Thurs-Sun) we’ll once again be staying at the Mountain Hound Inn. The only thing that would make this hotel better is if they had a back door that opened up directly onto the Grand Hotel’s parking lot, also known as Kootenay Raid HQ.
As per usual, watch this space for pictures and a ride report.
Time to ReTire?
Permalink | Tweet This! | | June 24, 2008 by John in My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
My latest thing to obsess about on my bike is whether I should replace my rear tire before or after (or Zod-forbid during) my trip to Seattle and British Columbia in July. Last year I posted that my odometer read 33931.6 miles when I put the current set of tires on. With my odometer currently reading about 40250 right now, that means I have about 6318 miles on these tires. I usually get around 8-9000 miles per rear tire, and the upcoming trip is at least 1884 miles. It’s gonna be close. I’ll have to watch that rear tire like a hawk. And I’m not riding it very much between now and the trip.
The front is no problem. Typically it lasts 50% longer than the rear.
Prescott 2008, Day One
Permalink | Tweet This! | | May 28, 2008 by John in My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Prescott 2008, Travel
[Note: I guess my day one draft didn't get lost after all. Rather than delete it I'll publish it with the caveat that it may or may not be better than what I eventually included in my trip report.]
I spent the whole day dodging shitty weather. I started out the morning by getting run out of town by a storm approaching from the north. I froze on the way to Butte, where, after an Egg McMuffin and the search for better gloves or glove liners (I found the latter and boy are they stylish) the storm caught up to me and again I skeedattled my ass south.
Monida Pass, at I-15 and the Montana-Idaho Border, was dry but had snow flurries going. And cold! My Gerbing heated jacket liner paid for itself today.
After that I found my stride, my groove, and really rolled on the miles. I made my goal, Ogden, UT (455mi), at around 5:30-6:00, and decided to keep going. I planned on staying in Provo, but then I saw a billboard for a Cracker Barrel in Springville. Sold! And sure enough, there is a Days Inn next door. Tomorrow I only have about 385mi to go to get to Vegas.
I love it when a plan comes together, or even improves!
(Tapped out on my Nokia Internet Tablet from my hotel room in Springville, UT.)
Prescott 2008 Trip Report
Permalink | Tweet This! | | May 21, 2008 by John in Freelancing, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Prescott 2008, Travel
(Updated 05/27/08)
I’ve posted my pictures from the trip on Picasa. I tried to start posting updates on this blog on the first day from Springville, UT, using my Nokia internet tablet, but all my work tapping away on that tiny on-screen keyboard was lost and I was too pissed to try again. Not sure why WordPress didn’t automatically save the draft as it normally does in Firefox. Maybe it’s a javascript thing that is unsupported by the browser on the Nokia. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway…
What follows is a rough, day-by-day recounting of the highs and lows of my trip. It’s probably going to get long. I feel like rambling on. My updated/final maps can be seen on my TBA Wiki.
On my way back…
Permalink | Tweet This! | | May 18, 2008 by John in Prescott 2008
Sitting in my room at the Best Western in Richfield, UT, dead tired and heading to bed. Will post a trip report later in the week. Tease: that’s a big effing hole; ran out of gas; things vanish off my bike…
Update: Home a day early. Put on 638 miles today, a new personal record.
Leeeeeeeeeevin’ on a Scooter
Permalink | Tweet This! | | May 6, 2008 by John in My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
Well, the bike seems to be running fine, and more importantly stopping fine, so I’ll be riding down to Prescott, AZ(1 , 2), by way of Las Vegas (map) next Monday for the Southwest Triumph Fest. It’s about 2,260 miles round trip. This time it’s all about the destination(s) not the ride, so I’m just going to jet down the interstate most of the way there and back. I’m saving a few hundred miles by not going back through Vegas on the way home; it’s as much a straight shot as I can make it.
I’ll spend a day in Vegas with a few family members, have lunch with a buddy and try and catch Speed Racer at the IMAX. Thursday a few of us will meet in Vegas and head for Prescott. On Saturday the 17th our little flock of Triumph cruisers will head for the Grand Canyon (map), which I’ve never seen.
Good to Know
Permalink | Tweet This! | | March 10, 2008 by John in Travel
I think the code on the ticket should be “Orwell” not “SSSS.” SSSS Equals No SXSW
1. We had special “SSSS” designations on our boarding passes. Whenever you have an “SSSS” in the corner of your boarding pass you’ll see this as soon as the pass is printed, it means you’ll have to go through extra security with the wand treatment and full bag search. I did a Google search for “SSSS” before posting this entry to make sure I’m not giving terrorists any secret information, but it’s apparently already been publicized.
If the TSA people forget to check for the “SSSS” and put you through extra security, the gate will send you back to security and you might end up missing your flight, which is what happened to Mike in this story.