December is here

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Starting today I can say “we leave next month”. Are we ready? My first response is &*() no! But we’re probably closer to being ready than I realize. I re-packed my right pannier for about the 5th time last night and finally have everything fit and organized with a small amount of room to spare. The big pouch on the left is my grab bag for any sort of flat tire. It contains two innertubes, an electric air pump, a hand pump, two 45g CO2 cartridges, a patch kit and plug kit. I had some extra room so I added two tow ropes and my electrical repair kit. On the right side is my tool kit, medical kit and toiletries kit.  On the upper right is my water purifier pump. You can see the reflective triangle, a requirement by law in some Central American countries. It seems like a lot of space dedicated to flat repairs but I’m covering for two motorcycles with four tires, two with tubes and two tubeless. After my last trip with five flats I’m back to being paranoid.

 

I spent way too much time yesterday researching medical evacuation insurance. What do I really want – evacuation to the nearest hospital or to a hospital of my choosing, which might be back in the US? Some plans pay for just one trip, others pay for two and I found one that would cover unlimited trips. I start thinking of worst case scenarios where I would need multiple airlifts…. am I just getting paranoid? I’ve been investigating health insurance for international travel which is probably another whole blog post in itself. Oh, and we need vehicle insurance for each country.

I’ve also been working on “technology”. I have my non-work e-mail working on my laptop, iPad and iPhone(s) (geesh) to separate my work stuff from important personal contacts. The new e-mail address is donn@ADVdonnh.com. I’ll still be watching the work address but I get so many messages that things can get lost. I’m still working on adding content for this blog. I started updating the section on the bikes and hope to spend time on the “about us” and “gear” sections. I’m trying to figure out why the comments box doesn’t show below the blog post like it does on the other pages. If anyone want’s to comment you have to click on the little balloon thingy on the upper right corner.  I’ve also updated the subscription widget, if you haven’t already, please subscribe so I can see how well it works. Don’t worry you can always unsubscribe if you don’t like my ramblings. Hopefully once we actually start riding there will be something interesting to post.

Today I’m riding my bike back to Ride West BMW for a new front tire. It looks like I’ll be giving my rain gear another test in typical Northwest December rain and wind.

Stay tuned.

 

 

T minus 35 days

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Crazy busy days at work in the days and weeks leading up to “the trip”. Today I had an appointment at Ride West BMW in Seattle to get a new clutch and wheel bearings installed in my bike. At 28K miles the clutch was at the end of the adjustment range which means towards the end of clutch life. I think the ride up the highest “road” in Idaho, the Chinese Wall, last summer used up at least half the clutch life. Click HERE for a YouTube video of someone else riding up the wall.

Deby and I at the Chinese Wall in Idaho on the 2012 Sasquatch Ride

Under ideal conditions it might have survived the whole trip but I could see myself on the Bolivian Road of Death, El Camino del Muerte  slipping my clutch on steep uphill grades in mud and sand and have it die. Better to replace it now and better to have Ride West do it so I can focus on work and trip preparations. My riding gear got another cold weather test  this morning as I rode to Ride West in freezing conditions on icy roads, at least it was dry and the sun was out. I’m glad to say I was plenty warm, a good sign.

Stay tuned

T minus 37 days

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Today is Sunday, 37 days to go before we will be ready to leave on January 1, 2013, which may or may not be the day we actually leave depending on the weather. We are hoping for a break in the usual Pacific Northwest cold and rain to get as far south as possible and since snow is not out of the question and any white stuff in the forecast would definitely delay our trip.

Deby and I took our bikes for a test ride into Seattle today to run some errands. The temperature alternated between just below and just above 40 degrees F with off and on sun breaks and some low fog. Our heated liners and grips kept us plenty warm and the pinlock visors did a perfect job keeping our face shields clear during the sections of fog, a good omen for the first week where I expect to be riding in the rain.

Every day some small task gets done to prepare for our trip that now seems sooner than ever. Today after the ride I rechecked the new chains on both our bikes and gave them a generous amount of lube. We made a stop at Barnes and Nobel this evening and I found a nice National Geographic map of Chile which claims to be an “Adventure Travel Map” which is “Waterproof and Tear-resistant”, how could I resist? Next to it on the shelf was an Argentina map by a company called International Travel Maps. The only grandiose claim on this map was that it was waterproof, I bought it as well.  Even though I’m bringing two GPS units I like good paper maps because the batteries never go dead and they are easier to spread out on a table and make plans with a highlighter over a beer and with advice from the locals.

Tomorrow I’m expecting a quote from the printers on our stickers.

 

Finally getting the blog going

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Just a short post here, more of a test really. Deby and I are preparing to ride our motorcycles from Seattle, Washington where we live to Buenos Aries Argentina. We will be leaving in January 2013, probably in the rain, from our house and riding south. Many of our friends and family want to follow our journey so I created this site as a one stop landing for all the links associated with our travels. I’ll attempt to post updates here as well as on ADVrider.com and Facebook.