Saturday, April 30, 2011

First Day's Ride

Wow, where to begin... This morning when i got up, I finished packing all the odds and ends that were coming with me. These are things like tooth paste, deodorant, things I still needed in the morning. I got up at 6 and wanted to be out of the house by 7. I had to go back into the house on 3 separate occasions... The first time was to get my CamelBak, which I had to fill with water, and SPOT. Then I remembered I needed my ID. Then I went in for my gator (fleece neck warmer). I thought I would never get underway. After getting that all ironed out, I started down 680 towards Sacramento. With all this stuff going on, I forgot to activate my SPOT. I finally turned it on after about an hour on the road.

The next stop I made was in Sacramento. I NEEDED coffee!!! I found a Starbucks that, unknown to me, was in the ghetto. What tipped me off was the tweaked standing next to me trying to scratch the "ants" on her arms. Needles to say, I drank my quad espresso and ate my coffee cakes as fast as I could just to get out of there. My next stop was about 3 miles up 80 at the super huge Cycle Gear. I went in there looking for some warmer gloves. Unfortunately, they didn't have the really warm ones in my size. I ended up with some Alpine Star WR-3 GTX gloves and a pair of thick liners. These really came in handy going through the mountains when the temperature dropped to as low as 39 degrees. The hardest part of the entire ride was the wind. This is something I had to deal with from the time I got onto 580 until I reached the base of the mountain after Sacramento. The. It kicked up again after I got passed Reno until I reached Elko.



















One of the coolest stops I made was at this shell station just before Truckee called Nyack. There were signs of snow all over the place but the roads were completely clean and very easy to manage.










I stopped for lunch in Fernley at the Pizza Factory...GREAT pizza. Although it is not easy to mess up pizza, according to my dad, HP pavilion does a good job at it so I do have something to compare it to.


















The next 2 stops were Lovelock where they proudly claim "we now have oatmeal" and Winnemucca. I was able to find a Peet's coffee in such a small... Village. Shortly after leaving Winnemucca, I ran into scattered snow. When I first saw it, I thought it was ash from something burning. After all, it was about 48 degrees and I thought it had to be at or below freezing before it would snow. As I found out, that is not the case.

The day ended at a Holiday Inn in Elko and a dinner at a really good Mexican Restaurant called Sergio's. Food was as good as what my grandmother used to make.

Total miles traveled on the day: 542

So I spent some time looking at the weather for tomorrow and it looks like I should be OK. I think the only thing I will have to worry about is the wind. There is a small chance of snow but it is a SMALL chance. If all goes well, my next post should be from Rawlins, WY... So until then, I'll be seein' you.


Location:Elko, United States

Friday, April 29, 2011

Leaving in the Morning

Hello everybody...this is the last time I will be writing about preparing for the trip. The next post will be from the road. My bike is packed and ready to go. Spent some time today putting air in the tires, gassing up, and putting my boxes on. It's funny, now that the bike is completely load it is really heavy. I think this is the most I have loaded the bike since I bought it. Of course the 50 lbs of fuel doesn't help either.





While packing the bike I decided to look at what the weather is going to be like...the possibility of snow and temps in the teens for the first couple of days. I have already made up my mind that I will be stopping at cycle gear in Sacramento for warmer gloves. I have also added my under armor cold gear as well as a couple pairs of thermals.

Well, it is about that time. It's about 11 on Friday evening and I have a big day tomorrow. My next post should be from Elko, NV...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Fremont,United States

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Last Minute Prep

Well, I am officially out. I felt like that dude from "The Godfather"..."just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!" I was halfway home from work today when I realized that I had not submitted my time card. Turned the Murano around to get back to the office. Boot up the computer and fill out my time card. Well, when I went in, I took my backpack in with me as it had my badge and, well, it was force of habit. After submitting my timecard, I quickly shut down my laptop and made for the door. I got about a mile up Auto Mall when I find that I forgot my backpack at the office... Turn the car around, again, to go get my pack. Third times a charm and I was finally able to get home.

Started packing my internal side bags tonight as well as did some laundry and paid some bills. There is still some house work that I need to do but other that that, I'm ready to go. It looks like the storms that were over Chicago have calmed down a bit and this crazy tornado outbreak seems to be focused further south than I intend to travel. I still have about 5 days before I will be in the area so there is plenty of time for things to calm down even more.

Well, that's if for now. I will have another update tomorrow night then the next will hopefully be from Elko NV on Saturday evening.

C-YA

Update:



Packing some stuff to take along: tool kit, mini compressor and tire kit with gage, first aid kit, and motor oil. This will easily take up one of my bags...I am finding space is at a premium!!

Location:Fremont,United States

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Two More Days

OK guys, there are just 2 more days before I will be leaving for New York. So far I think I have taken care of all the essentials... Bikes been serviced, Donut has her boarding reservations, mail hold order is in place, route has been set for both directions, all that is left is to pack. There are a few things around the house I still need to deal with, like cleaning it before I go, take care of the lawns, and pay some last minute bills... but other than that I think I'm ready for this trip.

Looking at the weather across the US I am wondering if I will have to scrap the routes I set up in place of "go where the weather is nice for that day". Between the floods and tornados, this is going to be interesting. With this entry, I am also testing to see how well my iPhone and iPad apps will work to get the info to this blog...so far so good.

That's it for now. Next report will be tomorrow as I continue to get ready to leave. I have one more day of work... One last design review at 4 tomorrow afternoon then a pass down and I'm outta there.


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