Day One and Beyond

WWhat a wild ride

adiing fuel from the can in middle of the wilderness, Wyoming/Montana border

.  We got inn to seattle on Tuesday evening totally “zoned” from the trip across the continent, Wednesday in Seattle??? RAIN , they say in seattle there are 100 words for rain, this would be considered a “soaking drizzle” or perhaps a “soaking mist” but not a “blowing drizzle” byany means.

The highlight was getting together with My Son and Father for a three generation reunion, we had Breakfast and a good time chatting and catching up etc… I was feeling the butterflies for the first time, as I saw , jimT, geoff, dave B and Brian head out of the lot on thier way north, all geared up and hi vis. This IS happening!

We rode up to Vancouver SImon and I on I-5 a nice 2.5 hour straight shot.

not issues just express lane riding. and we tried out the scala cardo rider G4 headsets which make the ride awesome as two or more riders can communicate along the ride , this makes lane switching and hazard avoidance a dream.

ok we meet up with the Gang at the Motel 2400 and have the big meeting and settle in with Nervous energy coming from all directions. the Day of: the run we pack up and grab a quick but filling and yummy breakfast. and head to the start.

Ok I have to hurry here but here’s the deal:

 we made grand forks, the views were awesome, the roads were steep, twisty, fast, and did I mention how awesome the Brittish columbia mountains are???

 I had done a little research on the local food and we discovered that the word was “Russian” as the dukhobors live in these parts. so with a little caling and driviing around , Bagel , got us set up at the grand forks hotel for some really fine hospitality and Russian cuisine.

 

the next two days are in the Glacier national Park region and communication will be spotty, I may b able to phone in by landline we shall see…

 off to the ford dealer to have the “check engine light” looked at ( more on that later)

Cheers and ride safe, wish us luck and hope that the Navigation Gods are looking out for us.

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What a crazy day…

why are these guys so happy?

Dr. OZ’s Daughter got Married, in a private ceremony , last saturday, only 8-10 mles from the Cannonball Finish line, BUT you can’t get there from here! guess who did the “Wicked Good Ice”?

 The CRAZY DAY>>>>Ok ,OK you plan for two years, cross your eyes and dot your t’s, and still  seems like there is so much left to do.

6:30 am Lynn is on her morning dog walk so I will empty the truck’s tool box and re organize it for “support truck mode” loading in the jack,air compressor,first aid kit,safety stuff like orange cones a hi vis vest and signal light. spare wiper blades, scooter battery, battery charger, truck/trailer tool bag,tie downs, really big zipties, some rope, makita drill and bits, 50 foot cord, shop rags, CHECK!

Hurricane Earl will arrive by dark today, that is the limit to outdoor activities, so get up early, ( crap I’ve got the beginnings of a cold) ok,before it gets too hot out, move the outdoor plants up under cover, secure the outdoor furniture, take down anything hanging> plants windchimes etc… looks good.

 Now off to the ice studio to put the finishing touches on a sculpture ( a bouquet of roses in ice) for a wedding at the Elks club. Wrap it and deliver to the Elks freezer (freezer drop). Noon.

Home, Pack the truck with Austin’s stuff, one half of a truckload! LAX gear, giant duffles, guitars, amps , boxes etc..Done

Now take the clashmobile and head down to the tire store for a scooter inspection, yes, I didn’t get inspected in May as required by law ( I couldn’t find my registration) Ok happy little red sticker on the front “fork”! CHECK!

 Phone is ringing, logistics from where is Dave the driver? (he flies in from the UK today) to the hows and wheres of the scooter pickup from “Malecopywriter” that is THE malecopywriter my friends….accept no substitute!

Lynn is helping with the errands while I do the final construction on the Trailer, still 2 chocks, and some guides for the rear tires and a system for securing the big ol lift. Lynn is trying to source out a better chock, I have three nice sturdy ones and two cheesy Harbor freight ones , CHECK!

 oh hell its almost 5:30 Ive got to run to Berwick Maine and meetup with “Cooch” moreon this project later….

Back to construction mode, Lynn is helping, we balze through the assembly and mounting of the final chocks and wheel guides, some extra screws in the front guard and good to go, and here it comes IT IS RAINING!!! Earl has arrived… now inside work, downloading photos, trying to get the electronics in order, final packing…….. bloddy hell, so far behind I think I am ahead…

won ton soup from Happy city down the street, gotta go!

Hurricane Earl

About one year ago the debate was on about the “route” of the cannonball 2010. there were several options and one which was favored was a diagonal route, Seattle,WA to Florida… one of the issues was that the CBR is always held during hurricane season ans the last portion of the route would take us too close to hurricane country… well, the Northern route won the voting and here we are EXCEPT, now  team Northeast is prepping for the CBR, loading the truck, doing final touches on all the electronics, hardware, etc.. all with Hurricane Earl bearing down on us!

The emails and calls have been buzzing and we are almost settled on a plan to escape to the west as soon as Earl swings through. Hopefully Earl will be nice and leave a few roads clear, and our houses standing.

Seems we are going through the catskills and not NYC… point it west my good man!

Cheers.

The Support Effort

So, along with prepping my mind, body and scooter for this adventure, I have offered up my truck to the support effort and we have created “Support Team Northeast! The founding members of Team NE are myself aka Mogeewogee, ScooterME aka Simon from Portland. and 4n6iscool  aka Matt from NYC/ Queens, and Dave the Driver aka Dave the Driver one of Simon’s Mates from the old country.  This effort is born from the need for us east coasters to transport our scoots to the west and also my personal need to relive the Conestoga “prairie schooner” days of old.

We emailed, phoned and PMed until the three of us came up with a plan that would suit all of us and hopefully get us to Seattle in safe and semi well rested condition. the debate went something like this. Hey Simon, I say we could do it in 2 days plus 20 hours, nonstop, we share driving and grab ZZ’s along the way and shazam! we are there! to which Simon Says…. no way, we will sleep in motels along the way, get some rest , we don’t want to be frazzled when we arrive, and besides ” I don’t want to endure three days of sitting in a truck with three other sweaty smelly animals with bad attitudes” or something like that. SO… Simon says: I think we should make Hotel reservations ahead of time so we will be guaranteed a room. to which I say, but what if….traffic, weather, fatigue, tourist stops , alien abductions, we don’t want to be pressured to “Make” any town if we aren’t in the rightness of__________ ( attitude, mental or physical state etc..) I say go with the flow. MATT says: by e mail:” hey, don’t let the plans ruin the journey”       DONE. we head out the 4th. try to make Ohio. and then try to do 1000 miles per day for the next two,( stopping for sleep in motels from 10pm to 6 am) then a “short” day into seattle. good night’s sleep. some seattle visiting and touristing then up to Vancouver.

 We left out one thing, how do we transport the scoots??? Simon and I each own a small utility trailer large enough to hold two scooters, we could remove the truck’s cap and add two more, but where to hold the shiite?

 ok  lets look for a used trailer on craigslist, one thing led to another and now I am the proud owner of a new 6.5 x 14 Big Tex utility trailer, which can easily haul 4 scoots, six in a pinch , and more if we stack em just right! I had my other motives as well and since purchasing it I have moved my entire Ice studio including an 8×10 walk in freezer and two extremely heavy 3 door reach in coolers/freezers, saving on the rental of three days worth of moving vans, +1 bonus!

The plan is to sell the trailer back to the dealer upon our return, figuring on no major damage to the wheels, fenders, frame etc…

 now to Post >>>>Announcing Team Northeast!   Done and to date we have 9 scooters being supported by the big red Ford. About 1/3 of the participants, and that is just right. One of our ” principles of  establishment” was not to overburden the Team, not to overextend our capacity. at this point we are flush. we have the capacity to haul 60% of the dedicated 9 scooters, should they break. I would say that is worst case, knock on wood.

 WE are bringing along some fuel carrying capacity, some tools, air compressor for tires, torque wrench, possibly a scooter lift. and room for our spare tires and any sheite that I feel I cannot do without.  Remember, we are noobies , that’s my excuse anyway…

 so welcome Team Northeast:

 Bklwashere ,Bobo, Feb31st, Helixgeoff ,JimT, Malecopywriter, 4n6iscool, Mogeewogee, Scooterme, and Dave the Driver.  I am looking forward to the energy and enthusiasim that I already feel, having communicated with everyone on the team and hope that none of us will ever need the support but still have the warm fuzzy of just knowing….. 🙂

laying the foundation for team Northeast

Simon and I had a pow wow at the Kennebunk rest area on Friday eve, what a zoo, HERDS of wild charging flatlanders all racing to the restroom or fried chicken stand Herds and droves…

 well we crunched a ton of figures and talked philosophy and strategy and the pros and cons of having a Big F**kin truck along and, after a run all around robin’s barn, we came to a simple  agreement that I will not go into here, perhaps at a later date… now to introduce this “thing”  to Matt and get him on board…

 Off to research big ol trailers…

Well Matt from Long Island is on board, Dave D from Blightly UK is IN as our driver and now to offer the plan to others…

One day from the announcement and we have Dave B. (Feb31st) a CBR08 Veteran, The world famous Jim Tillman of CBR 06 and 08, Helix Geoff from FLA., and bklwashere ( Brian) from Maryland that adds 4 to our 3 and one more , possibly two and we will cap the team. [all from the east so far…]

 It feels good to talk to the other riders and feed off of their enthusiasm.

 Our thoughts are that we do not want to overextend the support, and although we all, at one time or another, will want to “race” we also have our eyes on a “finish” . finish for me will be victory no matter who comes in first.

The philosophy will be to haul stuff for our members and run “sweep” as a passive safety net for breakdowns of the team.

 plus we get to bring along a truckload of shiite that we likely won’t need. we are Newbies after all!