Supertramp was on the radio...

So I decided to "Take the Long Way Home" and did a GPS adventure. The results are logged here.

Lessons learned from this warm-up ride for the four corners tour were:

1. Don't forget to bring a second pair of shoes!
2. Using the netbook to update the blog and the spot tracking pages will work just fine, but will be easier if I bring a mouse instead of using the trackpad.
3. I've got to force myself to stop every hour or so. Staying in the saddle for long periods of time without walking a but means that my knees will hurt towards the end of the day (as well as my backside!) Taking just 5 minutes and walking a bit does wonders in preventing the knees from screaming later.

Well, that's it for this trip. It was great to see my youngest son, even if he did trounce my butt at the games at Dave & Busters. :-)

Off to Ohio - Part 1

Traveled to Dublin, OH to visit my youngest son. Specifics and hopefully a picture I tool on the outward leg can be found at this address.

The hydration kit/pack that I coddled together worked great! Two large Platypus bladders (almost exactly what you'd expect to see from a Camelbak backpack) inside a cooler on the back seat, with the hoses routed through holes drilled into the lid. They allow me to have two kinds of fluid (I chose 100% water in one and a 50/50 mix of water and Gatorade in the other.)

I'll be heading back to Northern Virginia on Monday, so there will be an update that night or the day following.

Updates that I'll be posting

Here's an example of the plots that the WMD can produce. As I update the blog each night, I'll add a link to that day's page. I can also share some pictures there and here, so I'll figure out which one works the best or just plain put pictures to both, if it isn't too much work.

Anyways, here's a plot of a test of the WMD while I was on a round trip to the Lancaster area of PA.

On another subject, the bike is ready. I added the last of the equipment to it that I thought I would want/need. The countdown to departure day is now running.

50 days and counting...

My WMD

No, "WMD" does not mean Weapon of Mass Destruction. In this case, it stands for the "Where's Mikey Device". It is a device called a Spot2 that works with the GPS satellites in reverse of what most think of the GPS system. Instead of telling me where I am at, it will tell you where I am. A global locator of sorts.

How important is this? Well, imagine being in the middle of nowhere without a cell signal and you're riding a motorcycle that now has a flat tire (or worse.) Because this talks to satellites, we don't need no stinkin' cell signal. I can send predefined help messages to those that want to act as my backup, or in the case of a serious situation needing help NOW, I can send a message to a help assistance center that will send helicopters to the location. The WMD also allows you to track my progress on my way on a day to day basis. As I update this blog on the trip, I will add the web address for an interactive page that uses Google Maps to plot where I was throughout the day. Pretty cool, huh?