Scratch that

Day 1 over.

So communication between my dad and I can be difficult. 1. He is nearly deaf when off the bike.. 2. When on the bikes, we are both effectively deaf, and one handed hand signals are how we have to talk.

After a "conversation" I realized we ha different ideas of our end point tonight. Giving up my expectation made me think about what I wanted. That turned out to be sleep. :)

And my dad is gracious, something he surely learned from our mutual Father. Minutes after telling him I could ride all night, I pulled over, pointed to myself, pointed to a hotel, and he said "great, I'll follow you."

Ok. To the sleep.

Omaha ha ha

Omaha... More like Omaha ha ha ha, as if we would ever stop there!!!

EDIT: dear Omaha, you know I we was just joking right? LOLZ! I wrote that before I knew we were going to need you for fuel.

And they're off

Two very similar men with two very different approaches on how to get to Alaska on motorcycles.

The Rain

Danny: Looks like it's going to rain. Let's pull over.
Nic: C'mon, it's not going to rain. Let's keep going. Forecast says no rain.
Danny: I'm pulling over and putting my rain suit on.
Nic: Fine.

We stop, Danny suits up, I put on rain pants but still have on sandals and no gloves. Confident.

5 minutes down the road, getting POURED ON.

Nic: I'm soaked. Let's pull over.

Sparks Fly

Not 5 minutes after being soaked in the rain, and 10 minutes from first camp, Danny starts yelling in my ear (helmet comm system),

"YOUR REAR TIRE IS SPARKING! YOU HAVE A FLAT OR SOMETHING, PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY!"

Luckily there was a rest stop off-ramp only 200 ft away. We pulled off and slowed down, CAREFULLY, and he says it's still sparking. I'm trying to figure out how I've been comfortably cruising at 70 on a tire so flat that the rim is sparking. AND trying to figure out how I am going to get past a flat rear tire to continue the adventure.

Well we stopped, and it turned out my tool tube was half-hanging off the front of my bike. It had a metal pipe clamp holding one side, and plastic zip ties holding the other. And what broke? The metal clamp. It had been dragging long enough without either of us noticing that it rubbed straight trough the tube, and the asphalt was lightly grinding one of my wrenches. Hence, the sparks.

Strapped it on the back. Hit the road gain.

Differing Dinners

Nic: Mexican Pizza, drink.

Danny: Chicken wing, chicken leg, mashed potatoes and gravy #1, mashed potatoes and gravy #2, Doritos taco 1, Doritos taco 2, biscuit, drink.

He may have been comfort eating after dropping his bike...

The Danny drop

Our first break out of Kansas City was in Concordia, MO. We went looking for a Mexican place that google swore was down a gravel road in the midst of some corn. Nada. Turning around on the gravel left the boulevard in a ditch, on it's side.

Danny's pride was the only thing hurt. I was still more frustrated at having to give up on Mexican for dinner.

On the road

2006 KLR 650 +200 lbs crap
2007 Suzuki Boulevard M50